Jmac

Hello all,

Went to my local dealer with 4 concerns today.
1. Tranny oil wettness (not really leaking/dripping) around the pan.
2. Dust cover to tranny wettness same as pan.
3. Broken lumbar support. Something snapped and I no longer have any lumbar support what so ever.
4. Bacterial "mud" in bottom of the fuel filter canister and all throughout the filter.
response from service writer.

1. expected with 78k miles on the clock.
2. same as above.
3. new back portion seat with leather...$900, b/c the lumbar portion can't be fixed, must replace the whole upper portion of seat.
4. blamed poor diesel quality due to the last 2 years of hurricanes in the SE US.

I left disheartened and disappointed.

-I know I can probably replace the tranny pan gasket. It will be the 3rd one on this truck!!
-I always use power service additive to the fuel and sometimes some bio con or similar product to prevent the bacteria thing.
-The dust cover to the tranny.. I'm at a loss, I don't know what's causing the wettness.
-Just shaking my head at having the lumbar thing break...I have no idea why that happened other than poor designing. I only weigh 218lbs.

Comments/ideas anyone???
sorry for the length.
Jamie

Its All Good

Jmac

on your trans gasket, when you changed it the last time, did you tighten it in a cris-cross pattern? also did you torque the trans bolts?

as for the trans cover, open it up and look inside see if its all wet inside, maybe a seal is about to leak.

now for the diesel problem, we have the same problem here in Hawaii, the humidity allows the alge to grow much faster. All I can say is keep putting the fuel additive. Maybe change the place you fill up your truck from try another fuel station, see if this helps.

itsallgood

Jmac

I did cross tighten the bolts to the tranny cover and used a inch/pounds torque wrench to the correct torque, 125 in/lbs. Maybe that's too much torque considering there was probably oil on the threads???

On the tranny dust cover, what type of oil would be leaking/seeping, motor oil or ATF?? I have looked inside and things looked relatively dry. I will take another look after a while.

thanks Jamie

Hounddog

Are you sure the bell housing wetness is not from the blow by tube?

rammtuff

1) at 78k I'd hope the truck has had a trans service. If it is not dripping I don't know why you are concerned. Fluids weep past gaskets when temps change.
2) See above. Is it dripping? No? Forgetaboutit.
3) Try a wrecker or an aftermarket seat company. Truck has 36k warranty. How long would you want the dealership to warranty your seats for?
4) I don't know what to say on this. I don't believe DC is responsible for the fuel you use.

Pretty minor stuff in my book. I think you should post your expectations of your truck so we are clear.

Hounddog

You sure the lumbar support is only had with seat cover and all? I don't remermber any seat part coming that way.If bottom frame ordered ONLY the frame came in and cover and misc.was transferd.In fact I never remember in dealing with numerous manufactures getting like a seat back with cushion,frame,cover etc.all in one piece.All had to be ordered seperate.I think I'd wantto see a fich picture of the broken piece and see if a seperate part number.More the likley the seepage on trans pan/engine bellhousing cover is from engine vent tube.Thats where it ends up.

Jmac

My blow by tube has been extended past everything so that's not a factor.

Truck has had 2 tranny flushes since I bought it new.

No dripping from the tranny pan just wettness. I was told by a cummins service writer that "any" leakage to any extent is not normal, and that everything should stay bone dry.

No I don't expect DC to warrenty my seat for ever, and I don't recall every mentioning anything about a warrenty with this issue, but when was the last time you got in your seat and it just simply broke. I'll take it apart and fix it myself with some epoxy, took it apart and found it was one small white plastic part that snapped causing the entire lumbar mechanism to not work.

Again I wasn't blaming DC for the diesel fuel gunk in my filter cannister. Simply learning as much as I can to avoid it happening. Is poor fuel what causes the gunk build up in the canister. The biocon stated it would loosen up the stuff and would probably build up on the fuel filter. My concern is will this stuff gum up the fuel delivery system or if I keep treating it, it will disolve away?

My expectations of this "Heavy Duty" truck are that parts last more than 2 years. When a very small plastic part breaks, I don't feel it should be $900 to replace.

Thanks a lot for your input

Jamie

J BODY

Most seats "don't simply break".....however you chose one with a electro/mechanical feature....that means failure is inevidable. Can you still hear the motor run? If so, you'll need to remove the seat, get the rear cover loose and you'll see where the accordian looking piece has broken. I did a temp fix on one awile back while diagnosing that prob. I used two fairly heavy zip ties to reattach the broken piece to the seat frame as the customer was going on a trip. It worked so well that he was surprised that he recieved a call to schedule an appointment because his part had arrived. He though I fixed it, it worked that well.

TRAVIST

Jmac. The dealer is correct in that the lumbar is serviced only with the seat back. The reason yours is so high priced is that you have leather and it will come with the seat cover as well as the pad and the frame. If you want to get by a little cheaper you can order this number which will come with cloth and then swap out the covers ZK691DVAB. As for the rest doesn't sound like much of a problem to me. Anyway hope this gives you at least another option for your lumbar.

Travist

Hounddog

Interesting its the WHOLE deal.Let a few fail under warranty and a seperate SMALLER repair will come down the pike.Oh well.

Jmac

Thanks All,

It's a mechanical lumbar support. You turn the **** on the outside edge of the seat and out it comes. I've checked my service manual and am going to try to take the whole thing apart tomorrow and try to fix the small plastic part that broke with heavy duty epoxy putty.
wish me luck and

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Jamie

rammtuff

You might also get a machine shop to make the plastic piece so it won't break again.

J BODY

whoops! my bad, the one I "fixed" was a cloth seat, and that lumbar piece is available separate.

Jmac

Hope Santa was good to all,

Well I had it all apart and used puddy epoxy and put the pieces back together that were broken. Let it dry for the hour it's supposed to. used a dremel tool to sand down the edges in order to let fit back where it goes. I should have taken pictures... Anyway the lumbar support, so far, is working flawlessly (which is a miracle considering most things I try to fix wind up worse off than when I started). If it breaks again I will fix it in a permanent lumbared position. And take pictures. Hardest part was rehooking the leather at the bottom underneath the seat top where it's hard to get to.

thanks
Jamie