Diplomat_St_Poodles wrote:
Thanks Scott, Brett and everyone for your feedback.
I will have to confess I am totally un-mechanical. My late husband was in charge of that end of the MH. So I am not sure if the bearing is sealed or greasable. I will check the invoice and see if it says anything.
The access to the motor is terrible. Just getting the cover off under the bed is ridiculous. The access panel is not very big.
Now the good part is that the parts came in overnight. Arrived by 9:30 this AM. Was reassembled in a couple of hours. Took it out for a test drive. All seems great. Headed out to Quartzsite around noon. Everything seems good now.
Parts and shipping $899. I also had them replace the air filter while they were in there. That was included in the parts cost. Total with labour and taxes $1,660.
I have to say the service at Great West Truck in Needles was very good. They let us stay in the MH as we had our dogs with us and gave us power. They were efficient and the total cost was $80 less then the quote. So I have no complaints.
On edit FYI there are 108,000 miles on the motorhome.
Diplomat_St_Poodles,
Well, that's nice they got you all buttoned up and, you're moving along. Even those of us that ARE mechanically inclined, and have been wrenching since we were pups, breaking down is no fun. We really don't buy these rolling Kleenex boxes to work on, just have fun in them. But, it happens, (break-downs that is). So for those that are not quite as "schooled" in the grease monkey stuff, I can surely see the sense of feeling helpless.
As for your particular parts that were installed, I'm listing below, two different bearing retainers. Those are the main housing that holds your fan bearing in place. One, normally found on pre-2004 CAT engines, namely the 3126 model CATS, will have the fan bearing housing that has a zerk fitting in it, making it a lubable fan bearing.
CAT introduced the "C-7" version in or around Oct of '03 and those were destined for '04 and later coaches. They came in 330HP and like yours, a 350HP. CAT felt that since there was a high possibility of folks NOT LUBING the versions with the zerk, they decided it was time for a change. So, they came up with a "sealed" bearing that is installed in all C-7s, 330 or 350.
However, just because it's a sealed bearing, doesn't mean it's a PERMANENT. Many are documented as failed. The mileage at when they fail, is all over the board. Some as early as in the 30-35K range while others, say, in my case, I'm presently at 81K miles and mine is still spinning freely. I'm replacing it anyways.
So, to the point. If you'd like to know which they installed, and, you have an invoice telling you the part numbers of the components installed, here's the two part numbers for the lubable and, non-lubable. In my opinion, I'd bet my house that, since your running a 350HP C-7 CAT, they ordered and installed, the non-lube type, just like what was in there.
Scott
Lube type: 134-5690
Non lube type: 226-7914
