DIRKPASTOOR

Brett, I wish you were much closer. It would have saved me much headache and skinned knuckles. I replaced the whole line at the suggestion of the Cat service center. They blamed the problem on a broken intake line. They offered to replace it for me at $100/hour plus parts. Hence me replacing it. It needed to be done at any rate as the section under the coach was rotten and had been repaired by somebody who used a back support girdle and much duct tape. The mechanic did say that he had found water in the turbo line and was wondering where it had come from. If the air line to the turbo had failed then it could have sucked up moisture this past winter on our excursion thru the southern US and back to Western Canada. It sounds to me that you almost have to be a mechanic and do all your own stuff as you can not always believe what the shops tell you. There was virtually no loss in power, except at the very end when it started to smoke heavily (was picked up by the highway patrol as they thought I was on fire) and then it seemed to down shift much more then normal. I think I will forget about changing the air intake to a new location. Thanks for your comments and help Brett. It is much appreciated.

Hi Brett, Apparently the air intake tubing broke and the turbo sucked a lot of dirt into the engine. Cat's report was that the cylinders were 'dusted'. On the Cat 3126 engine, they did not use cylinder sleeves. I did get 3 independent analysis on this engine. You may remember way back this spring, I reported an excessive smoking problem and this was the final outcome. Instead of replacing the 'short block' we decided to go for the works and replace. Because of the failure of the air intake tubing and it being 15 feet long and hidden for 8 feet, I would rather shorten the intake hose and have it all open for inspection. The MH is not driven on gravel roads as a rule, but some park access is on non-paved roads. The filter is replaced every year and the filter minder is observed faithfully. The present air intake has all been replaced in its old location from the top of the coach at the rear and then for 7 feet along the bottom of the coach and all behind the duallies. I would like to put in a new air intake just below the floor level and close to the air filter and as close to the rear wheels as I can find access. I could put a air scope ahead of the tires and underneath the coach but I think that would suck up to much dirt and chemicals in the winter time. The big thing is that I want to be able to inspect the whole line.

I had to replace the Cat engine this spring and noticed that the fresh air intake going to the air filter is about 15 feet long. It comes off the top of the roof in the rear, I would like to shorten this considerably and make a new intake on the driver's side of the coach, behind the rear tires,and then go thru a compartment to the air filter. Has anybody done this? what precaution do I need to take? how big should the intake be? it supplies a 6 inch air line. Anything would be appreciated. Can't afford to replace the engine again.

Yes this was an authorized Cat service center. They are listed in the Cat directory

When we came back from our winter trip south, we noticed a white vapor emitting from the crankcase ventilation tube, We took it to our mechanic who has maintained it for the last 6 years, and he eliminated having water in the engine. However, he suspected blowby because the vapor is under pressure and advised us to take it to a truck center who could do the correct testing. This was done and the following results came back: -there were no computer codes -they performed a cylinder cutout test;all equal(no clear indicator of compression loss) -removed oil pan to check for cylinder damage; could not see damage Because there were no computer codes, nor visible damage, it was felt that they were on an fishing expedition and it would be better to put it back together again and wait to see what developed instead of throwing money at what. The engine is a Cat with 135000 miles in a 2000 model year class A MH. Anybody have any ideas? The mechanic suggested to trade it off or drive it till it is busted. Of course, now my wife has visions of getting stuck out in the boondocks with no cell coverage. Dirk Pastoor @VE6APP@theeastshore.com