Valve Adjustment

[jacwjames]

Many won't ever have to consider a valve adjustment.  On my 8.3L ISC it recommends a check/adjustment at 150 K, I have 125 K on my rig now so I might have to consider doing one. 

I am also a member of IRV2 and like on the Monacoers when certain people post I pay attention.  One poster I follow is Zmotorsports, who maintains a long thread on his Dynasty upgrades where he provides lots of detail and even videos.  So Mike just got done doing a valve job on his ISL engine.  Great info. 

Here's a link https://www.irv2.com/forums/f123/cummins-isl-overhead-631208.html#post6657319

Still not sure if I'd try this but based on the video it seems very doable for DYI'er

[Michael Powell]

I own the same bus and Zomotorsports has been very helpful to me and I'm sure many others..

Thanks Mike...

[Guest Ray Davis]

Most on here know who Mike aka Z Motorsports is over on IRV2.  Mike is so talented and makes things seem so easy he could cause someone to bite off more than they can chew,   I don't know, Mike may be lurking on here.  If he is I'm only saying good things, Mike. LOL   Nothing bad to say anyway.  Go look him up.  He has the only thread with 5 stars that I've noticed.   Not sure what they stand for but I think it's good.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/mods-upgrades-to-our-2003-dynasty-237276.html

[Ivan K]

I watched Mike's video out of curiosity,  very helpful to understand the ISL process. Those DIY with larger engines are in luck. Half of the steps he had to do are unnecessary for the ISM or ISX. No starter removal, no Jake and spacer removal and not even locknuts to remove. The intake tube is not in the way either, at least on an ISM. The rockers are longer and forged, not stamped and extend past the Jake body. I've done it twice already, all that is needed after the cover is removed (16 bolts), are 3 long feeler gauges, wrenches and a screwdriver. Injectors have always been in middle of the range and did not have to be touched. Intakes get tighter as expected so it will need adjustment, exhaust may or may not need very slight adjustment. Jake may need adjustment if exhaust needed it but mostly did not. The newer ISX is a bit different, overhead cam and may have a Cummins version of compression brake, not a Jacobs and the adjustment value is quite a bit different. Depending on access, it all could be done in a couple of hours easy, its just six times the same routine running in and out of the rig. Hardest part, physically, was turning the engine over. It's done on a pulley bolt with not much space for a long bar in my case. Did not have to replace any rubber seals but I replaced exhaust manifold and turbo seals while in there. That was much more work than the overhead. Mike has a video for that as well.

[zmotorsports]

Thank you all for the kind words.

I have just registered here after being encouraged over on irv2.com.  Evidently the administrators over there don't like us helping fellow Monaco owners too much so I figured I'd register here.

 

I think I'll kick of my time here by posting pictures and video of the overhead that I just completed on our Cummins ISL.

 

Thank you.

[Guest Ray Davis]

51 minutes ago, zmotorsports said:

I have just registered here after being encouraged over on irv2.com.

I was shocked that they let the suggestion of Monacoers.org get by,  I've had mine canceled before, someone was asleep at the wheel I guess.

[jacwjames]

3 hours ago, Ray Davis said:

I was shocked that they let the suggestion of Monacoers.org get by,  I've had mine canceled before, someone was asleep at the wheel I guess.

I have been warned twice about mentioning Monacoers to others.  I will send private messages to encourage people to join.

IMHO Monacoers is much more technically oriented both with the downloads section and other posters willing to provide solid advice and help. 

But I continue to surf both sites. 

[Guest Ray Davis]

1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

I continue to surf both sites

Me too, I don't think it's the moderators, they are mostly good guys.  Higher up must crack the whip occasionally.  I think they fear Monacoers, they are profit motivated and realize there numbers are going down which effects the bottom line.  Whatever it is, they need to reconsider their tactics.  

Edited November 14, 2023 by Ray Davis

[96 EVO]

38 minutes ago, Ray Davis said:

   Whatever it is, they need to reconsider their tactics.  

I don't see that happening Ray!

