Air cans, crimping and a problem with the Kenworth.

This Last week I have spent a lot of time online reading and watching videos about air brakes and air brake systems. I also spent some time in the shop taking apart air cans and working on an assingment that had to do with exactly what I had been studying.

New air can for both park and service brakes that I took apart to see what was inside.

  I have to say I jumped right on trying to figure out why the parking side of the air brake system on the Kenworth was getting air when the parking brakes were released. From my research and many of you tube videos previous to this assignment, I knew that the problem would have to be in the air cans. After a class discussion on the problem and how if the diaphragms in the air cans had been compromised then air would be leaking from the can itself. That not being the case I was however still drawn to the air cans for the simple fact that it was the only place I though the systems could be mixed.

The problem was air exhausting at a constant rate from both the Relay valve(above) and the ABS modulator valve(below) exhaust ports.

 With air in the system I was able to pinch off a few air lines to locate the the air can I believed to be malfunctioning. As you can see I did locate it and it was at the rear front right air can. After taking apart the air can I found that there was a small hole drilled in the wall separating the service and parking chambers, simulating a bad seal on the push rod. Problem identified.

I was also given the opportunity this week to crimp some air hose fittings as seen below.

 I think the main thing I learned this week was that it really pays off to do the research and understand the system to be able to find the problem and create a solution. Oh and also if you don't tighten the nut all the way when crimping, the insert will stay in the fitting. Learned that one the hard way. :-)

Week 6
Hours 150ish

A "clicking" near the wheel ends?

At the end of this last week, me and my peers were given the assignment of "finding the clicking near the wheel ends of the of the Kenworth in our shop when the key was turned on." Knowing that this clicking would have to come from the electrical side of the air brake system, I was immediately drawn to the ABS part of the braking system. After doing a little research, I was able to identify the actual valve making the clicking and researched the part number. This lead me to the Bendix web site where I was able to identify the valve/s in question as the M-32 ABS modulator valve.  Valve shown below.

M-32 ABS modulator valve Part # 300386N replace with Part # 801666

This is the print out of the service data sheet I used to help understand just exactly what was going on inside the ABS modulator valve.

At this point I began to remove the ABS modulator from the truck so I could get an actual look at the diaphragms, springs, ports and solenoids or the insides of the valve.

The delivery lines that go to the air cans at each wheel end per side.

 The first step was to remove the air lines and electrical lines connected to the valve

.

The supply line to the ABS modulator from the Relay valve.

The three pin electrical connector that supply's power to the solenoids.

After removing the ABS modulator from the truck, I began to take it a part.

This is the ABS modulator with the Exhaust port and solenoids removed.

The exhaust port cap

The two solenoids and there housing.

I think the main thing I learned from this assignment was what actually goes on inside one of these ABS modulators. Like how the solenoids are energized and move into the down position allowing the brakes to exhaust or how One solenoid is in the down position while the other is in the up position when the antilock application is held in position. There are lots of little details that go unnoticed and this assignment definitely clued me in on air brake and anti lock systems along with reminding me again that it is important to pay attention to small things and do the research and understand the system.

Week 7
Hours 180ish

Wheel Bearing Adjustment...

Over the last 2 weeks the main focus of me and my peers has been air brakes and air brake systems. To start of we were all asked to perform 10 wheel bearing adjustments and post about them and what we have learned.

This is a picture of the primary nut or inner nut being put on after wheel bearings and seals have been replaced.

After the inner nut has been tightened by hand the first step is to tighten it down to between 200 and 300 ft. lbs.

After the inner nut has been torqued down to spec (preloading the bearing), the inner nut will need to be backed off  one full turn and then torqued back down at 50 ft. lbs.

After the inner nut has been re tightened the spindle washer can be put on. You may need to re adjust the inner nut too line up the dowel pin.

Now the inner nut can be put on.

Once you have the outer nut has been hand tightened, it will need to be torqued down to between 300 and 400 ft. lbs.

The next step will be to test the free play in the wheel bearing adjustment. This will be done with a dial indicator.

The free play in the wheel bearing should be between .0005 in. and .005 in. the closer to 0 the better. 

I found wheel bearing adjustments to be very easy not too time consuming, it seemed I spent more time on getting the tire off and back on. I think what I will take away from this assignment for this part of the program is how important it is to preload bearings when called for, and how important free play is.

Starting and charging systems check, this was my main focus this last week. I was very sick the better part of the school week and wasn't able to attend class. So what I did do was watch countless videos on YouTube of people performing starting and charging system checks on various types of vehicles, tractors, heavy equipment etc. When I finally felt better, I decided to practice what I had been watching. I spent some time on Saturday at my moms house performing starting and charging systems checks on 2 Honda accords a Mazda 626 and  a Toyota camry.

This picture shows me testing the battery prior to any other tests to make sure I have a battery that is in a good state. As you can see the reading on my volt meter 12.98v is telling me that the battery is in a good state of charge.

This shows the one of the leads going to the pos. side of the alternator as I test the voltage drop across the pos. cable.

This picture along with the the one to the right show me testing the voltage drop between the pos. battery post to the pos. post on the alternator. Again I had a very except-able reading on the volt meter of .166v.

