STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21400: Sacremento Swan Song To The Saga

February 13, 2006 on 10:07 pm | In On The Road |

After lounging at the Flying J in Ripon, CA all day yesterday, I drove back to the Lathrop terminal and went to bed.
This morning, the 13th, I went to the Service Desk at the shop at 0700. I was told that the Detroit mechanic doesn’t start until 0800. When he arrived, he said that he was swamped, and called the Detroit shop in Sacremento. They gave me directions, and off I went. I arrived at about 0900. After reporting to the Service Desk, I was checked in and told that it would be after noon before they had a mechanic available. When the mechanic came, I took the MMM and evacuated the truck. There was no kennel for them, so I had to tie them to a fence post on a short tether. About 1500, I checked on the truck. I was told that they couldn’t find anything wrong. They had put it on the Dynometer, and simulated every possible driving condition. The mechanic suggested another ‘road test’. I couldn’t even get a hiccup this time. I had resolved myself to the fact that nothing was going to be done, and I would leave with the problem still unresolved. I went to the office and signed the paperwork. When I went out to my truck, the mechanic had a laptop connected to the ’single point’ connector. He said that my truck had version 36 of DDAC, (the software for the truck’s computer). He was trying to update it to the current version (39.1). I had mentioned to him in passing that the EGR system had been replaced last March in trying to solve this same problem. He said that if the EGR system had beed replaced, the ECM (Engine Control Module) should have been updated then. The download wasn’t working, so a more ‘computer savvy’ tech suggested that he connect directly to the ECM. When he went under the truck to hook to the ECM, he found one of the connectors loose (but still connected). He hooked up the laptop and did the update. I asked if the loose connector could have been the ‘culprit’. Both mechanics said that was possible. They said that the software being outdated was an unlikely cause, but with the EGR system being replaced, it was a possibility. Bottom Line: They may have “stumbled” into the fix, which isn’t really a fix at all, but something that should have been done a year ago. The truck is now ‘purring like a kitten’. Nice!! Three hours of ‘troubleshooting’ @ $105.00 per hour, and they didn’t even check the electrical connections!! They have to find it by accident. Good thing they did a print-out and discovered that my software was out-dated, or i’d probably still have the problem.
I called my DM with the news, had her re-set my PTA for 0700 tomorrow, and drove back to the Lathrop terminal. Now, all I need is a few long runs to recover from being down for the last 5 days.