1977 CF-600

[redmackfan]

Hello. I am new to this forum and Mack trucks. Last week I purchased a Mack CF685F(10)-1988 pumper with an ENDT-675 engine and TR-722 5 -speed transmission. The truck was one of two 'twins' purchased by the town. The other Mack CF685(10)-1989 is still in service. The truck seems to be in good condition overall - runs good, drives good, stops good, all lights work, siren works, air horns work and the 1,000 GPM, 2-stage Waterous pump passed all the tests last year. The 500 gallon fiberglass tank is original. The cab has decent paint, good chrome and appears rust free. The body was reconditioned in 1992 by a company in Roanoke, VA with new paint, some rust repair and new stripes. Some rust has reappeared in the compartments, but seems easy enough to repair. The truck came with 6 ladders, 3 extinguishers, two hard suction hoses, antennas, most of the blind caps, Operation Manual, Maintenance / Lubrication Manual, Service Manual, Specifications Order, Pump Test Reports and service records for the past 10 years. The radios, hoses, axes, pike poles and hose wrenches were removed for use on other trucks.

I have spent several days removing non-needed wiring, tightening screws, bolts, nuts and cleaning. I have read some of the service manual and maintenance manual, but do have a few questions.

1. What oil is good? I was told Shell Rotella 15W40 has been used in the past. Also, any hints or tricks on changing the oil & filter will be great.

2. What transmission oil is good? The service manual states multi-viscosity 80W90 gear oil for year round use.

3. Air Brakes. The service manual refers to draining the condensation from the system, but does not show where the drain cocks are located. I have not been under the bottom side as of yet and any ideas where to look will be helpful.

4. Valve Adjustment. The odometer shows 74,149 miles, which includes pumping time. The engine starts & runs just fine. I do not have any record of when the valves were last adjusted. Is this something that is required every so many miles? I am used to old Mercedes diesels that get a valve adjustment every 15,000 miles.

I have contacted the Mack Museum and they are sending what they have on file. I was told that one of the two trucks was on display at the New York Fire Show in 1977, but nobody can remember which one. I am hoping the museum has that infomation.

Thanks in advance.....

Tom in North Carolina

[Firemack]

Tom,

Sounds like you made a good purchase, any Mack CF coming out of service in decent shape is a good buy.

As for your questions:

1. Shell Rotella T is a good oil, I use it in my E6 300 and have 722,000 miles since rebuilt and doesn't use any oil in 2000 miles I use it every year.

2. 80-90 weight for the trans should be fine, I just topped mine up with 80-90.

3. There should be 3 air tanks on your CF, but may have an air dryer that removes the condensation, or Bendix air bleed system, if you run the truck and you occeasionally hear a quick short air release for this unit, that is most likley what you have, if not the air dryer works when plugged into the shore line, and if you are not using the shore line then will need to drain the 3 tanks manully. The 3 tanks are usually located on the inside of the frame rails about mid ship or maybe close to the rear, and sometimes are mounted on a cross member. You can replace the manual valve with quick pull drain valves available at Napa and have a cable that you can mount inside or under the cabinets near the drains and then will not require that you crawl under the truck each time to drain the tanks.

Question 4 I will defer to someone with more years working on your model Mack engine to determine when is the right interval to adjust your valves.

Good Luck and post pictures of the CF, also you should join Spaamfaa if you are not already a member, as we have great national meets, once a year, next year is here in PA,NJ De area. Hope to see you and your CF at next years National event.

Firemack

[39 Baby Mack]

John

The Baldwin number for the air cleaner element in #267

is #PA2503 not #PA1503 as I told you on the phone

I don't know why used to have problems getting those numbers confused!!1

When you change do not use the gasket on the cover of the housing that comes with the element put it together without it. trust me!!

How are you? did you get to Macungie? I did but without my truck, still waiting for parts

Hope to get it back together soon, I sure miss driving it!!

Have a happy fourth!!

Ron

[39 Baby Mack]

Tom

The instructions for adjusting the valves is listed in the engine and transmission forum

under the heading "adjusting valves on 676", the procedure for setting valves is the same for the ENDT675.

John's advice sounds good to me. I used to take of the truck he has which has 1,700,000+ miles on it.

Good luck with it!!----sounds like a great truck.

Ron

[redmackfan]

Thanks guys!! It is HOT here in NC for the next couple of days, so I might not get much done.

Ron, I see you are in West Chester, PA. I purchased a 1967 Mercedes 250SE from a fellow that lived there. It was probably 7 years ago. I didn't get to see much of the city. I still have the car.....it is one that I love to drive.

Thanks again for the help. I will look into SPAAMFAA.

Tom

[fxfymn]

Congrats. Tim Henshaw is just up the road from you in Raleigh and he is quite knowlegable about CF's. He is president of the local SPAAMFAA chapter and can be reached thtrough their web site. http://rekindlesociety.com/Home_Page.php

Post a couple of pictures please.

[redmackfan]

Thanks for the info. I am not good with pictures, but I will see what I can do. Give me some time and I will try to figure it out. I can take the pictures, even get them into the laptop, but after that it seems to be a problem for me. I grew up long before computers were around.

Tom