 This picture shows the reading I got while testing the voltage drop on neg. side of the starter and battery connection.Once again the reading on the volt meter of .024v is good.













Where are my gloves......

This picture shows the reading given while testing the charging voltage at the battery. 14.14v is again good.











I got to say by the end of the day on Saturday, I was feeling pretty damn confident in being able to test smaller vehicles starting and charging systems. However I haven't done a starting and charging systems check on a Heavy Truck, this will be my task for this next week.

Another thing I happen to do was take a 25 question pretest on Air brakes. I DID NOT PASS. 15 out of 25. So what did I learn? That I need to spend a little time in the books and on the web and figure out some of the things I don't understand about air brake systems. I can already tell that what I do know is only the tip of the what I don't know iceberg.






Week 2
Hours 14ish

It is nice too finally be back in class, summer quarter was fast and not a whole lot of hands on. So yes it nice to be back in class and listen to discussions and put my hands to work rather then just my brain.

In the first week of class there was a lot of discussion on doing voltage drop testing and finding parasitic loads using a volt meter and amp clamp. We also where shown how to do starting and charging system testing using a volt meter and amp clamp. after watching a few videos and watching Jeff show the whole class on a test board, I was feeling comfortable enough to go home and do a little testing on my roomates 1954 VW baha bug. Everything seemed to be in order except for the green death.

We also went over wire gauge sizes and looked at several different types of connectors and terminals. Below is a picture of some Weather Pack and Deutsch terminal testing leads I made in class. I was also able to practice crimping some battery cable ends.

I really enjoyed watching Jeff re-solder a circuit board for another students BMW. I have soldered many things but never a circuit board. Needless to say I think this is something I would like too and need to try.

Week 1
Hours 20

SPQ13 Owen

Here we are the week before summer quarter begins and I am very excited to learn. I chose to take the Anaerobic Digestion class under Scott Stidham. In preparation and out of pure nerdy excitement I have been doing some research on Anaerobic Digestion and other things related. I had many basic questions about a week and a half ago and now I probably have even more; but here is a link to what I found to be some really good and easy to understand basic information on Anaerobic Digestion.   Anaerobic Digestion Basics


Along with the basic questions I had about Anaerobic Digestion I also wanted to have a better understanding about Cooling Towers and Water treatment and it's use in HVAC. This is think to another website that helped me answer some questions.   http://www.csiontheweb.com/water.htm


Looking forward next week and hope everyone's enjoying there internships, if not see ya next Wednesday.

Week - negative 1, summer quarter

Hours 16-17 online investigation

SPQ13 Owen

For the final part of the spring quarter we were asked to do a Preventative Maintenance final project. We were to do a vehicle or equipment inspection/walk around. I chose to do mine on the 2011 Peterbilt.

I used a Preventative Maintenance Checklist For Tractors,Trucks, and Trailers. Here is the Link 

Hhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fextension.usu.edu%2Ffiles%2Fpublications%2Ffactsheet%2Ffm-21.pdf&ei=gQm2UZrKMMeoiALWoIGgBA&usg=AFQjCNF8NZdZTMJWiIN5b4yjBrOoAdRIYg&sig2=6gMD9MNtl_zr7JN_rzIGgw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.cGE

It took me a good hour to just check off what was applicable. I have a pic of me doing the walk around and will post when I am able.

Final Project

1. I chose to do Lube Oils, Coolant, Service Intervals, and Grease.

Lube Oils-

Engine - ISX15 - 485/cm2250
Oil Type- CES20081 or CES20078 15-40w synthetic,
Capacity- 11 gal. or as stated by Cummins High 12 gal., Low 10 gal.
Service Interval- CES20081 at 15,000 mi. and CES20078 at 20,000 mi.

Transmission - Eaton - FRO-16210C
Oil Type- 75-90w synthetic, however Roadranger says to use Roadranger CD50 or an equivalent E500 synthetic.
Capacity- 7.57 L. or 16 pints, but It also said 26 pints I am a little confused on this.
Service Interval- check at 50,000 mi. and change at 250,000 mi.

Axles - Spicer - RDH49
Oil Type- 80-90w synthetic
Capacity- was not able to find.
Service Interval- fill as needed.


Coolant-

Type- RP329 (ethylene glycol) or RP330 (propylene glycol) in a 50/50 mix with water.

Capacity- 26.5 L
Service Interval- Check level daily, change coolant filter at 500 hrs or 6 months and flush at 2,000 hrs.

Grease-

Type- Lithium based
Capacity- varies
Service Interval- Daily
# of fittings I counted was, 51

I do have 4 or 5 pics of grease fittings in different spots, some hard to see and others so easy to see you might just miss looking for others. Will post when I figure out how to get the on my computer.

Here is the link I used to find the MSDS for lubricating oils, grease, and coolant.

https://msdsmanagement.msdsonline.com/MSDSonline/Results.aspx

Last but not least I want to thank everyone who has been a part of my learning and understanding of some basic and not so basic Electrical, Hydraulic systems and now PM. Spring quarter was fun and knowledgeable. Thank You Jeff.

Week 10
Total hours I really don't know, 180 lab/shop hours, another 150 spent online investigating.