CML Service

This has been very amusing. I sent it to a buddy of mine who is currently in Irac. He then posed the question to several other Navy men. It seems it kept them busy for quite some time and they came to no definate conclusion. At the very least it served to amuse them and take thier mind off the place thier in. They all thank you. Chuck

Could be an o-ring on the actuator cyl for rev. Cooler weather makes them leak internally and any oil or gunk in there will make thins more difficult. Switch on dash is deep reduction for use in 1st gear. Chuck

A little more info on what trans you have would help. I'll take a guess it's either a 6 or 12 speed with the rotary type air selector. If thats the case is the selector valve leaking? Can you hear air moving when selecting rev? When it does select gears do you hear a distinct clack? Chuck

Gotta be careful and respect those batteries. In one shop I worked in I had on blow up on me. It seems someone put it on the shelf below the bench grinder with charger hooked up. I never saw it there until it was too late. Luckily it only damaged the pants I was wearing. Chuck

That is interesting. I just found out from a friend who is employed by Edart Truck Rental that Ryder has bought them out and his job is in jepordy. Chuck

Thanks for the info on the oversize rings. This engine did originally break the rockershaft bolts and damage the shaft. Do the oversize rings require any machining? Oh yea I guess my brain was still in neutral yesterday . This is an E-tech engine. Chuck

Hi Folks, I was just at a friends shop and he showed me a repeat problem he has with a E-7 engine. It seems the H ring that prevents the lifter from rotating has moved too far up it's bore. That caused cam and lifter failure. The manual talks only briefly about this condition but gives no remedy for it. Has anyone else seen this? What can be done to correct it? I seems the H ring only relies on interference fit to prevent rotation. Chuck

Trent, Ya you certainly need to be carefull when the weight gets up there. The same thing on the road. You will usually live through a crash as long as the load doesn't get you. I've done plenty of stupid things and lived through them. Now a little older and not so invincable I often put more thought into what I'm doing. Chuck

You may need a 90 degree in that hose. So you may want to consider a 90 degree exhaust elbow. Then all you need is short sections of hose and clamps for the connections. The steel pipe will look good and handle the under hood heat for ever. Chuck

For simpicity when I put an alt in my B model I used a Leece Neville because thier terminals are isolated and I just wired it for pos ground. This was a long time ago when I was still running a series parallel switch. I even left it pos ground when I changed to a 12 volt starter the starter doesn't care. Chuck

Martin, I can tell you I've done worse. I've also ridden a wheelie many times in a Mack. Many years ago I was on a job hauling cover material to a landfill. The material was wet gravel and clay dredged from a lake. We would regularly gross over 100,000 lbs on the triaxles. Sometimes the material would stick in the body so you would gently jerk the truck forward. When doing this you had to be ready for the material to hit the gate because when it did the front end came up. In order not to crash back to the ground if you let the clutch go and rode it out it would come down gently! I didn't personally see it but an operator at the landfill told me of a truck that got stuck standing on it's tailgate. Chuck

Hi Rob, The acid is a good cleaner but don't forget to neutralize it with backing soda when done. Chuck

Two things come to mind with your problem. Be sure it does not have bias ply tires on the front that will cause that problem. Then the other thing I think of is load rating on the tire. Fire trucks often use a larger or heavier tire than freight trucks. Part of the reason is to control sway from a water tank sloshing. Michelin makes a very good truck tire it just sounds like the application is wrong. Chuck

Hi Folks. I haven't been around here in a while. I left home Sept 1 to do power restoration after hurricane Gustave. Then thought we were heading home when hurricane Ike came in. So I spent some time in the LA Bayou then some time in and around Houston TX. While there I met up with some nice folks. Saw some old trucks here and there and also some of the special cane tractors on the sugar cane plantations. I did make it home for a couple days when the storm work was over. But then I left for a planned trip to Biloxi Mississippi to work with habitat for humanity. I worked in MS after hurricane Katrina and was so impressed with the local folk that when I got the chance to go there again I did. A friend of mine and myself flew into New Orleans (just to see that too) then drove to Biloxi to work for the week. I revisited places I worked before talked to the locals ate at just local restaurants and just had a great time. Our crew stared with a bare slab and by weeks end finised the first floor framing and sheathing. The next crew will do the roof. Many neighbors stopped at the work site to show thier support and positive attitude. All of our crew left there with a great feeling of accomplishment and the thoughts of returning again. I made some new friends on this trip that I intend to stay in contact with. But now that I'm home there is other busness I left unfinished that I need to catch up on. I hope I didn't bore you with my ramblings but my last 8 weeks has been kind of a blur and then engine is just starting to idle back down. Chuck

