Many fleet operators make a point to inspect, diagnose, and maintain their vehicles on a weekly or biweekly basis. It’s because preventative maintenance comes with great benefits, the biggest ones being:

1. Less Downtime

Downtimes cost a lot of money. When one of your trucks breaks down, you’ll end up losing quite a bit of money because of:

• Repair costs
• Expenses for sending another truck to do the job
• Losses from a missed deadline

By maintaining your fleet on a regular basis, you’ll prevent unnecessary downtime because:

• There will be longer intervals between major repairs.
• Major issues like an engine rebuild take a long time to do. But, you can greatly extend the time between rebuilds by paying attention to the minor maintenance items.
• Regular maintenance and inspections will prevent small issues from cropping up or getting worse.

2. Extended Service Life

The more you monitor and maintain your fleet, the longer components will last. For example, if a truck is going to sit idle for a week, charging its batteries will prolong their life. Also, poor alignment and improper tire pressures often result in the tires needing to be replaced sooner than usual. Taking the time to perform minor maintenance can save you a lot of money in the long run.

3. Better Fuel Economy

To operate efficiently, it’s critical to maximize fuel economy. But, a lot of small issues can cut into your truck’s fuel economy. For example:

• Poorly aligned wheels
• Incorrect tire pressure
• Dirty air and fuel filters
• Worn fuel injectors
• Delayed oil changes

Each of these things by themselves take a little bite out of fuel economy. If they start stacking up, fuel costs can really rise. Regular maintenance prevents these issues from happening and perhaps doubling up on each other.

Doing a Visual Inspection

Routine visual inspections are just as important as doing scheduled maintenance to prevent issues. An inspection done on a weekly basis will help you catch any potential issues early on before they snowball into more serious issues.

Be sure to inspect the following:

• Tires for cupping or uneven wear
• Air pressure in the tires
• Fuel cap and Diesel Exhaust Fluid filler cap (if applicable) for proper seating and sealing
• Oil and oil filter for adequacy and cleanliness
• Air and fuel filters
• Fuel/water separator

Tools and Materials to Keep On Hand For Your Visual Inspections

To make the visual inspections go as quickly and smoothly as possible, be sure to have the following tools and materials in each truck:

• Tire pressure gauge
• Clean rag (to clean the oil dipstick after checking the oil)
• Notebook (to jot down any notes if needed)

You may also want to keep an inspection checklist in each truck to make sure that they’re adequately inspected at all times.

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As any truck driver will tell you, there’s nothing fun about a sudden u-joint failure. For this reason, experienced drivers know to inspect and maintain their truck’s u-joints regularly.

However, many drivers, and even some repair techs, don’t know that air suspension settings can have a big impact on u-joint wear and tear.

On most trucks, the air suspension system is designed to be self-adjusting. The air bags automatically adjust to changing load levels. It is possible to alter the automatic suspension settings by adjusting the ride height sensor valve. Drivers may do this for any number of reasons. However, manually adjusting the ride height is a bad idea for a couple of reasons:

• First, air suspension systems are designed with bag inflation limits in mind. If a bag is over-inflated because of a valve adjustment, the bag can potentially tear. Typically, this breakage will occur on the road and under load, which can lead to all sorts of secondary problems. Everything from a damaged driveline to a loss of vehicle control.
• Second, air suspension systems adjust ride height to ensure that key driveline angles stay within an acceptable range. U-joints in heavy duty applications are typically spec’d to have a working angle of between one and three degrees. If the angle is between three and six degrees, the u-joint will still function, but it won’t last long. Any working angle in excess of six degrees can cause excessive vibration and quick failure.

If a u-joint fails on the road, the damage be considerable. The driveshaft can be destroyed by spinning with one end free. In some cases the destruction of the driveshaft results in substantial damage to he undercarriage. Even just excessive vibration from a u-joint can damage transmission or differential seals and bearings.

There are a couple of easy ways to ensure that your truck’s u-joints are operating at the correct angle:

• You can measure the truck’s ride height and compare it to the specifications provided by the manufacturer. If the ride height is outside the normal range, and you suspect that the ride height sensor valve has been modified, it’s best to get the truck checked out.
• Use a digital angle gauge to measure the driveline angles. This can be done in less than ten minutes if the tech is familiar with the process.

Finally, as always, it’s important to regularly inspect u-joints for any signs of looseness or play. If there’s any doubt about a u-joint’s integrity, it’s best to change it out.

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On a Cummins engine, water pump failure can mean anything from sudden engine overheat to a literal explosion of parts off of the front of the engine block, depending on the engine in question and the type of failure.

Drivers and maintenance personnel should do regular maintenance checks and include the water pump in their inspections. Here are five things to look for:

1. Weep Hole Leakage

All water pumps on a diesel engine have a “weep hole” in the water pump housing that is located around the shaft, which may produce a very slow leak. This slow leakage originates from coolant that has passed through the rotating shaft seal. The coolant will “weep” from this location, which is generally found on the underside of the pump housing (when installed).

Although leakage marks from the weep hole do not always mean that the water pump has failed, it is typically a good indicator for shaft seal wear and is the easiest way to visually verify that a water pump is functioning.

