Recently my vacuum pump started leaking while I was sitting in the truck with the engine idling. Quite a bit of oil was pumped onto the ground before a passerby called my attention to it. Had I been sleeping in the truck or away from the truck for a long period of time I could have lost the engine.<br><br>Is there an after market install to prevent idling the truck into a seize up situation? Perhaps something that will shut off the engine if a loss of oil pressure or overheating situation occurs.<br><br>Thanks.<br><br>Tim

 

This might be a stupid question, but what is the vacum pump? Glad to here you got it shut down in time.

 

A $1400 part that serves no other purpose than to allow you to have cruise control. I can crawl under a truck and point one out but I cant tell you where it is. Perhaps someone else could better answer this question.

 

I think my PacBrake is tied into that vaccum line as well.... not certain though because I didn't install it! ;D<br><br><br>Tony

 

[quote author=twhite link=board=10;threadid=14008;start=0#131712 date=1051266915]<br>Is there an after market install to prevent idling the truck into a seize up situation? Perhaps something that will shut off the engine if a loss of oil pressure or overheating situation occurs.<br>[/quote]<br><br>I would hazard a guess that Cummins may have an auto shutdown device due to loss of lube oil or high out-of-sight engine temps in their commercial engine division or marine engine division.<br><br>You could always wire a siren or klaxon into the oil pressure system (like we have in boats) that can wake the dead if oil pressure starts dropping.

 

Alot of farm tractors and stationary engines have low-oil-shutdown to keep an unattended engine from killing itself. These are wired into a simple pressure switch that controls a relay so that when the pressure drops to the set pressure of the switch the relay is picked. On our trucks one place to tie one into is the shutdown solenoid - kill the juice to it and no fuel.<br><br>You could probaly rig something up with a simple idiot light oil pressure switch (of the correct pressure) and a relay tied to the hold-open side of the shutdown solenoid. That way the pull open side of the fuel solenoid allows you to start and get oil pressure up so the low-oil switch doesn't cut it off as soon as you get off the starter.<br><br>I might have to try this now that I think about it.

 

The vacuum pump also supplies vacuum for the HVAC control.<br><br>I think oil presure should have a light, and siren, but not a shutdown. Think about it,, you are trying to get up to speed driving on the highway, when you loose oil pressure, the truck shuts down, you lose power steering, brakes, and you immeditaly start slowing down from engine braking. This could be a recipe for serious disaster. If you were in the hammer lane,, you'd have little time to move off the road, and in the city, when you start slowing in the hammer lane,, everybody starts passing you on the right, and your troubles are only begining.<br><br>Just my $.02<br><br>Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[quote author=MCummings link=board=10;threadid=14008;start=0#131898 date=1051296840]<br>The vacuum pump also supplies vacuum for the HVAC control.<br><br>I think oil presure should have a light, and siren, but not a shutdown. Think about it,, you are trying to get up to speed driving on the highway, when you loose oil pressure, the truck shuts down, you lose power steering, brakes, and you immeditaly start slowing down from engine braking. This could be a recipe for serious disaster. If you were in the hammer lane,, you'd have little time to move off the road, and in the city, when you start slowing in the hammer lane,, everybody starts passing you on the right, and your troubles are only begining.<br><br>Just my $.02<br><br>Merrick Cummings Jr<br>[/quote]<br><br>What if you put a switch on it, so it only does it when you flip the switch?

 

Putting a switch on it would be an excellent idea. Where could I go to get shutoffs put on for the oil pressure and engine temperature? <br><br>I called the Dodge dealer and they had no clue. The local Cummins dealer said that in the big trucks this is a computer option. No such option in a pickup size truck.<br><br>Thanks<br><br>Tim

 

[quote author=MCummings link=board=10;threadid=14008;start=0#131898 date=1051296840]<br>The vacuum pump also supplies vacuum for the HVAC control.<br><br>I think oil presure should have a light, and siren, but not a shutdown. Think about it,, you are trying to get up to speed driving on the highway, when you loose oil pressure, the truck shuts down, you lose power steering, brakes, and you immeditaly start slowing down from engine braking. This could be a recipe for serious disaster. If you were in the hammer lane,, you'd have little time to move off the road, and in the city, when you start slowing in the hammer lane,, everybody starts passing you on the right, and your troubles are only begining.<br><br>Just my $.02<br><br>Merrick Cummings Jr<br>[/quote]<br><br>The big trucks with the computerized diesels have an auto shutdown if you lose certain functions and they have an override button that will work only one time per event to give you about 30 seconds of engine power to get you out of harms way.I am knowledgeable about the Mack in particular but I would expect to find something similar on the others as well. Ron