In response to Rjan’s comment about cold-start testing, yes, the Scandinavians take advantage of their climate to run outdoor tests in the winter, others sometimes use refrigerated cold cells, but these tests are mainly to establish startability in sub-zero conditions. I think it has been pointed out that in extreme weather its common to leave the engine running to keep it warm.
There is not much alternative other than to warm up this Roller. It needs a set of injectors at least, but given the problems Rollers caused doing the job it is hardly suprising that they don’t appear to have been done.
For the purpose of comparison, I started my truck and set off straight away a few days ago, it was -10c overnight, I had a light load in one trailer and the other one was empty, I was on flat ground and traffic was light. I won’t be doing it again, I’ll tell you that for free, it sounded bloody awful, the oil pressure was at 90psi (usually at 60psi) until coolant temperature came up to 130deg and slowly dropped to 60psi as the temperature came up.
Time wise, it was a good 5mins until it was at operating temperature and that’s with a winter front restricting ambient airflow through the radiator and intercooler, I was on and off the throttle as if it was a raw egg and even at the low GVW it took a stupidly long time to get up to cruising speed.
As I said, I won’t be doing it again, no matter what I read in a handbook or on a forum. I’m looking to get over 35,000hrs out of this CAT engine before I rebuild it, so I guess I’ll have to report back with my findings in 10yrs when that time comes, if I’m still around then.
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Everyones going to have differing opinions on this subject but all can say is apart from building up air pressure ive always just driven off with the engine cold. I did several hundred km’s in all my trucks, they were all used, some well used and then hard driven by me, F7/ F10/F12/MAN V10, F16, FH13 and i do the same with my bought new FH16. Apart from the odd turbo it never seemed to do any of them harm…
“Apart from the odd turbo, it never did them any harm”
Oh dear…
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“Apart from the odd turbo, it never did them any harm”
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
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newmercman:
“Apart from the odd turbo, it never did them any harm”[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
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All my trucks were bought used with many hundreds of km already on , its called wear and tear, no engine component lasts forever and the turbo is one of the hardest working components so theres no ‘oh dear’ about it really…
I’ve been driving artics for 31yrs and with the exception of a 6LXC Gardner, they’ve all been turbocharged, some like the V8 IVECO and Mercedes and the ACERT CAT had twin turbos, some were New, some were well past their sell by date, but I’ve never had to replace a turbo, never, not once. Actually that’s a lie, I put one on my Volvo a few months ago, but it was a VGT problem, not a wear problem.
Apart from my gentle warm up, I use all the performance an engine has got to give, I don’t labour or over rev an engine, but I do make them work, after the first couple of gears my foot is flat to the floor, I drive it like I stole it, always have. Still never done a turbo though…
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^
Well that is good to hear. Along with the odd turbo ive had to replace brake shoes, slack adjusters, actuators, springs, air bags, exhausts, radiators,hoses, injector pumps ect ect ect and most of all tyres but…never ever an engine or internal components. Maintenance takes top priority with top spec service items and premium tyres but ive always driven my trucks very hard, ive yet to find an unbreakable one… 
They haven’t made one that doesn’t break yet, I’ve had similar experiences to you, just not had any turbo problems except the over complicated Volvo. So far anyway…
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I do wonder when the last lorry with brake shoes was manufactured.
newmercman the new Volvo’s aren’t the most reliable trucks on the road, but you’ll find the culprit to be the exhaust+electronics, as in DPF system et al. Bought from new, ran on highway work, springs, air bags and radiators will not enter your mind until 800 thousand kms at least.
Funny you should say that miloden, both my Volvo and Peterbilt are on drums!
I also put a new rad in the Volvo a couple of weeks ago, it got damaged when they were putting a new head on the engine, of course they denied responsibility for it, even though it wasn’t cracked when it arrived and was cracked when my driver picked it up. For that reason I will never own another Volvo, no matter how good a truck Is, if you can’t depend on the dealer, it’s a waste of space.