Well folks it appears you really need to shop around. I'm doing a major rear brake job on my 95 CH. This includes shoes, hardware, drums, wheel bearings, seals, camshafts, bushing kits and chambers. Fleetpride (having the corner on the aftermarket around here) quoted almost $2000. The IH dealer I use quoted around $1600. I bought the parts from my Mack dealer for about $1200. Chuck

You may be very close to your trailer limits. My B61S tractor full of fuel and wet tank weighs just over 18,000. Chuck

B61S 673 N 20 speed double over 7.00 rears 11.00Rx22 average gross truck and trailer 50K 4MPG Early R E6 275 5sp direct 4.00 rear 11R22.5 dump avg gross 30K 10MPG Chuck

Just a quick note. Your air system for a 1972 truck would be known as pre FMVSS-121. Those systems generally didn't use relay valves. Speaking from personal expirience without relay valves to help time the truck and trailer brakes you may find the a newer trailer tends to lock the wheels before the truck especially when empty. On my B model I converted the entire system to post FMVSS-121 standards. Now even a panic stop with empty dump trailer or tag along everything stops straight. It was well worth the time and effort for my situation. I can be confident that my truck will stop reliably when empty or grossing 80,000. If this will be a truck that will pull a loaded trailer take the time and do your research. Relay valves have a rating for crack pressure (when they start to work). This will help you engineer a truck and trailer system that will work correctly together. Chuck

Hi Rob, I have seen thes many times in my area. They do work but they also do seem to clog. Not sure if it is from the heating or the internal passage design. But I've bypassed them to solve no power problems in the past. A side note one company I worked for had a fleet of Macks with exhaust heated fuel. The exchanger looked like a small muffler with a 1 1/2" pipe tee'd into the exhaust. They seemed to work OK untill the pipe tee rotted off. A salesman may tell you that the high fuel temp will kill or discourage bacteria growth in your tanks. Chuck

Rob, My Bmodel was converted to a coupled pump before I got it and it works just fine. Chuck

I just worked on a former postal tractor that a friend just bought. It has an air started and he bought it without hearing it run. I charged the tank repaired the connector at the starter switch and with a turn of the key it was instantly running. The key controls a air solenoid. I was surprized how quiet the starter was. I haven't heard one in years and I remember them being very loud. This one must have a good muffler on it. Perhaps with all the postal tractors that hit the market within the last year there may be some availible that were converted. Chuck

That sounds like a good plan. Wait till you are thinking clearly not thinking about pain. These ins companies will come up with more if pressured. They also sometimes play games with settlement checks. My daughter was hit from behind and shoved into the car in front of her back in January. Her car was totaled but she had no injury. After nearly a month the ins compay responded to our calls and emails. They gave us a value for the car and a value for rental car. Thier numbers sounded good. The check comes and it is only the car value. Another week of phone calls and they said someone forgot the other check. That check comes and it is for smaller amount. This time over a week of calls to adjuster and his supervisor. They had no explanation but said check would be on it's way. Here it is another week and still no check. I'm just not sure what they are thinking. Not to mention they are paying someones salary to do this over and over again. No wonder we pay so much for ins. Sorry bout' the rant but just don't take any s**t from these companies. Keep up with your therapy and heal your body it's the only one you got. Best wishes on a sound recovery Chuck

Stuck valves seem common on flatheads. After a good spray of penetrating oil I use an allen wrench inserted through the plug holes. The angle can get you directly over the valve then a tap with the hammer will usually set then into place. After they drop into place crank the engine and repeat the process on the remaining stuck ones. I have neighbors that seem to have stuck valves in thier irrigation pump engines each year. Thats how I take care of them. Chuck

A couple things to check. Many Macks light the stop lights when the parking brake is set so that is first to check. Did you install a new trailer electrical socket? If so perhaps a strand of wire has come loose and crossed circuits. Is the trailer connected while you are noticing this? That could be giving a feedback from the breakaway battery. Chuck

Well it had to happen sooner or later. Today was the day I got stopped By DOT. Comming down the road with truck and trailer the DOT man saw my old truck and probably thought it would be an easy mark. He brought me into motor vehicle dept. parking lot. He was a little confused by the antique reg on the truck and camp trailer reg on the trailer. I did convince him this was only my toy and it doesn't do work for hire and yes there are indeed some of us nuts that will drive a tractor and trailer just for the fun of it. Then he checked all the VIN numbers and started an inspection. While checking brake throws he may have started to notice everything was new and shiny under the truck so that part didn't last too long. After a quick light check he seemed to agree that I did indeed have a safe truck and he became much more friendly. He even asked why my bulldog was missing on the hood. So I explained that my first priority was making a safe truck and the cosmetics would come later. We parted company and I felt very good to get a passing grade on my work from DOT. It just further proves that old saying you can't judge a book by it's cover. Chuck