Part Deux
Soon after fueling in Butte, the YLfO noticed the truck wasn't running well, and soon there was no turbocharger operation at all. A big truck engine with a turbocharger feels about like a regular car motor without a charger, and a truck without a turbo is a dog indeed.
Now next time you are stuck behind a big truck going slowly up a hill, consider this: It ain't no fun for the truck driver either. It is hard work driving a truck, even with power steering and air ride seats. Some of them even have automatic transmissions. But the rough ride is worse and the concentration required is more intense grinding up a hill. So the lady drove on for another three hours or so (in the middle of the night, even more tiring) and then shut the truck off at a rest area and went to bed. (Made sure I would have coffee first, though. She's thoughtful that way.)
When I woke up a couple hours later and started off the turbo was running fine. So now we know that A.) the problem is intermittent and B.) it is probably heat related, since twice now having it shut off for several hours to cool down has brought it back. Of course we kind of knew this before, and she suspected it would be OK for a while when I started, but the goofballs in Billings apparently didn't realize it. And oh, she also had sense enough to run it as far as she could and put me as close to Lookout Pass as she could. If I was going to lose power it would be best for it to be AFTER the passes.
And it was fine on both Lookout and Fourth of July passes. After that, however, it got progressively worse, and by Spokane it didn't work at all.
I called our shop from Spokane, and the manager told me there was a good Volvo shop there, so I took it in. No 2 day wait, no putting the truck in the shop and then ignoring it. Of course the first thing the mechanic did was go off to lunch, but within a half hour or so after that he had the problem diagnosed, and shortly thereafter it was fixed. And it has remained fixed. It was an intermittent exhaust pressure sensor. And I had a high degree of confidence it would work, and it did.
We couldn't deliver in Seattle until morning, so we spent the afternoon and early evening there in Spokane. Got to see Stochastic Jack for a bit, and meet his roomie.
More later......
Now next time you are stuck behind a big truck going slowly up a hill, consider this: It ain't no fun for the truck driver either. It is hard work driving a truck, even with power steering and air ride seats. Some of them even have automatic transmissions. But the rough ride is worse and the concentration required is more intense grinding up a hill. So the lady drove on for another three hours or so (in the middle of the night, even more tiring) and then shut the truck off at a rest area and went to bed. (Made sure I would have coffee first, though. She's thoughtful that way.)
When I woke up a couple hours later and started off the turbo was running fine. So now we know that A.) the problem is intermittent and B.) it is probably heat related, since twice now having it shut off for several hours to cool down has brought it back. Of course we kind of knew this before, and she suspected it would be OK for a while when I started, but the goofballs in Billings apparently didn't realize it. And oh, she also had sense enough to run it as far as she could and put me as close to Lookout Pass as she could. If I was going to lose power it would be best for it to be AFTER the passes.
And it was fine on both Lookout and Fourth of July passes. After that, however, it got progressively worse, and by Spokane it didn't work at all.
I called our shop from Spokane, and the manager told me there was a good Volvo shop there, so I took it in. No 2 day wait, no putting the truck in the shop and then ignoring it. Of course the first thing the mechanic did was go off to lunch, but within a half hour or so after that he had the problem diagnosed, and shortly thereafter it was fixed. And it has remained fixed. It was an intermittent exhaust pressure sensor. And I had a high degree of confidence it would work, and it did.
We couldn't deliver in Seattle until morning, so we spent the afternoon and early evening there in Spokane. Got to see Stochastic Jack for a bit, and meet his roomie.
More later......