1998 Cat C-12 reman

Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Messages
14
Location
South Beloit, Illinois
These are the first samples of my new reman C-12 long block. Both samples were taken at the same time with the same vacuum line that's included in the Cat fluid sample kit.

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Just make sure the copper trends down on following UOAs. Curious, what was the failure of the original engine? What kind of chassis is this in?
 
Originally Posted by mattd
Just make sure the copper trends down on following UOAs. Curious, what was the failure of the original engine? What kind of chassis is this in?


Unfortunately the next sample showed a slight increase in Cu, but the oil was changed this time. One of my roller lifters came apart and destroyed the camshaft. It needed $21k just to fix what was wrong, or I could purchase a reman long block and a few trimmings for $23k and get a four year unlimited mileage warranty. Caterpillar doesn't offer an inframe kit for my serial number C-12 and it wouldn't have come with a camshaft, lifters, and all the other things needed to fix it anyway. This engine is in a 1998 Peterbilt 379 short hood.

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That sucks that they don't offer an in frame kit for your serial number. And engines with big hours a lot of things tend to be worn out and a long Block is cheaper than over hauling it, especially with this type of valve train failure as it does not come with the in frame kit like you said.

Just watch that copper but it should trend down.

Did you do the work yourself? Sounds like a cool truck ðŸ‘
 
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I'm hoping the Cu is just break-in material from thrust bearings, lifter rollers, and oil cooler being new and not from things coming apart. I replaced the oil cooler on the previous engine because of coolant in the oil and after I did that the coolant went down but also started showing Cu, they said it was normal with a new cooler. I haven't looked through all the paperwork yet to see if I got a new reman oil cooler with this engine or if they used the one from my previous engine. Either one could cause Cu to show since the one I replaced was put in service not long ago.

Most of the work I do myself, but this was too big of a job for me. They took the front cover off because it was leaking and had to take the head off to find out if the lifters came apart. Then they pulled the camshaft and saw that it was trash and recommended new cam bearings too. When I decided that a reman long block was the best route they had to reassemble my engine to send it in as a core. At the time, I needed it done so I could put her back to work. I replaced the oil cooler, thrust bearings, resealed the oil pan, replaced the front main seal, and adjusted the valve lash, set the injector height, and adjusted the jakes myself with guidance from a friend. I also replaced all the shocks on the truck, replaced the input seal on the power divider, resealed the rear drive axle carrier to the axle housing, replaced both drive axle torque rods, and a few other things in the past few weeks. I've had a lot of time on my hands recently with freight rates so low right now. I have a few more projects to get done yet, I'm guessing I'll have plenty of time though since rates seem to be staying down.

She is a pretty cool truck though. A darn tough work horse.
 
Most recent sample reports. I'm still experiencing high oil consumption, 11.5 quarts in almost 20k miles. Could it be hot ambient temperature with 10w-30? I just changed the oil yesterday, switched to Schaeffer 15w-40 for the rest of the summer. I've heard from other owner-operators that also experienced high oil consumption with Rotella regardless of grade. One guy said when he switched to Mobil Delvac from Rotella his oil consumption went away.
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I used Mobil Delvac 15W40 in my 2012 Ram 6.7L Cummins. It doesn't use any, but not sure if that's a good benchmark or not for you. The oil seems very stout and I use it because I am a Mobil supporter. Mobil also offers pretty decent rebates as well and has recently included stores like Sam's Club and Walmart so even better price and rebates leading to lower cost of operation. I usually land somewhere less than $7/gallon.

On a side note I did see Sam's club had Delvac on sale for $8.XX per gallon through July 31st with free shipping for plus members.
 
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