Under 800,000kms on it, had two starter motors, an A/C pump and various other A/C parts, a heater matrix, a set of injectors and injector cups, new head, new turbo, countless emissions sensors and modules, other than that, it’s been fine lol
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Yes I must admit, technology over the pond didn’t really cross my mind. I do remember taking weekly trips to Manhattan from where I used to live in New Jersey, in a bus still powered by a two-stroke diesel, it was 2006.
newmercman:
Under 800,000kms on it, had new head,
What was the bill for that. 
Carryfast:
newmercman:
Under 800,000kms on it, had new head,What was the bill for that.
It was having intermittent starting problems, sometimes it started like an old Gardner, without the smoke. It needed injector cups, one injector and then they found that one of the valves had worn into the head. A week in the workshop and a bill for $21,000.
The head problem was the likely cause of the poor engine brake performance I’d been complaining about for over a year. Strangely enough it would’ve been covered under warranty if diagnosed when I first had the problem. Another black mark against the Volvo service network.
They only changed one injector, I would’ve changed all 6, but it got put back together before I found out and I’m sure I’ll be paying out again soon to have a full set put in when the next one goes. Another black mark for Volvo.
Then the radiator issue, after collecting the truck, my driver said it was leaking oil and coolant, the oil leak was the rocker cover gasket, the coolant was at first thought to be the incorrect fitment of the top hose, later we discovered the elbow for the top hose had a crack, it also had marks on it to suggest that it had been squashed (it’s plastic) I believe that the head came into contact with this during the replacement, the engine sits partially under the cab and the head needs to be angled down and then swung back to do this.
I put this to the workshop manager at the Volvo dealer and his reply was ‘prove it’. Not what I was expecting. Another $1,800 bill to get the truck on the road again. Add this to a premature EGR cooler and DPF clean and the fact that I lost the truck for a fortnight and paid out almost $30,000 to Volvo and you can see why I’m not impressed with them.
As I said, I’ll never own another Volvo and I will not even buy a wiper blade from the dealer here in Manitoba, they can FRO.
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newmercman:
Carryfast:
newmercman:
Under 800,000kms on it, had new head,What was the bill for that.
It was having intermittent starting problems, sometimes it started like an old Gardner, without the smoke. It needed injector cups, one injector and then they found that one of the valves had worn into the head. A week in the workshop and a bill for $21,000.
The head problem was the likely cause of the poor engine brake performance I’d been complaining about for over a year. Strangely enough it would’ve been covered under warranty if diagnosed when I first had the problem. Another black mark against the Volvo service network.
They only changed one injector, I would’ve changed all 6, but it got put back together before I found out and I’m sure I’ll be paying out again soon to have a full set put in when the next one goes. Another black mark for Volvo.
Then the radiator issue, after collecting the truck, my driver said it was leaking oil and coolant, the oil leak was the rocker cover gasket, the coolant was at first thought to be the incorrect fitment of the top hose, later we discovered the elbow for the top hose had a crack, it also had marks on it to suggest that it had been squashed (it’s plastic) I believe that the head came into contact with this during the replacement, the engine sits partially under the cab and the head needs to be angled down and then swung back to do this.
I put this to the workshop manager at the Volvo dealer and his reply was ‘prove it’. Not what I was expecting. Another $1,800 bill to get the truck on the road again. Add this to a premature EGR cooler and DPF clean and the fact that I lost the truck for a fortnight and paid out almost $30,000 to Volvo and you can see why I’m not impressed with them.
As I said, I’ll never own another Volvo and I will not even buy a wiper blade from the dealer here in Manitoba, they can FRO.
Apologies nmm I wouldn’t have laughed if I’d known it wasn’t a warranty job. 
Glider kit with the spec of choice has to be the way to go and if I was driving it it will be idled warm not driven off from cold. 
