While driving our 06 Journey with a Cat C7 engine from Borrego Springs Ca to Death Valley last spring while going from I 215 to I 15 the engine lost power and we could not get up to highway speed. We pulled over shut down restarted and move off with no problem. Decided to have it checked out and stopped in Brawley Ca at Commercial Engine Service. They could not find any code or problem. Off we went and found that engine was losing power just pulling up hills. Went to Cashman Cat in LV. They ran complete check including a Dyno test. Again could not find any problem. We went on to Pahrump and eventually back to CO without any more problems. Last Thursday we were on our way to a club outing on US 285 in CO when we had the same loss of power as we had on I 15. Pulled off shut down restarted and on our way. Frustrated I called CAT RV tech service and talked with Mark. Ran the whole thing by him. End result he did not have and answer as no codes etc. were found.
Any thoughts would be welcome!
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John Cousins Longmont CO
2016 Travato 59K
Its a fuel delivery problem, or a temporary air restriction. Change fuel filter(s). Check lift pump. Air restriction has to be checked while experiencing the restriction by reading boost; loss of boost would indicate air problem. If all that shows no improvement, you could be sucking air into the fuel delivery line somewhere. I've seen that at a spin-on filter o-ring, but its rare.
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Baja-tested '08 2-slide 36' Alpine: The Ultimate DIY'er Project
Its a fuel delivery problem, or a temporary air restriction. Change fuel filter(s). Check lift pump. Air restriction has to be checked while experiencing the restriction by reading boost; loss of boost would indicate air problem. If all that shows no improvement, you could be sucking air into the fuel delivery line somewhere. I've seen that at a spin-on filter o-ring, but its rare.
EngineerMike is on the mark. A couple of other possibilities are a turbo waste gate sticking open or the exhaust brake sticking closed or partly closed and the act of shutting down & restarting resets this condition.
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Steve Ownby
Full time since 2007
2003 Monaco Signature
Thanks guys. EngineerMike, the testing done at Cashman pretty well eliminated the air leak. Also during the testing the fuel filters were replaced. Steve, you may have hit the nail on the head. Both times this has happened the exhaust brake has been engaged. I am going to talk with the Cat folks on Monday and see where we go from here.
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John Cousins Longmont CO
2016 Travato 59K
I had a problem a few yrs ago with a 3126 cat, I was unable climb slight grades on the interstate, Freightliner checked everything, all checked out ok, the sight glass for air restriction at the rear was up just a little it did not indicate a problem. They changed the fuel filter and air cleaner it solved the problem.
I have a Newmar DS with Cat 3126B , I think I had similar problems with multiple event similar to yours. In the end finally the unit defueled to the point it would only go 40mph. Turned out it was the oil pressure sensor for the Huey sytem. This shows up with a Computer flash as a high volyage spikes on multiple occasions! Have Cat printout all the vents stored in the computer. Part cost about $ 200 and labor of an hour!. Mine been running great ever since!!
Had a similar problem and it turned out to be the PacBrake valve stuck closed. I called PacBrake and they said that does happen and they provided me with a replacement brake free but did not cover the labor. Loss of power happened with the PacBrake on after going doen a grade and then trying to accelerate. Lots of black smoke (not enough air). Valve opened after sitting 10-15 minutes. Good luck.
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