Drastic loss of power or throttle response - HELP

[firedoc]

Update:
Stopped at Brazels on Sunday (only traveled about 100 miles) with no sign of problem. But had developed a second problem when a leveler refused to retract. I have electric Atwood levelers and one stayed on the ground when I raised them Sun morning but the motor would run. Found I could raise the foot by lifting it by hand so must have broken a linkage or drive pin. Tied the leveler up so we could drive and went to Brazels. On Monday they of course were swamped so they couldn't work on my rig but said that the tie up looked safe to drive on and to call them when we were finished with our volunteer assignment (sept) and they would get us in and have the parts ordered. They agreed the leveler needed to be replaced. We have to hope that our site will be level. They did not have time to address the throttle response problem. We left Mon and went on to Anacortes and had the throttle response problem again. This time I noticed that the turbo was not spooling up, we got a check engine light and the engine derated. Drove it derated a couple of minutes as we were not in a spot where we could stop, the check engine light went out and everything started working again!!!!!WTH. Sorry for the length. Venting over.

[bigdog]

There is a Freightliner shop about 10 miles up he road from Brazels and another one in Olympia. Then there is a CAT shop,good one in Fife just the other side of Tacoma, a Valley Freightliner in Auburn and another one north of Everett somewhere. Good Luck..

[akeyzoo]

Add oil. I am about to post a topic later this morning.....

[firedoc]

Thought I would update.
We spent 4 months on San Juan Island praying that we could get home. After getting off the ferry in Anacordes the engine quit pulling and basically would produce no power. After 15-20 seconds it was fine. Pulled into Valley Freightliner in Mt Vernon a day earlier than my appointment and they worked us
In pretty quickly. Nice clean facility, very friendly, no hook ups but allow you to stay in the yard. Open 24/7! The first report back was that I needed a new HEUI pump. But they later backed off that and said they really could not tell what the problem was. Possibly a sensor that allows the HEUI to run at speed. They(and I) decided to change that sensor. 850$ later and the next day I was on the road, but no promises. Sure enough got into heavy Seattle traffic on 405 and it quits running. Stalled-dead stopped in the middle of the lane (slow lane with no room to move over on a hill) sat there for 2 minutes trying different thing, no go. RPMs would run up slowly but not enough power to even move the rig. Gauges all read normal. Turned the engine off for a couple of lonnng minutes and restarted it and it was fine!!!? Driving down the road now calling Freightliner on the cell. They said we were reasonably close to their shop in Pacific and to see if we could get there. They would send what info they had for them to look at. Drove about 40 miles to that shop with no problems but my palms were sweating and I was getting a head ache. The Pacific shop is not nearly so clean and not as friendly. They could not duplicate the problem but suspected the HEUI pump. I said I was not leaving there until something was done. They did not have a pump but located one locally and could get it that night. Spent that night in their lot (with power and water). Said they could get to it maybe 2oclock today ((Friday) estimated 2700$!!!. No recourse from other shop. And of course no assurance that the problem would be solved. Estimated 10 hour job starting after 3:30 (when it still had not been started) and can't stay in rig (obviously) when it is in shop so have checked into a motel. Headache is getting worse and have to go back and retrieve my cpap. I don't want to think about what my head ache will do if it's still sitting in the yard.
I'll try to update when my hand stps shaking.

[firedoc]

Further update for anyone interested. Had HEUI replaced and appears to have totally solved problem. Starting to trust her again!

[tomckeon]

Originally Posted by firedoc

Further update for anyone interested. Had HEUI replaced and appears to have totally solved problem. Starting to trust her again!

Hopefully congrats are in order! please keep us posted, been following this.

[firedoc]

Further update:
Made it home with no further problems. But seemed to be using considerably more fuel than before. Does some sort of adjustment need to be done after replacing HEUI?

[jhanan]

Before you did the HUEI, what was the state of the engine oil, oil filter, and the fuel filter.
Thanks.

[Cat]

No fuel settings need to be done after a HEUI pump change. There are some settings if they changed the injectors. When changing failed HEUI pump it is recomended that the injectors be removed and the high pressure rail be flushed, the reason for this is the HEUI pump when failing often generates metal which goes in to the high pressure rail. If the metal goes into the injectors it can make them malfunction and as a result the engine will missfire. They--the injectors do not have to be replaced when the pump fails- just removed to allow flushing. But the injectors have to be reinstalled in the same cylinders they were removed from. If new injectors are installed new trim files would have to be put into the engine ECM.

[firedoc]

Cat, thanks. They checked the rails and no sign of metal. I don't think they removed the injectors or at least not all of them. Doesn't seem to miss, has good power (for a 300) just seems to be getting worse mileage. Will be leaving in a couple weeks for Las Vegas, about 500 miles. I'll be sure to keep track of the mileage.

[firedoc]

Jhanan, when it first started happening we had The oil and filters changed. About 500 miles on it when we had pump replaced.

[jhanan]

I just changed my oil since mine started throwing codes last week. The oil was clean - there was nothing on the magnetic plug.....