330hp cat sitting for eight years
 

My grandfather has passed away, and he has a 37' beaver motorcoach. It has a 330hp cat with a 6 speed allison transmission and 60k miles. For whatever reason he parked his motorcoach 8 years ago and never started it. My question for you over the road guys, is can I work on this engine. It is a 1999 so how much does an engine management system control? It would obviously need to have all filters changed, fluids changed, algae removal from the gas tank, as it is in phoenix. How would the seals in the engine be? I have two mercedes with 617 engines, and they are easy. Worst case scenario, what would it cost to get this truck on the road again? I have yet to look at the tires, but what do they run? The batteries are dead. Is it possible for your average shadetree mechanic to work on these, or do we bring the local CAT man out? Thanks for any help offered.

I would start by taking the injectors out and putting in 5 oz of marvel mystery oil down each hole, you wont believe how much easier this makes it on a motor after long spans of time since any attention.Youll want to let it soak a couple of days then get rags over the holes and turn the motor over several times to purge out the oil ,messy job .Put the injectors back in ,prime your fuel ,hot battery ,and give her a whirl .Sounds like a nice project.I would look it over real closely to see if anyones been digging around the motor for history of fault,what was its reason for being a parker would be my first reaction.See if you can get some feedback about who last looked at the coach. Good luck.

That will be very difficult if the engine uses the HEUI (Hydraulic Electronic Unit Injection) system.

Rust is the primary concern. The cylinders are bare unprotected metal and if a cylinder's valve was open then it was exposed to atmosphere moisture.

I'd put a bore scope into each cylinder and make sure there is no rust damage before trying to turn the engine.

In any case, if you can afford to have a CAT expert look it over in person it would be best to have him/her give you the OK to start it.

Diesels seldom seize sitting for long periods. Your climate is even better for this. I would do the miracle mystery oil soak as well . Somehow get a sample of fuel out and check it for quality visually. If the fuel is clear and clean fire it up for a few minutes. First before actual starting use the starter with the engine disabled. Just to get some oil up into everything before the operational loading of actual running is applied.
A good time for that is when the injectors are out and you are turning over the engine to blow any residual marvel oil from the chambers. The starter will feel little load with those injectors out. You should easily see oil pressure with the starter. I then would probably change the base oil.
Oh yes remove and check the air cleaner for little critters that may have moved in there over the years. You do not want to put a nest or something through the engine. Sixty k on the odometer? The engine is fine.

Thanks for your help guys. I will check to see if it has the system forced mentioned, and go from there. I might just get the CAT man over there to take a look, as this is most definetaly a MB diesel. As for why it was parked, my grandpa used it to travel to golf courses around the country. He has been a smoker for 50+ years, and when he could no longer play golf he parked it in his backyard.

Here's a link to the Yahoo Cat group:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/CATRVCLUB/?yguid=315991617

In our climate, I live in Arizona, rust is not really an issue even in the cylinders of an engine that sat for 6 years. Our humidity doesn't often rise above 6% and when it does, it dries out really fast around here. That's why it's a desert!:D I would try starting it with WD40 since this is a lube after making damn sure you are full of oil, coolant and all the other necessary fluids it needs plus a fresh battery!

Nice gift from grandpa! Clean it up and enjoy it. I'd bet your grandpa would get a kick out of seeing you tour the USA in a nice 37' motorhome!:cool:

One word of caution though. One of our big problems around here is desert rats love the taste of vehicle wiring insulation, so check this over as best as you can and make sure all your fuses are good and the correct rating for the circuit involved. Good Luck!:D

What model Cat engine is it? Could make a big difference in how you do a startup after long storage. Don

it is their C7 model, 330HP version.

I would not try to start the engine on the fuel in the tank. Run a hose from the primary filter inlet to a bucket of diesel fuel. If this engine has a hand primer or an electric fuel pump I would do a really good job off flusing out the Fuel Injection system with a lot of clean fuel.
Also do a search through the Motor Mome and see if the parts manuals are in there.
OOPS!
I did an internt seach and came up with some pictures of the engine. I did not see any fuel injection pump hanging outside of the engine so I am assuming it has some other type of injection; unit or common rail. But I did see a really big hand primer pump on the secondary filter housing to help flush some clean fuel through the system.

Maybe a cat expert can chase the rats away

CAT = $$$

I had a feeling that CAT=$$$, we will see.

the engine will be fine. pull the injectors, squirt some oil in there, turn the engine over to blow the crap out. Do all fluids and filters and fire er up. should run like a dream.

What's the CAT guy going to tell you? You need to pull the head and have all the surface rust treated with a hone? Thats about the only thing you can do other than just squirting some oil in there. So, before you waste any money on getting a CAT tech out there, personally, I would just do the oil thing like others have suggested.