C 7 oil pan

I was referencing the Fleetwood Factory in South Carolina.
Also I saw the pan on our when we were having the oil changed in Decatur Indiana, after the Factory had fixed some items and before taking it back to Dealer, the biggest mistake in our lives to correct one of their mistakes and they wrecked it.


Sir,
The 3126 is very close to the C-7 with some changes. I know all about the C-7 and when it went into service. Our coach an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP, was close to one of the first Freightliner chassis Itascas WITH the C-7. The Chassis was built in OCT of '03 and the coach built in Nov of '03 and it was first put into service in Jan of '04. The C-7 has ratings of 300, 330 and 350 horsepower, in standard R/V and certain truck applications like Fire trucks.


The 3126 is not the c the 3126 versions are topped out at 330 hp the C& is supposed to make 350 hp and 800 lbs of torque.

Yes, you are right the C-7 IS NOT THE 3126 but, it's a very close brother to it. There are operational characteristics and, equipment changes on the C-7. And yes, the 3126 does have the greasable fan bearing while the C-7 is sporting the sealed fan bearing. Some like that and some don't.

The specs are close in both engines though. The Truck and RV versions of the 3126 show 330HP and 860 ft.lbs. of torque. That's the same specs as the C-7. It is odd that, all three versions of the C-7, 300, 330 and 350HP, all have the same torque.


The C7 superceeded the 3126 version, which also had a greasable fan bearing hub. Not sure of the year. Or maybe tehy replaced the entire engine with a 3126 as things do not look the same as original such as exhaust exit too low and when you would take of in the coach right after we bought it it would shoot out black exhaust and really scoot. The coach is lazy now.


Not sure what you mean when you say "they wrecked it". Are you saying that the coach was hit or, they backed into something? And if so, did they do enough damage that you had to have your entire engine replaced? Did they change the exhaust too? Was it routed differently than when you originally bought the coach?


So far, in the 7+ years we've owned the coach and, the 83,000 miles that are now on it, that CAT has done remarkably well. I do all my own maintenance including removing both the radiator and CAC to get at all the needed replacement parts like serpentine tensioner bearings, idler bearings, water pump tensioner bearings and, after 75,000 miles, I did replace that fan hub bearing. The original one was still spinning somewhat nicely, noisy but, nice. It was good timing when I did it.

I don't really follow a perfect schedule in oil changes. Mine usually end up at twice a year, regardless of the miles between them. Yeah, it might be a bit more expensive that way but, OIL IS CHEAP compared to a HEUI pump.
Scott

All I could afford wrote:
Ford gas V8 Engines from about 20 years ago had a problem with oil pan is rusting through as well. The problem on those installed in trucks and vans was that you had to lift the motor out or drop the whole front crossmember in order to change the pan.

I will say at least this oil pan should be very easy to change everything is almost wide open with no cross members in the way. I plan on doing it myself as we have a shop with a pit.

Ford gas V8 Engines from about 20 years ago had a problem with oil pan is rusting through as well. The problem on those installed in trucks and vans was that you had to lift the motor out or drop the whole front crossmember in order to change the pan.

FIRE UP wrote:

down home wrote:
The C7 engine is supposed to have a finned aluminum oil pan. Ours did. We discovered two years ago that when the Dealer wrecked it they replaced the pan with a bight orange steel Cat pan and probably explains oil vapor problems maybe no bafeling and designed for a water pump.
Ask Freigthliner or Cat they will tell you this is correct.
we have yet to find out who they had do it. It looks like our dime to correct it 3500.00

NO, it's not supposed to have a finned pan. There's a few zillion C-7s out there with steel pans on them. They CAN come with either one but, there's variable reasons for either. But, by far, about 99.999999% of the motorhomes out there with a C-7, have the steel pan.


Posted By: down home on 09/28/18 02:30pm

The C7 engine is supposed to have a finned aluminum oil pan. Ours did. We discovered two years ago that when the Dealer wrecked it they replaced the pan with a bight orange steel Cat pan and probably explains oil vapor problems maybe no bafeling and designed for a water pump.
Ask Freigthliner or Cat they will tell you this is correct.
we have yet to find out who they had do it. It looks like our dime to correct it 3500.00

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? "No baffling"???? "For a water pump"??????

Well, maybe you've not read the hundreds and hundreds of threads explaining WHY the C-7 CAN produce excessive oil mist from the blow-by tube. And it's NOT from "NO BAFFLING". The oil dip sticks were marked incorrectly and, unsuspecting owners would put too much oil in them, based on the style and type of oil pan. The STEEL pans are designed for a maximum of 19 quarts including the oil in the filter. The aluminum pans were calibrated for 22 quarts, including oil in the filter.

And, may I ask, what in the world does a WATER PUMP have to do with the oil pan? Nothing as far as I know.

