Cat C7 Failure at 22K Miles in Gulf Stream Crescendo

[jclthei]

Hello all,

Recently took a trip to NC from TX in my 2006 Gulf Stream Crescendo, towing my wife's car. We got 123 miles from our destination and started puffing black smoke. Pulled over at Truck Stop, checked fluids, and everything looked fine.

Since the Truck stop didn't allow us to setup our RV, we slept in a hotel room. Went back the next morning for a mobile mechanic to diagnose and they never showed. After researching online, I replaced the fuel filter and the smoke turned from black to white.

Took almost a week to get it towed to Carolina Cat in Charlotte. After 2 days of diagnostics, I'm now informed there's 2 bad injectors and coolant leaking between cylinders 3-4. How is it possible to have a low mileage Cat C7 needing a replacement? The engine only has 22k miles, not a 22k mile trip.

If anyone is in the Charlotte NC area or knows a shop in the Charlotte or surrounding areas that would pull the Cat C7 and replace with a Cat C7 that I provide, I would really appreciate any and all help.

You can PM me with info, or to talk. I'm working from NC, thankfully, and have been doing a lot of research.

 

[sdmike]

I have a 2004 same model Gulf Stream that has been sitting in my barn for four years. Same crappy motor from Cat. All injectors had been replaced at around 24,000 and a new HUEI pump. At 27,000 broke down again with the same problems. Cat should have stood behind these engines and given a longer warranty to low usage applications like in motor coaches. All the commercial trucks and busses that had problems such as we are having had warranty coverage because they failed in the first year of service life.
I know that venting my frustration is not helping your problem. If and when you get your motor replaced, Cat's fix for the injector failure is a filter in the oil supply line from the HEUI pump to the injector oil supply rail. When the pump implodes (again) the filter is supposed to keep the metal scrape out of the injectors. This should/maybe lower the repair cost and down time.
If I get another coach, it will have a Cummins in it

 

[THenne1713]

Hello all,

Recently took a trip to NC from TX in my 2006 Gulf Stream Crescendo, towing my wife's car. We got 123 miles from our destination and started puffing black smoke. Pulled over at Truck Stop, checked fluids, and everything looked fine.

Since the Truck stop didn't allow us to setup our RV, we slept in a hotel room. Went back the next morning for a mobile mechanic to diagnose and they never showed. After researching online, I replaced the fuel filter and the smoke turned from black to white.

Took almost a week to get it towed to Carolina Cat in Charlotte. After 2 days of diagnostics, I'm now informed there's 2 bad injectors and coolant leaking between cylinders 3-4. How is it possible to have a low mileage Cat C7 needing a replacement? The engine only has 22k miles, not a 22k mile trip.

If anyone is in the Charlotte NC area or knows a shop in the Charlotte or surrounding areas that would pull the Cat C7 and replace with a Cat C7 that I provide, I would really appreciate any and all help.

You can PM me with info, or to talk. I'm working from NC, thankfully, and have been doing a lot of research.

How do you go from replace two injectors and a head gasket/ plane a head to a new engine? Sounds repairable to me?

 

[jclthei]

How do you go from replace two injectors and a head gasket/ plane a head to a new engine? Sounds repairable to me?

I had my rig towed to another shop. They confirmed there are 2 bad injectors and a bad head gasket. Labor alone was quoted to be $16k. My big question, do I invest the money into this rig or buy another one? With the towing, purchase price, registration, work done prior to trip, and diagnostics, I have roughly $45k in this unit. The 2 roof-mounted A/C units need to be replaced as well, since they cannot lower the temp when the rig is above 90F.
What would you do?

 

[jclthei]

I have a 2004 same model Gulf Stream that has been sitting in my barn for four years. Same crappy motor from Cat. All injectors had been replaced at around 24,000 and a new HUEI pump. At 27,000 broke down again with the same problems. Cat should have stood behind these engines and given a longer warranty to low usage applications like in motor coaches. All the commercial trucks and busses that had problems such as we are having had warranty coverage because they failed in the first year of service life.
I know that venting my frustration is not helping your problem. If and when you get your motor replaced, Cat's fix for the injector failure is a filter in the oil supply line from the HEUI pump to the injector oil supply rail. When the pump implodes (again) the filter is supposed to keep the metal scrape out of the injectors. This should/maybe lower the repair cost and down time.
If I get another coach, it will have a Cummins in it

This is where my mind is right now. With everything in my current rig, $45k, I was looking at Rigs for sale near me with Cummins engines. Since Cat is closing down their Highway/On-road services, finding a shop to work on the C7 engines is getting harder.
Just don't want to purchase another rig for $30-45k and have it go down after poutting a few thousand miles on it like this one did.