Unfortunately the gliders are very expensive, at least 20% on top of a new truck and it’s getting more and more difficult to find a donor truck for the engine and transmission. My CAT came out of a 2002 KW T2000, the price of that was almost as much as my Volvo is worth today, add the cost of rebuilding and the labour costs of putting it all into the new glider chassis and the cost of the glider in the first place and it’s a lot of money.
Now people with donor trucks are realising their value and the costs are going up, I found a 99 Freightliner Century with an N14 ■■■■■■■■ perfect for a glider, they wanted $45,000 for it, by the time I rebuilt it and put it in a glider it would’ve stood me in close to $300,000. A new 579 Pete with the MX at 510hp and an 18spd with full locking diffs, top spec interior and all the toys is only $180,000, it would take a lot of breakdowns for a glider to ever break even with that.
The only way it starts to make sense is if you’re trading new trucks every three years, when you buy the third one, the keep it forever glider starts to make sense in pure monetary terms, so as a long term investment it does make sense, but it’s very long term and it’s hard to justify.
I really want to build another one, but I don’t think it’s the right decision at the moment, but I’ll keep you in mind in case I have a change of heart!
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Sounds a little like ERF used to be, an option of an engine gearbox/axle from many different manufacturers. Surprised the truck makers themselves are not offering what the glider kit makers are offering although i do see they offer ‘pre emission’ engines without egr ect. I take it a kit form as such gets around emission regs?
Excessive idling is a definite problem on (narrow) boats, who use the alternator of the diesel engine to charge the leisure batteries when moored up. These engines can often idle for several hours a day, and bore glazing is a common problem. Some boaters try to counter this by sticking the box in forward, so that the engine has a load to work against, but on most canal moorings this is not allowed/possible, because it damages the canal bed/bank.
Diesel engines need a load, to work efficiently. Diesel generators run for hours (or days/for ever), at low revs, but never without a load.
Saying all that, idling a truck for a few minutes won’t do any damage. It may just waste unnecessary fuel.
AndrewG:
Sounds a little like ERF used to be, an option of an engine gearbox/axle from many different manufacturers. Surprised the truck makers themselves are not offering what the glider kit makers are offering although i do see they offer ‘pre emission’ engines without egr ect. I take it a kit form as such gets around emission regs?
Yes it’s a loophole in the emission regulations, initially intended to allow rebuilding of a written off cab/chassis, or to extend the life of a low mileage driveline.
Since the introduction of the EPA regulations a few clever people seized an opportunity and started to build gliders for sale on the open market. They buy glider kits from the manufacturer and engines, transmissions and axles from wherever they can find them, rebuild them and assemble them as a new truck. Some states will register them as brand new using the build date of the glider kit, others will register them on the year of manufacture of the engine.
There are no restrictions on operating them, except for California, they won’t allow anything that doesn’t meet EPA 2010 regulations on their roads.
In Canada it’s slightly different, you cannot import a new glider from the USA anymore, to build one you have to own the donor truck and it has to be registered as scrapped before you can register the glider. In a way this is better as you know what you’re getting, in an off the production line glider you have no idea of the history of the driveline, whereas I know exactly what my engine, gearbox and axles have done, even how many drivers it had and who they were.
The only downside is that it’s more expensive, I had to pay for the whole donor truck and pay to have it disassembled on top of the cost of the glider and rebuilding all the driveline components. In 5 or 6yrs it will break even with a new truck, until then it’s just an indulgence, albeit one that requires less maintenance and repairs, hopefully.
One huge factor is reliability, during my recent issues with the Volvo I had to call the company I work for and tell them I was unable to go to work, this happened three times in all and that causes more problems than that situation normally would as I pull two trailers, so they have to find two trucks to do the job assigned to me. If this was to become a regular thing, they will at some point stop dispatching that truck with two trailers, so it makes their life easier when I tell them the truck is broke again. That would cost me a lot of money in lost earnings and making money is why I play the game in the first place.
Blimey, i just read through that and I’ve almost convinced myself to get another glider. Time to sit down with the accountant I think!
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