Community Forums

StephenW · 10-30-2017, 10:22 AM

My neighbor just bought a new 40' Dutch Star and may have a problem with air filter vacuum on the 450 ISL. The filter vacuum gauge is reading 12 after only 2100 miles. He took it to Cummins and they pulled the filter and it was spotless, found no issues. Cummins reset the gauge and after the 18 mile trip home, it was back to reading 12. Runs fine.

His concern is that the past 3 Cummins-powered pushers he owned, including a 2016 Entegra with the same engine, all stayed at 4 on the vacuum gauge, even after 15k miles and there is something restricting the Dutch Star intake. The intake hose and gauge hose are not kinked. Any ideas?

Lug_Nut · 10-30-2017, 10:34 AM

Steve, These are indicators at best! I have had accurate ones and totally wrong ones. My current coach is of the later nature. The Cummins dealer said "Some work other not so well, we always remove and inspect the filter. I would not worry about it.

Peter

BonanzaFlyer · 10-30-2017, 11:47 AM

Can the shop measure the vacuum using an external gauge to ensure it is to spec?

Mr_D · 10-30-2017, 11:55 AM

Our 2002 DSDP ISC Cummins always read 15 as a minimum after being reset and run.

Present rig shows 0 no matter what.

Algoma · 10-30-2017, 02:42 PM

11 or 12 is the vacuum reading for a new filter. When it gets to 25 you may need to start worrying if you haven't changed it by then due to age.

Dutch Star Don · 10-30-2017, 06:59 PM

In 14 years of owning a DP, I've never even looked at or reset the vacuum gauge. They're absolutely worthless. If you drive under 10K a year, change the filter every three years. If you drive over 10K a year, change it every two years. Use a Sharpie to mark the date on the filter and forget about the gauge.

tom chelbana · 10-30-2017, 07:44 PM

We bought new a 04 Essex with 500 ISM and with a new a new paper filter the gauge would read around 18. After doing some checking decided to take some of my Pro Stock drag racing experience and built a air scope plus went with a K&N air filter. What a difference. Pickup 3 psi turbo boost, maybe 3 to 5 mph on 6% plus grades and now gauge reads around 5. If you have restriction numbers like 16 or higher with a new filter you aren't getting enough air to your engine. The problem on the Essex was to many 90 degree turns and going from 7 to 5 inch piping. Did this in 06 and have put 125K miles since change over. If you don't have high restriction numbers then you don't need to do this. No change in fuel economy.

StephenW · 10-31-2017, 01:00 PM

Thank you for the great information. I will pass it on and update this thread if anything changes.

spinn · 10-31-2017, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom chelbana

We bought new a 04 Essex with 500 ISM and with a new a new paper filter the gauge would read around 18. After doing some checking decided to take some of my Pro Stock drag racing experience and built a air scope plus went with a K&N air filter. What a difference. Pickup 3 psi turbo boost, maybe 3 to 5 mph on 6% plus grades and now gauge reads around 5. If you have restriction numbers like 16 or higher with a new filter you aren't getting enough air to your engine. The problem on the Essex was to many 90 degree turns and going from 7 to 5 inch piping. Did this in 06 and have put 125K miles since change over. If you don't have high restriction numbers then you don't need to do this. No change in fuel economy.

Nice Tom, willing to send a picture of the intake mod ?

Winepress · 10-31-2017, 09:36 PM

Dutchstar on a Freightliner chassis have a known duststorm issue. You can search the forum for this. During delivery, the driver may have idled in a dusty area, filling the filter with dust.

Carefree · 10-31-2017, 10:40 PM

We had the exact same issue when we bought our 2016 DSDP 4018 last year. I had Freightliner check the air filter and it was clean. They changed the gauge and it still read way too high. I finally gave up. Guess what? After now 16,000 miles, I reset it,, just for fun and the gauge now shows no blockage at all. As one of the posters said: They are crap. I will make it a routine to change the air filter every 2 years and totally ignore the gauge.

ptw · 11-01-2017, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carefree

We had the exact same issue when we bought our 2016 DSDP 4018 last year. I had Freightliner check the air filter and it was clean. They changed the gauge and it still read way too high. I finally gave up. Guess what? After now 16,000 miles, I reset it,, just for fun and the gauge now shows no blockage at all. As one of the posters said: They are crap. I will make it a routine to change the air filter every 2 years and totally ignore the gauge.

A reading of 12 to 15 is normal for me. The gauge started reading better at 10,000 miles I found there was a very small crack in the plastic. I bought a new gauge and now it reads 12 to 15.