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Engine shut down . . .

Yahoo Message Number: 74752
Interesting event last week, pulling a race car trailer to a event at 4am, 100 yards from our gate, engine warning flickers, goes off, flickers again, I pull over and engine goes very, very quiet. Will not start. Off load all party materials and wait for tow truck from Good Sam Emer Road Service. While waiting, checked the flash codes and there were 6, called CAT, they never heard of such a thing. Towed to CAT dealer 50 miles away after 8 hours (not Good Sam's fault). At dealer they only downloaded one code. Interesting discrepancy from the smart wheel and the reader in the rear.
After all this, they found a loose fuel filter sucking air. Screwed it back on, and $564, and five days later, I had my RV back. I will be addressing this to the maintenance folks who changed it 5,000 miles ago.
Only remaining issue is who pays for the drive shaft to be reinstalled after tow? It was a good, clean, well done tow, but drive shaft was left in the RV for CAT guys to reinstalled to the tune of $164 to me . . . doesn't make sense.

Lon

'06 Inspire 51800

Re: Engine shut down . . .

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 74753
Our Intrigue shut down last fall for no obvious reason. Tow to CAT shop took 4 hours (15 miles) and cost $1000. The Cat shop did diagnostics the next day ($431) and found that a $1.00 fuse had blown in box under drivers seat (ignition fuse). The tow was well done and the tow truck guy re-installed the drive shaft. Fun, eh?

D Bradley

04 Intrigue #11830

Re: Engine shut down . . .

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 74764
copied from the Silverleaf website.Engine Diagnostics
One of the greatest benefits of electronics is their ability to provide immediate diagnostic feedback. The engine ECM (Electronic Control Module) is constantly monitoring dozens of components, and can diagnose hundreds of different kinds of failures. Unfortunately, it isn?t very good at sharing all this information. Let??s illustrate with a story - one that everyone has heard in one form or another (if it hasn?t happened to you yourself!). There are many variations, but they all run something like this: It?s a warm summer day, and you?re working the coach through the mountains, a hundred miles from nowhere. Then you see it - the little light at the center of the dash come on - the one that says ?Check Engine?. Now what can that possibly mean? You check the gauges, you listen for noises, you look for smoke. But you can?t possibly tell what is wrong. So of course you start looking for a place to pull over, and it usually works out that the moment you find a wide spot to pull out, the light turns off. But you pull over anyway, check the oil, check the water, shrug your shoulders, and drive off again. And maybe it happens again, maybe not. And eventually you get to a town where you can take the coach to the engine mechanic. Who dutifully plugs in his computer and says, ?Nothing wrong now. Have a nice day!? And of course, at that moment nothing is wrong. Intermittent problems mostly occur when the engine is under stress. When the engine is in the shop, the engine isn?t under stress - you are! So the engine checks out fine - and you have no choice but to drive out with the same problem unresolved. In one version of the story I heard, a gentleman ran through this scenario three times. The third time around he was able to cajole the mechanic into taking a drive with him, with the service tool plugged in. It took ninety minutes, but finally the light came on, the mechanic read the code, and they returned to the shop and got it fixed.
Check Engine? Yep, I checked it and it?s still there! Thousands of dollars of stateof-the-art engineering and electronics, and when something is wrong all it can say is ?Check Engine??! There is a misconception that the engine ECM remembers faults and the service tool can pick up this history. This is partially true. The details vary from engine to engine, but generally the engine ECMs only record specific types of faults - overheating, overrevving - the types of faults that could help the engine builder get out of a warranty claim! They don?t record most of the routine faults that would help the most.

With a VMS, the story is a bit different. Now, when the light comes on you simply press a button on the VMS and you get the diagnostic information immediately. Not just the codes, but a plain language description. Now you can make an informed decision about what to do - call a tow truck, nurse it in, or drive on. If you aren??t sure, you can call the engine service hot lines and ask them. And they??ll be able to give you a real answer that you can have some confidence in. The VMS also keeps a record - recording not just the fault, but also data like engine RPMs and Temperature that can be used to establish a pattern. Now when you drive to the engine shop you can show them exactly what happened and when. The mechanics love it - they have real information and can go to work solving the problem, instead of stabbing in the dark. Of course, there are limits to the system. Not every fault can be detected by the engine controls, and sometimes the information isn?t complete. For example, the ECM can report that the fuel pressure is inadequate, but it can?t tell you whether it is because the fuel filter is plugged or the fuel pump is leaking. But at least you have a good idea of the type of problem and where to look for the solution. In general, the closer the problem is to the ECM, the more specific the diagnostic information. Electrical problems - formerly the most frustrating of all engine problems - are usually isolated down to the particular wire. Bad injectors are identified by number.
Perhaps the most common intermittent fault is a bad injector. In fact, when a driver reports an intermittent fault and a rough-running engine, many shops will start swapping injectors randomly. (They can usually get the work covered under warranty, and it gives the customer the feeling that they are doing something.) One fellow??s story is that the first time he went in they changed injectors #1 and #2. A month later they changed #3 and #4. A month later they changed #5 and #6. Of course the bad one is the last one they changed. Kevin Burns

2000 Affinity, #5865

Re: Engine shut down . . .

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 74769
Kevin I like your report! Did you ever work for Cat? Being a retired tech. I always told my endusers to carry extra fuel filters! My biggest problems other then sensors was dirty battery terminals this would drive my laptop crazy!!! I use to say look for green stuff on all wires and battery terminals! Well written and to the point!You folks out there with the newer greener diesels a new ball game! Ken Retired Cat Power Systems Tech! 99 Allure 30356