I was on the road alot longer than I expected. 14 hours including several breaks for chow, fuel, loading and unloading. I went from Southeast VA to almost Allentown PA. 724 miles there and back.

Now for the truck report. First off my fan clutch didn,t engage at all. Climbing one of those pretty PA mountains I hit 202* F on the temp gauge. EGT's were my limiting factor. At 70mph pulling 7000 pounds on level ground was the best I could do. Boost was 28# to 30#. I could hit 38 pounds WOT but couldn't hang in there but for a few seconds. At 65 boost was around 20 and EGT's were 1250.

When I got back there was gear oil on the front of the new tractor and the trailer. It was coming out of the pinion seal. I had over filled the rear just before the trip. I hope that is all it was. I used a quart of engine oil and no tranny fluid or coolant. Trans temps ran about 230*. Fuel mileage was about 10.

What will I do different?

I already replaced the thermostat. It failed to close after it was all over. I ordered a new clutch hub for the fan. I have been driving all day today without one but not towing.
Don't over fill the rear end.
Don't trust Map Quest or Google Map. They only get you near the post office.
Turned the fuel screw OUT two turns to help lower EGT's. Yeah, I know. I said it wasn't an option. Well I lied. In fact it may come out another couple of turns tomorrow. I can't afford pistons or new turbo's at this point. Besides, a new turbo will cause me to loose the head gasket.
I need a way to cool the rear end. An additional tranny cooler to keep some of the heat out of the engine.

And above all SLOW DOWN! Part of the reason for the gear oil leak is I was pushing so hard I heated up the rear end. Apart from these minor problems the old girl ran just fine. I wasn't kind to her at all. She is like an old dog. No matter how hard you kick it it still chases cars.

 

Pin it, thus making it direct drive, and never have to worry about it again.


Sounds like your axle-vent is plugged.

Remove and clean, both the hose and the fitting where it screws into the housing.


NEVER EVER trust any type of computer mapping, especially when figuring mileage for billing.

I can take a good old Rand McNally Atlas and figure a twelve-hundred mile trip within three miles, every time.

Whenever a hauling customers wife comes off with "I mapquested it, before we left home, and it came to XXX many miles", I politely inform her that my truck gets paid for accumulated miles on the hub, not some imaginary random computer guess that always falls several miles short, and does not take forty-mile truck by-passes, and low over-head clearances, etc. into account.

 

Hey Boatnik

I would try putting in an electric fan before I would put in a clutch again. You can have a switch wired to be able to turn it on anytime you want, like just before you hit a good hill.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I towed my cousins tractor one time and my pinion seal leaked, too. It wasn't overfilled, the pinion nut had come loose. Would probably be worth checking. Also, I have no personal experience with these, but the Mag Hytec diff covers are supposed to be pretty nice. Extra capacity over stock and better cooling, but pricey. Synthetic gear oil should also help with diff temps. Flying D, the only electric fans for diesels I've seen are not recommended for heavy towing, I don't think that's really an option here.

 

How hot did the rear get? With synthetic in there I wouldn't be nervous until it hit 275 inside. An infrared temp gun is nice for checking that. When you pull over at a rest stop I wouldn't want to see the back cover any hotter than 260.

 

I have no idea how hot it was but I am running Amsoil 75w/140. I was pushing real hard but I never ran over 70.

 

Too late, I already replaced it and the thermostat. The fans are just too darn expensive. The clutch was $75.00 and the fans for diesels are almost a grand.