Posted by NCWayne on April 01, 2011 at 22:20:44 from (166.82.187.163):
Started the day with two repair requests from a customer. I was able to complete one minor repair and sent that crew on their way back to the job. The second crew wasn't so lucky (or maybe they were) as they had to leave theirs for the weekend. Got all that situated and drove over to the next customers yard.
He had an old CAT loader with a 3304 suffering a top end knock. Listening to it it sounded like nothing more than a bad diesel knock. Given the noise and the exhaust smoke I did a pop tested on the injectors. Since they squirted halfway across the shop and didn't pop and atomize like they should I also did a compression check to insure no holes burnt in the pistons. All 4 checked good at 300 psi +/-. So I had put a new set of injector nozzels in Thursday but couldn't test run due to dead batteries. Went back today and after changing the NASTY fuel and air filters, getting the fuel line from the tank unstopped so it flowed, not trickled, changed the leaking hand primer pump, robbed an injector body off another machine to replace one that had been cross threaded when I removed them and then wouldn't seal back, took the muffler off another machine to put on this one, etc, etc, etc. All the while I had run the thing numerous times and except for not wanting to idle quite right it ran and sounded 99.999999999% better than it did before, and now there was no exhaust smoke.
I chalked the bad idle up to a sticky rack since the machine had been setting for awhile. So I put some injector cleaner in the fuel and got it ready to go to work, hoping the rack would free up and the idle problem would work itself out. With about 4 hours invested and all that finally done I got it to the point of going on a ride around the yard. Sooo, I hopped in the cab and fired it up.....for the last time. I let it set there for a minute at just above an idle then let her idle down and dropped it in gear. Within two seconds of hitting the throttle I heard a screaching, a kerclunk, and the engine STOPPED DEAD. As I hopped out of the cab I could see the oil on the inside of the left rear tire...not a good sign. Got down on the ground and moved to where I could see the side of the engine and I could now see inside the engine. Turns out #4 rod decided to let go and the rod bolt and part of the rod put a nice, fist sized hole in the side of the block. Funny thing between the new nozzels, removing the remnants of the old muffler, etc the knock had all but disapeared along with the smoke. Guess there was more than one thing causing the knock.....and the final weak link decided to show it's head....
Fortunately the customers outlook was that at least the machine had made him way more money than he had invested in it over the years, he now had alot of spare parts for the other loader....and now he didn't need to buy another muffler....
Today was a first for me, I've never spent that much time and money on a customers machine only to leave it more broke than it was when I got there......Now that takes real talent...LOL
Seriously it's rare to find a customer like this guy. He knows enough about equipment to know when even a serious problem is simply the next weak link in a severly worn chain, and further can face reality and find a positive view of even the worst kind of equipment failure. Hope everyone I get the chance to work for in the future can acieve that level of understanding....it'll sure make my work alot easier when I'm only expected to make chicken salad out of chicken $hit and not to work absolute miracles......
Hope ya'll have a great weekend...I know my week ended and my weekend started with a big bang.......so it can only get better from there...LOL
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