10-4 Magazine April 2023

10-4 Magazine / April 2023 57 area, then question if the part they used was genuine CAT or some knock off. Motor work is about the only thing I don’t do myself. When it comes to those repairs, I have people I trust to pull the wrenches for me. Why? Because they do good work, and if any part is substandard, they will recognize it and refuse to use it. These are people who have proved themselves to me and are willing to work on my schedule. I can hear the nay sayers now, complaining that it wasn’t done at a certified shop, so it won’t be covered by warranty. In some cases, that’s right, but not in all cases. I don’t always buy up the warranty, either, unless it’s a product I trust. Did you know most warranties don’t cover labor in the case of a repair, they only cover the parts? In the case of my engine, the parts are covered for two years, even if we put them in ourselves. In the case of my new transmission, it is covered for 48 states with towing, and all I had to do was fill out the paperwork. Most repair facilities won’t even tell you that. I have had repairs done in many “truck shops” only to find out later they used off-market parts and, in general, they cut corners to save time and money. This is an expense none of us can afford. Wasted money is just that – wasted – it’s gone, and it’s not coming back! You are not going to get any future use from it. In fact, it may cost you more to fix the problem later on. Time is another thing that wastes money. Good luck getting reimbursed for that, even if you do have insurance. Excessive down time might be the difference between staying in business and ceasing to operate. These big fancy dealerships and shops that look like they belong on the Discovery Channel didn’t get that way by giving their customers a good value. They calculated a hefty profit into every work order they performed, and you are just another job in a long, never ending list. Chances are they will leave your truck sitting in their yard for as long as it takes for them to get around to fixing your issue. Then, if there is a hiccup in the supply chain, they have no vested interest in getting you moving. Once again, time is money, so do your own research and find the parts needed for the repair. We finally located the cause of my heat related issues and, as we suspected, it was a blown head gasket. But that didn’t prove to be the cause – I had a cracked head – and that’s the fourth one I have put on this engine. Caterpillar’s track record isn’t too goodwhen it comes to reman heads. They are expensive to change, and I’m tired of the downtime, not to mention they cost more after the core charge than a brand new aftermarket one. Since I didn’t need a platinum overhaul kit, I wanted to save some money using what they call a gold kit. We were having some difficulty locating piston packs for my engine, so I made a couple phone calls and inside of 30 minutes there were parts on the way (I even arranged for custom balancing of the rods and pistons). Thank you to Diesel Freak of Gaylord, Michigan. I wasn’t exactly sure what parts I needed, but with some basic instructions, I was able to help round up replacement parts before we even turned the first bolt. Along the way, I gathered information about possible items that might need fixing while we were already in themotor.