With a bit of research, one can find numerous threads on folks that have re-marked their dip sticks, so they reflect the proper amount of oil to be installed after an oil change in their C-7.
Scott

I was referencing the Fleetwood Factory in South Carolina.
Also I saw the pan on our when we were having the oil changed in Decatur Indiana, after the Factory had fixed some items and before taking it back to Dealer, the biggest mistake in our lives to correct one of their mistakes and they wrecked it.
The 3126 is not the c the 3126 versions are topped out at 330 hp the C& is supposed to make 350 hp and 800 lbs of torque. The C7 superceeded the 3126 version, which also had a greasable fan bearing hub. Not sure of the year. Or maybe tehy replaced the entire engine with a 3126 as things do not look the same as original such as exhaust exit too low and when you would take of in the coach right after we bought it it would shoot out black exhaust and really scoot. The coach is lazy now.

down home wrote:
The C7 engine is supposed to have a finned aluminum oil pan. Ours did. We discovered two years ago that when the Dealer wrecked it they replaced the pan with a bight orange steel Cat pan and probably explains oil vapor problems maybe no bafeling and designed for a water pump.
Ask Freigthliner or Cat they will tell you this is correct.
we have yet to find out who they had do it. It looks like our dime to correct it 3500.00

NO, it's not supposed to have a finned pan. There's a few zillion C-7s out there with steel pans on them. They CAN come with either one but, there's variable reasons for either. But, by far, about 99.999999% of the motorhomes out there with a C-7, have the steel pan.


Posted By: down home on 09/28/18 02:30pm

The C7 engine is supposed to have a finned aluminum oil pan. Ours did. We discovered two years ago that when the Dealer wrecked it they replaced the pan with a bight orange steel Cat pan and probably explains oil vapor problems maybe no bafeling and designed for a water pump.
Ask Freigthliner or Cat they will tell you this is correct.
we have yet to find out who they had do it. It looks like our dime to correct it 3500.00

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? "No baffling"???? "For a water pump"??????

Well, maybe you've not read the hundreds and hundreds of threads explaining WHY the C-7 CAN produce excessive oil mist from the blow-by tube. And it's NOT from "NO BAFFLING". The oil dip sticks were marked incorrectly and, unsuspecting owners would put too much oil in them, based on the style and type of oil pan. The STEEL pans are designed for a maximum of 19 quarts including the oil in the filter. The aluminum pans were calibrated for 22 quarts, including oil in the filter.

And, may I ask, what in the world does a WATER PUMP have to do with the oil pan? Nothing as far as I know.

With a bit of research, one can find numerous threads on folks that have re-marked their dip sticks, so they reflect the proper amount of oil to be installed after an oil change in their C-7.
Scott

Actually Caterpillar offered two different pans with the 3126 and C7.

A shallow pan (stamped steel) and a deep pan (ribbed aluminum).

SMC was one of the few to order the engines with the deep pan.

Most others used the shallow pan.

The C7 engine is supposed to have a finned aluminum oil pan. Ours did. We discovered two years ago that when the Dealer wrecked it they replaced the pan with a bight orange steel Cat pan and probably explains oil vapor problems maybe no bafeling and designed for a water pump.
Ask Freigthliner or Cat they will tell you this is correct.
we have yet to find out who they had do it. It looks like our dime to correct it 3500.00

tinkerer wrote:
About 3 years ago I posted a picture of my badly corroded oil pan on my C7 Cat. Well back then I removed as much rust as I could without taking the pan off and coated it with a epoxy product from an automotive store. This summer I thought the drain plug was dripping. Well I went to change the oil yesterday and no it wasn't the drain plug but a leak on the oil pan near the drain plug. I found any aftermarket oil pan and saved about $150.00 over a Cat oil pan which had a really poor paint job to begin with. So if you have a stamped metal oil pan, keep an eye on it. I was afraid it would develop a bad leak while I was traveling and starve the engine on oil leading to some really expensive repair.;)

Well,
Sorry to hear about that. When we purchased our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon with the CAT C-7 330HP over 7 years ago, it too had some severe rust on it. I did a quick search and a couple of phone calls. The local CAT dealer near us had one in stock, as well as the gasket. Good thing I was sitting down when he told me the price, $400 for the pan and, another $90 for the gasket.

So, I figured what the heck, ain't gonna hurt anything any worse if I try and revive mine. So, jacked up the coach and went to work. After about a couple of hours of scraping, sanding, wire brushing, air die grinder work and more, and, a few wipe downs with some Lacquer thinner, I was ready for paint.

I made sure that pan was as prepped as possible for the paint, based on limited access to corners, around all the bolts and all that. So, out came some old yellow paint I had hanging around. I put a couple of coats on it 'cause that's what I had.

That was SEVEN years ago and, to this day, it's still in perfect condition. We don't run around in the east coast where all that salt **** is spread all over the place. Most of our trips and vacations are mid west or west. As for the "cheap" steel used in the pan, well, I'd have to doubt that. It's a steel pan, just like 20 bazzillion oil pans used on any and all engines for decades.

Why some CAT engine pans rust more than others, not sure. Maybe, MAYBE it has to do with the environment they're operated in, maybe not.
Scott

I'd post pics of mine before and after but, it so much of a pain to post pics on RV.net that I just don't bother.
Scott

I got a stainless steel replacement for mine here

Have only seen that issue on northern coaches, where salt is used on the road.

Helps a lot to use a hose to rinse under the coach after driving in those conditions (any coach, any engine)!