Spent my Saturday afternoon geting to know my new truck. OK, so it's 10 years old, but it's new to me. My first diesel, too. The trans has had kind of a hitch going into 4th when cold, so I wanted to change to Redline MTL to see if it would help. I also wanted to do an oil change (especially with the dreaded orange can hanging on the right side of the motor), but I wanted to adjust the valves before the oil change so I wouldn't get crud in my nice new oil. <br> So anyway, I grope around under the injection pump for the timing pin and try to get in a position where I can turn the engine while pushing on the pin. &gt; I get the pin in, and while fussing around trying to get the pin to come back out, I notice that some considerate person has painted a stripe on the damper that points straight up at TDC. Valve adjustment on these things is really easy, even #5 &amp; #6 aren't bad when you stand on the bumper. If I had noticed the stripe on the damper it would have taken half the time. <br> Now it's time to figure out how to get the oil in the trans before I drain the old oil out. Turns out there's enough room under the trans hump to replace the fill plug with a nipple and elbow, stick a funnel in and just dump the lube in. Much nicer than using a suction gun or trying to squirt the stuff in by squeezing the bottle. Lets me overfill the thing a bit, too. 8)<br> After taking the truck for a spin to warm all the fluids and then draining the trans, I move on to the oil change. I have a drain pan that says it holds 15 quarts, so I figure I'll be fine. This is one of those enclosed pans with a drain hole in the middle and a relief hole like a gas can out on the rim. So I pull the drain plug, and the oil is coming out so fast that the relief can't keep up! I'm laying there watching the oil in the top of the pan rising and rising and rising, and within 1/8&quot; of the top, it stops rising. I think I'm gonna get an open drain pan before the next oil change, that was way too much excitement for me. Got the filter off and on without making a mess, new one is a Donaldson ($4.87 at the local truck parts store, less than half what Pep Boys want for a Perk-o-later and a way better filter). No more Frams on this truck! <br> Later, after it's greased and all up, time to test the new trans lube. This stuff is awesome! The shifter just floats into gear smoothly, no notchiness or hanging up! ;D It costs seven bucks a quart, but it's worth it. <br> Sorry about the long post, just wanted to tell everybody about all the fun I had and that the Redline MTL works really well.

 

Glad to hear the Redline is doing its job. The Getrag is a pain to fill isnt it?<br><br>BTW: I have found it much easier to fill the tranny from the top PTO cover bolt. This way, you can get the extra quart into the Getrag.

 

Ahhhhhh heck, you girls and your manual trannies.... now if you get a bad ****, nasty, neck snappin, universal bending, shaft twisting wildman auto you'd have time for all sorts of other things since you're not shifting and fiddling with things...... like catchin some snooze time or, reading a good book like the service manual... geeezzzzz..... ;D<br>After all, who wants to go thru life with one leg like a treestump and the other like a chicken leg....nooooo...not me..<br><br><br>bOb.

 

<br><br>Who's skirt you been lookin up? <br><br>

 

[quote author=Bushy link=board=9;threadid=14860;start=0#139724 date=1053317926]<br>Ahhhhhh heck, you girls and your manual trannies.... now if you get a bad ****, nasty, neck snappin, universal bending, shaft twisting wildman auto you'd have time for all sorts of other things since you're not shifting and fiddling with things...... like catchin some snooze time or, reading a good book like the service manual... geeezzzzz..... ;D<br>After all, who wants to go thru life with one leg like a treestump and the other like a chicken leg....nooooo...not me..<br><br><br>bOb.<br>[/quote]<br><br> Who took a leak in your post toasties sir?

 

Automatics just don't sound like REAL trucks when they shift. And you can't double-clutch 'em. For me, the sound was a big part of why I wanted a Cummins, not a Powerstroke. And it just don't sound right with an automatic.

 

I had been thinking of doing just that-----------marking a stripe on the damper to denote TDC.

This may be a dumb question; but, does not the crank-shaft make two laps to the cam-shaft's one, meaning that would not the mark on the damper line up twice to the cam-shafts once ??

Man, I have went and waded way out over my head again; somebody fish me out, please.

Thanks.

 

Yup. I marked my damper and then the timing cover. They line up once at TDC compression and once at TDC exhaust. A quick pull of the #1 valve cover tells me where it's at.

 

Oh, and I meant 'yup' that's what happens, not 'yup' that's a dumb question....

 

I know what you mean about hoping the container will hold all that oil. Mine was a mop bucket that my girlfriend had just bought, not for me I found out later. I had it happen to me at work one time just about 1000% bigger scale. A set of frac tanks hold 2000 barrels, when the frac co. just shuts down, you cant call your pump man and tell him to shut down fast enough!

 

Creak - scrape - screech - bang! What was that!?

Just Bearkiller dragging yet another thread up from the depths of 2003.

 

So I can line up the marks and do half the valves, then rotate ONE time and do the rest, right ??



You guys live too fast; to me, 2003 seems like week before last.

 

Correct. I do what Greg says, I set the motor at TDC, then pull the front rocker cover to see where I am, then set the valves for whichever of the two possible positions the engine is in, roll it over again and do the rest.

On a forum, 4 years is almost a lifetime. 4 years ago I was a green noobie and Monty and the late Pastor Bob were riding herd on this lot. Good times...

 

Let me see here,

2008
-2003
______
5

How did you get 4 ??


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Probably hadn't changed the calendar yet - Lets see - May 2003 - April 2008 ---Not quite five - so thats 4 --right? !!!!