07-20-2024, 10:29 AM
Have an issue that I'll post details on below for any insight, but wanted to put this out there not for the seasoned Newell owner that does what I'm describing, but for all those who maybe have never owned something like this or new owners looking to replicate great habits. When I bought my coach from Bill Johnson a couple years ago along with the bins of spare parts came two file holders with all of the owners manuals for appliances, etc. and a nice big D-Ring binder that had every invoice from every service repair over the 10 years or so he owned the coach which covered the last half of it's life in both miles and years. On more than one occasion I've needed to look back through those, but this week it could have been a more serious issue and that documentation became really insightful. Being able to tell the mechanic you have records for every time an engine was worked was a really helpful roadmap as everyone attempts to think about what something might be.
That said, if you're buying a coach that does not have documentation of repairs from the prior owner it would give me pause. Not saying it would be a deal breaker, it would just make me think a little harder about anything that wasn't quite up to par. This is not to say that records equate to staying on top of things, it's just one more thing to piece together a narrative. Honestly if one was to sit down and read this binder cover to cover it might have made someone who doesn't realize the depth of the expanse to properly maintain a coach to rethink the entire desire to have one. But that can't be a reason to now show it as it's better to be honest about what you're embarking on and some of the potential challenges in both time and money that could rear its head. Kudo's to Bill and all those on here that keep these types of records and pass them along regardless of their time of ownership as it's a really nice thing to do for the next person and/or to refresh our own memories about part numbers, etc. on old repairs we need to do again.
So during my last oil change this week I woke up to a text from the shop doing the PM to the picture below the day after I dropped it off. Not really the first thing you want to see when you grab your phone in the morning. They were stumped and had been talking about it in the shop since the prior afternoon when it was discovered. This is not a CAT shop, but they do have a couple of well seasoned guys who've been around and rebuilt them, etc. Upon discussion as to any prior issues the coach has had I told them I knew the Jake had been worked on in some way when the overhead was run many years ago, but that those exact details were in the back closet if they wanted to look. Service manager conferred with the mechanic and determined that most likely it was something that eventually worked its way down to the pan. Coach is running great otherwise and they said they wouldn't hesitate to drive it based on what we knew. I chatted with Bill and Richard and Richard's advice was to go see a CAT mechanic with the metal in hand as any pieces of metal in a pan could lead to very serious problems down the road if we don't figure it out now.
Thanks to the new owner of 458 I knew I had a great guy, Jake at CAT in Columbia, MO about an hour and a half away so I shot over there with the coach and got his opinion. Jake is a great guy and after pondering this a bit he also was led back to thinking it runs like a swiss watch, hasn't had any other issues, etc. and thinks it also could be a left over piece that eventually found it's way down to the pan. While there and because we were talking about Jake performance we talked about a Beaver he worked on a year ago where the Jake was super weak. I told him I wouldn't call my Jake weak, but have never thought it was as strong as what I remembered in 80k pounds of semi trucks I'd driven with similar CAT engines and he said that was not surprising at just shy of 300k miles and that there is a kit that can be installed to improve performance. Of course he cringed thinking about another coach as the Beaver was a pain the rear to get at it. Took him out to the coach and he was pleasantly surprised and the room, etc. and we chatted about what it might cost to pull the valve covers, etc. and I left thinking I'd like to do that.
In the meantime I had sent an email with the pic below to another CAT mechanic named Josh who runs an absolutely fantastic YouTube channel called Adept Ape on all things CAT as we'd corresponded before and he'd been incredibly nice and thoughtful in his responses. His take was that based purely off of the image and what I was telling him that it was possible it was the end of a pushrod. Wasn't certain, but that was his best guess. So I'll be scheduling my Jake refresh, overhead and probably replace the rocker cover gasket at the same time as it seeps a bit and drives me nuts. Will be a bit more labor I'm guessing to pull that as well, but while in there we can find out 100% for sure if it was a left over piece of the Jake module or if it's the end of a pushrod.
Long way of saying these records are important as are the relationships with members of this group to lead a newbie like me to seek out the right information and insight.
That said, if you're buying a coach that does not have documentation of repairs from the prior owner it would give me pause. Not saying it would be a deal breaker, it would just make me think a little harder about anything that wasn't quite up to par. This is not to say that records equate to staying on top of things, it's just one more thing to piece together a narrative. Honestly if one was to sit down and read this binder cover to cover it might have made someone who doesn't realize the depth of the expanse to properly maintain a coach to rethink the entire desire to have one. But that can't be a reason to now show it as it's better to be honest about what you're embarking on and some of the potential challenges in both time and money that could rear its head. Kudo's to Bill and all those on here that keep these types of records and pass them along regardless of their time of ownership as it's a really nice thing to do for the next person and/or to refresh our own memories about part numbers, etc. on old repairs we need to do again.
So during my last oil change this week I woke up to a text from the shop doing the PM to the picture below the day after I dropped it off. Not really the first thing you want to see when you grab your phone in the morning. They were stumped and had been talking about it in the shop since the prior afternoon when it was discovered. This is not a CAT shop, but they do have a couple of well seasoned guys who've been around and rebuilt them, etc. Upon discussion as to any prior issues the coach has had I told them I knew the Jake had been worked on in some way when the overhead was run many years ago, but that those exact details were in the back closet if they wanted to look. Service manager conferred with the mechanic and determined that most likely it was something that eventually worked its way down to the pan. Coach is running great otherwise and they said they wouldn't hesitate to drive it based on what we knew. I chatted with Bill and Richard and Richard's advice was to go see a CAT mechanic with the metal in hand as any pieces of metal in a pan could lead to very serious problems down the road if we don't figure it out now.
Thanks to the new owner of 458 I knew I had a great guy, Jake at CAT in Columbia, MO about an hour and a half away so I shot over there with the coach and got his opinion. Jake is a great guy and after pondering this a bit he also was led back to thinking it runs like a swiss watch, hasn't had any other issues, etc. and thinks it also could be a left over piece that eventually found it's way down to the pan. While there and because we were talking about Jake performance we talked about a Beaver he worked on a year ago where the Jake was super weak. I told him I wouldn't call my Jake weak, but have never thought it was as strong as what I remembered in 80k pounds of semi trucks I'd driven with similar CAT engines and he said that was not surprising at just shy of 300k miles and that there is a kit that can be installed to improve performance. Of course he cringed thinking about another coach as the Beaver was a pain the rear to get at it. Took him out to the coach and he was pleasantly surprised and the room, etc. and we chatted about what it might cost to pull the valve covers, etc. and I left thinking I'd like to do that.
In the meantime I had sent an email with the pic below to another CAT mechanic named Josh who runs an absolutely fantastic YouTube channel called Adept Ape on all things CAT as we'd corresponded before and he'd been incredibly nice and thoughtful in his responses. His take was that based purely off of the image and what I was telling him that it was possible it was the end of a pushrod. Wasn't certain, but that was his best guess. So I'll be scheduling my Jake refresh, overhead and probably replace the rocker cover gasket at the same time as it seeps a bit and drives me nuts. Will be a bit more labor I'm guessing to pull that as well, but while in there we can find out 100% for sure if it was a left over piece of the Jake module or if it's the end of a pushrod.
Long way of saying these records are important as are the relationships with members of this group to lead a newbie like me to seek out the right information and insight.
Brad Aden
2003 Newell #653 Quad Slide Cat C-12 engine
Towing 2020 Grand Cherokee Summit
St. Louis, MO
