Cummins ISC Diesel Engine CAPS Failure

Cummins CAPS Assembly Repair from John Whelan on Vimeo.

This Cummins ISC diesel engine is in a 1999 Thomas pusher school bus. The engine died suddenly and eventually we found the drive failed in the CAPS pump assembly. Luckily the fuel injection shop we deal with had a core in the back room. We got lucky because the replacement of the pump assembly is around 4,000 dollars.

Most of the ISC diesel engines in our fleet have required a new pump. What happens is multiple engine codes that don't go away. There's a lot going on in the CAPS assy. It develops and controls the high pressure fuel that is distributed at the right time to each injector.

Running at 250 horsepower they are a great engine well suited for a school bus fleet. Other failures were injectors but not very often. The crank and cam sensors act up along with fuel leaks at the electric fuel pump. Our fleet only has 3 of these buses left and they are standing up very well for being thirteen years old.

The fuel pressure sensor in the CAPS accumulator was a regular failure through the years. Cummins did come up with a update on the sensor along with a replacement harness. It only takes 10 minutes to replace the sensor. I personally think Cummins has always been the leader in medium duty diesel engines.

I was an International DT466 fan for years until the emission and electronic version came around. Mechanical fuel injection can not keep up to emission guidelines and the old DT had to be scrapped. They were the best fleet diesel back in it's day but sometimes good things have to come to an end.

At present Cummins has the ISB which runs on DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) and besides the extra maintenance they are the most reliable engines in our fleet. They run seamlessly with the Allison automatic transmissions and the operators really like them for power and we like them for reliability.
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Cat 3116 Rear Seal Installer For Sale

This seal tool has been sold....thank you for your inquiries.   If you're doing repairs on Cat 3116 diesel engines here's a rear seal installer tool that we're looking to sell. In a previous post I mentioned that we no longer have 3116 engines in our fleet. This tool does it all if you have to replace the seal.

I got a new price from CAT and they said $500.00 Canadian funds

This tool is used so we will sell it for $125.00  U.S. + Freight

Leave a comment below with your contact information.

I have a post on this blog that demonstrates how this tool works.  Check it out HERE 

Cat 3116 Fuel Solenoid For Sale

Since we sold all of our Cat 3116 engines a couple of years ago we have no need for Cat parts.

This fuel solenoid is new...never used out of the box. The last price that we had on it was $355.00 Canadian.

We will sell if for $100.00 U.S. plus freight. Contact me in the comments section below and let me know if you're interested along with your email address. I'll give the first response priority.

These solenoids are activated with the key on and the winding pulls in the piston to turn fuel linkage on in the governor housing. They screw in and are sealed by an o-ring.

 Here is more information regarding the Cat 3116 solenoid on a previous post. There you will find torque specs and operational details.

Check out this link which leads to all of the Cat 3116 related posts on this blog.

Thanks for the visit ... please comment and share this post.

Allison 3000 Automatic Transmission Turbine Sensor Replacement

Allison 3000 Automatic Transmission Turbine Sensor Replacement requires removing the bottom module of the transmission using a transmission jack. The module weighs around 50 pounds so it's much easier to lower it down easily while feeding the harness through the access hole in the transmission housing.

The turbine sensor is internal and is easily replaced once the module is exposed. This code is not very common but it was plain as day when hooked up to Allison DOC software. You can view a graph while road testing and the turbine sensor communication dropped out while on the road. There are 3 sensors on the Allison 3000 models. The engine speed sensor, output speed sensor and turbine sensor.

All these sensors have to be working properly for the transmission to shift properly. They can be tested using an ohm meter. Depending on the ambient temperature the reading should be around 300 ohms. The video gives you an idea on what the module looks like when removed from the main body and where the turbine speed sensor is located.

The 3000 series are very durable and most of the problems were in the wiring. The plastic convoluted loom that the harness is wrapped in is deadly on the wiring insulation. Through time vibration causes the loom to rub on the wiring and eventually expose the copper wire to the atmosphere. Years ago we would run new wiring to a sensor because of the resistance caused by exposure to the elements.

The special wire was twisted and shielded that fixed a lot of communication problems, Using the Pro Link was the first tool available for troubleshooting. Now Allison Doc software is the only way to go. Also I have to give a plug to synthetic transmission oil which in the past I refused to accept because of the price.

Believe me it's well worth the extra cost. Our mechanical failures are non-existent since using synthetic oil. It lasts longer and does not break down in the heat. Our services are 3 years between oil changes. You can't beat that when in our case we're running 77 school buses.

Getting back to our turbine sensor code repair. When removing the module I want to point out that you need to remove the 32 fasteners by hand. The aluminum threads in the housing wear out..... especially the filter housing retaining bolts. It isn't a fun experience heli coiling the threads on these units. We have a Kent Moore tool jig to re-thread the holes which is the only way to do it. I use a speed wrench to remove and replace the bolts.

I hope you enjoy the video and please make a comment and share this post. Cheers!  

Mechanics and Corrosion

The most difficult job when finding an electrical fault is when corrosion is involved. It's hiding somewhere in a connector or poking through the wiring insulation.

So what is the best way to troubleshoot corrosion in the electrical system? One way is to search and destroy the problem by opening the loom and exposing the green stuff but that is frustrating and  takes a lot of time. However it's necessary to make a proper repair.


Another method (when you know which circuit is faulty) would be to check for voltage drop in the circuit that is not functioning. If you can hook up a volt meter at each end of the circuit and see if there is a loss of voltage when the circuit is energized then you can be assured it's a bad wire. Checking the resistance is another check that works.

In our shop we've been using a load on the wiring circuit in question. A regular light bulb (non LED) hooked up to the one end of the wire will tell you if there is a lack of current when the light is dim after energizing with battery power. The wiring is either corroded or frayed restricting current flow.

If you have money to spend on tools you could use "diamond logic builder" software for International trucks to see the circuits working in a graphic form on a laptop. You can click on a circuit and actually see if the load is getting battery power. The pin outs on all the connectors are at your fingertips. I've used this software and it's a great tool to have compared to digging through wiring harnesses with a hope and a prayer.