My new LMTV is blowing water pumps and loosing alternator brackets!

[Awesomeness]

CAT dealer.

 

[Awesomeness]

Just so we're clear, there is nothing special about the paint. It's just spraypaint. But it's CAT yellow, which is why it costs $20.

If you don't care about that particular color, use whatever you want to prevent rust.

 

[Aernan]

Looks like Rust-Oleum makes a Cat yellow color. [h=1]Rust-Oleum 7449830 Specialty Yellow Caterpillar Farm Equipment Enamel Spray, 12-Ounce[/h]

 

[Aernan]

More reading TMs it says the bracket bolts are:
48 PAOZZ 19207 12414419-095 SCREW,CAP,HEXAGON H................. 3
Which turns out to be a M6 1.0mm thread 6mm fastener. I'm going to buy a box of them because they appear to be common on the vehicle.

 

[Aernan]

Just so we're clear, there is nothing special about the paint. It's just spraypaint. But it's CAT yellow, which is why it costs $20.

If you don't care about that particular color, use whatever you want to prevent rust.

If I took mine off for painting. Would the seals be re-usable?

 

[Coffey1]

Most likely not if they don't tear apart they could be reusable

 

[Aernan]

Most likely not if they don't tear apart they could be reusable

Ok looks like more parts number searching and order a spare set of gaskets so when I have time I can tear it down, sandblast, paint and reassemble.

 

[Awesomeness]

The seals are cheap. The gaskets are like $5 each, there's an o-ring in there for a couple bucks, etc. The CAT part numbers are all in the TM.

 

[Aernan]

Looking at the diagram it looks like the water pump mates to the block using a round o-ring and has 2 hoses coming out of it that also use o-rings. I was assuming the pump mated using a flat gasket like on a gas car.

 

[M543A2]

I do not know what kind of emergency brake these have. I can relate that we have an M51A2 dump we had a serious vibration in. We did all of the drive line checks, replaced them from another truck, on and on with no luck. Finally when my son had it at the truck garage where he worked so he put it over the pit, removed rear axles and front axle caps, had another mechanic put it in high and spin it up. He then saw that the emergency brake drum had evidently been overheated at some time or hit by something that caused it to have a lot of wobble. A drum from a donor truck fixed the problem.

 

[Aernan]

I'm totally new to trucks with air brakes. I believe the main drum brakes are the emergency brakes. If air is cut they lock automatically.

Can anyone who actually understands the brakes chime in?

 

[Aernan]

More thinking on the issue. I have seen a video of someone adjusting the upper engine. I don't recall if it was injector or valve lash. He held something down and the engine got very very noisy. After adjustment the engine ran smoother. He did this for every cylinder and at the end the engine was actually pretty quiet. I believe it was a valve lash adjustment but it could have been fuel injection related.

What are the chances that our engines need a valve adjustment or a fuel sync? Could that cause the engine to shake more?

 

[Awesomeness]

I'm totally new to trucks with air brakes. I believe the main drum brakes are the emergency brakes. If air is cut they lock automatically.
Can anyone who actually understands the brakes chime in?

On the back brakes (only), there are springs that press on the back of the air plungers. When you turn "off" the parking brake, you are actually turn ON air to hold the springs back out of the way. The brake pedal then actuates the brake air plungers. If you lose air, there is no air to hold the parking brake OFF anymore, and they start to push on the brakes again.

Does that make sense?

 

[Awesomeness]

More thinking on the issue. I have seen a video of someone adjusting the upper engine. I don't recall if it was injector or valve lash. He held something down and the engine got very very noisy. After adjustment the engine ran smoother. He did this for every cylinder and at the end the engine was actually pretty quiet. I believe it was a valve lash adjustment but it could have been fuel injection related.
What are the chances that our engines need a valve adjustment or a fuel sync? Could that cause the engine to shake more?

That's probably a valve adjustment, which is a fairly simple (few hour) thing to do. I'm not sure if it's in the TMs (probably), but if not is in the CAT manuals.

 

[Aernan]

ok found a 3116 running. Mine is nowhere near this quiet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my3_sCQ3B-o

 

[Awesomeness]

Mine sounds a lot more clackity than that too, though it's always hard to tell with the sound in videos. The audio can be very deceptive compared to in person.

What I want to know is why we can't have that nice long dipstick too? haha

 

[Aernan]

you can hear in this video that the engine gets really clacky when they hold the exhaust valves open
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnm0bGeGpts

 

[Aernan]

Found the replacement bolts at home depot. $1.29 each. Install went easy. I think something bigger than a m8 would fit in the alternator but I'm sure it will work. Found the original nut all rusted face sitting on the frame. It was not a lock nut. New nut is a crimp style lock nut. Tightened some other bolts in the alternator bracket that could be torqued a bit more.

Noticed this time that the housing for the thermostat is also new so it looks like it has been changed sometime recently. I guess I'm lucky there.

 

[Awesomeness]

I find that Home Depot is hit or miss for the metric hardware for these trucks, but Ace Hardware seems to have a much larger selection (stainless, 10.9/12.9 class fasteners, flanged head, various lengths, etc.).

 

[tennmogger]

If you have a few days to wait, this business, very popular among Unimog owners, has all sorts of metric hardware: https://www.belmetric.com/

Bob