2. Leakage From Mounting Surface

Like weep hole leakage, leaks from the mounting surface can be detected visually (in most cases). These leaks may be more persistent or obvious than weep hole leaks. They indicate a more imminent failure and a more serious mechanical problem with the pump itself or its seal to the engine.

3. Loose Attachment To Engine

Any time the water pump is exposed during maintenance or repair, it should be checked for its seal against the block. Physically grabbing the water pump and wiggling it by hand is often the way that a failing – but not quite failed – pump will be detected.

Some pumps will have a viscous seal that doesn’t leak much when operating, even when the pump is loose, but a mechanic’s hand grasping the pump and wiggling up and down or side to side will detect a slight movement. A loose pump is a failure waiting to happen as the pulley/gear will be out of alignment, causing shaft stress and likely changing the pump’s speed intermittently, which can harm the impeller blades.

4. Squeak or Grinding From Gear/Pulley

A loose or bad pulley or bad bearings will result in a grinding or squeaking noise when the engine is running. This is most easily detected when the hood is open and a mechanic or driver is standing in front of or beside the engine.

Few diesel engine noises outside of their standard rumble and occasional turbo whine will be heard in the cab, so it’s imperative to get someone to listen to the engine outside if failure is suspected.

5. Corrosion Inside Pump Housing

Less common, but no less telling, are signs of corrosion. Called “cavitation,” this corrosion happens when the coolant mix is not exactly right or when there is a vacuum leak inside the cooling system itself.

The introduction of air to the cooling system will often mean that the higher pressure created by the water pump as it moves the coolant around creates bubbles (“vapor cavities”) in the liquid. These then collapse with small explosions, which can pockmark metal. Those pockmarks, especially when they happen at the pump housing’s seal to the engine block, can then corrode and lead to serious damage.

Any sign of corrosion, including discoloring and a “rough” appearance to the edges of the water pump housing, are a sign that things may be going badly.

If you experience any one of these 5 symptoms and need to replace the water pump, be sure to get an OEM quality replacement like one of GMB’s heavy duty water pumps. If you have any questions about our HD water pump line, feel free to contact us!

The post Five Signs That A Cummins Water Pump Failure is Near appeared first on GMB North America, Inc..

If your Cummins water pump does fail, you have two options for replacement: a rebuilt/remanufactured water pump or a brand new one. There’s a lot of debate over which choice is better, so it’s important to weigh the pros and cons.

The Cummins ISX12 and ISX15 – available on the T680 – are the newest engines in a long line of popular and successful Cummins HD truck engines. Image copyright SASgrafix.

Rebuilt/Remanufactured Water Pumps

Pros

The two big upsides to rebuilt water pumps for a Cummins engine are:

• They are often (but not always) cheaper in terms of up-front cost
• Some shops are equipped to do most of the rebuild themselves rather than paying for a rebuilt unit off the shelf

This means significant parts savings for the engine’s repair.

Cons

While parts savings are significant and worth keeping in mind, there are also downsides to rebuilt units:

• A nominal warranty, if any at all
• A lack of standards in terms of deciding which parts are replaced, what tolerances are acceptable, and if exact fit replacement components are used or not
• Chances of failure are much higher than with a new unit

Depending on the quality of the rebuild, the water pump may have unexpected problems not noticed during the rebuild process. A bad impeller is not always noted on visual inspection, for example, and can lead to a less efficient unit that fails sooner than expected.

Another thing to note is that rebuild kits have oversized bearings meant to compensate for wear that’s been had on the shaft and housing. This can cause failure down the line as these bearings are often not a perfect fit.

Calling the wrecker is never good times. Rebuilt and remanufactured water pumps have a statistically higher chance of failing than brand new water pumps, all things being equal. Image copyright Alf van Beem.

Additionally, the blasting process that’s used to clean pump housings can lead to pitting and early corrosion issues.

New Water Pumps

GMB currently offers brand new water pumps for Cummins applications that are cost competitive with rebuilt and remanufactured OEM water pumps.

Despite a remanufactured unit’s new components, it’s still nowhere close in quality to a new water pump as the quality of remanufactured materials isn’t always OEM-spec. Remanufacturing a water pump with some new materials simply doesn’t compare to a new pump made entirely from new materials.

While it’s commonly believed that rebuilt or remanufactured Cummins water pumps are less expensive than brand new water pumps, companies like GMB are challenging that belief. New HD Water Pumps from GMB are often cost comparable to rebuilt and remanufactured water pumps, making them a superior alternative to buying a rebuilt or remanufactured unit.

What’s more, even if a new water pump has a higher initial cost, new units can offer cost savings down the road. The statistical likelihood of a brand new water pump failing are quite low compared to a remanufactured or rebuilt water pump. The costs of failure can be massive, as water pump failure can lead to extensive engine damage in a worst-case scenario. At the very least, water pump failure will lead to downtime that can be costly.

Many OEM-quality water pump manufacturers, such as GMB, are offering brand new HD Water Pumps at a price that’s less than (or close to) the price of a rebuilt or remanufactured Cummins water pump. Considering the costs are so close, the benefits of going with a new unit almost certainly outweigh any reason to go with a remanufactured or rebuilt water pump.

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