[Bill R]

6 hours ago, zmotorsports said:

I have just registered here after being encouraged over on irv2.com. 

Welcome Mike - I find your youtube videos extremely helpful.  

[windsorbill06]

Mike,   You will be a great asset to this forum.  I'm surprised you haven't been here for years.

There is a member on this forum (it's not Mike) that is also a member over on IRV2.  He has helped me many times and is very knowledgeable.    He became a IRV2 moderator for a very brief period of time, then back to a regular member. I honestly don't know what happened.   Maybe one day around the campfire we will hear the whole story.

[96 EVO]

7 minutes ago, windsorbill06 said:

Mike,   You will be a great asset to this forum.  I'm surprised you haven't been here for years.

There is a member on this forum (it's not Mike) that is also a member over on IRV2.  He has helped me many times and is very knowledgeable.    He became a IRV2 moderator for a very brief period of time, then back to a regular member. I honestly don't know what happened.   Maybe one day around the campfire we will hear the whole story.

Bill, maybe they refused to go thru the hazing process 😁! 

[jacwjames]

Their standards for being a moderator are pretty low

I've been asked to be a moderator twice so that's how low they'll go😄

[miacasa_2000]

Mike,   Glad to have you here  I watched your video on rebuilding the Webasto burner and have been a fan since.

Roy Mercier  2003 Dynasty

[Guest Ray Davis]

1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

Their standards for being a moderator are pretty low

I've been asked to be a moderator twice so that's how low they'll go😄

No Jim that raises my impression of their crew.   I want to be careful in those areas because some of those ex-moderators are now members right here.

I like to think an individual can feel free to speak if they want to and inform us about how it works over there.  No stigma should be attached.

[zmotorsports]

13 hours ago, jacwjames said:

I have been warned twice about mentioning Monacoers to others.  I will send private messages to encourage people to join.

IMHO Monacoers is much more technically oriented both with the downloads section and other posters willing to provide solid advice and help. 

But I continue to surf both sites. 

 

Thanks Jim.  I may be done over there as I got another private message this morning saying my comments about the site's moderation were not allowed.  All I said was that "my video was taken down by moderators because evidently trying to help others and make a few bucks for the time it takes and adds to projects doing videos is a big no-no, but the ads on the site every time I log in are ok."   It sucks after giving 14+ years of myself to end it this way and as you can see, I'm a bit frustrated over it.

 

I did do quite a bit of browsing yesterday and came to a similar conclusion that you mentioned about the Monacoers, that people here seem to be a little more technical which I think I will like and appreciate.  Seems to be more genuine interest in caring for our aging coaches here than over there.

 

One thing that has bugged me about irv2.com over the past few years, as well as the Monaco FaceBook page for that matter, is that there seem to be more and more "takers" than givers.  By takers, I mean they join only because they are desperate for a quick answer for something and then won't be seen or heard from again.  RV.net got that way years ago so I completely quit going to that site about 6 years or so ago.   Seems like over the past several years there have been so many new Monaco owners, as well as other more upper tier lines, but I seem to follow more the Monaco, Country Coach, Alpine and Foretravel groups than anything else.  It seems there have been more recent purchases of these coaches and people chime in to ask the most basic of questions and it was obvious that they did absolutely no research or investigating before signing on the dotted line for their expensive rig.   I have been dumbfounded on the number of questions on some of those formats from people who can't even open their owner's manuals before letting their fingers do the walking on social media and it's been quite a turn-off.

 

The little bit of looking around here I don't seem to get that feeling as there appears to be much more intelligently thought-out questions asked and what is more impressive is that more active participation and contributing.  Givers giving information and less takers if that makes sense.

 

I'm happy to be a part of the forum and hope I can continue to both learn as well as help.

11 hours ago, Bill R said:

Welcome Mike - I find your youtube videos extremely helpful.  

 

10 hours ago, windsorbill06 said:

Mike,   You will be a great asset to this forum.  I'm surprised you haven't been here for years.

There is a member on this forum (it's not Mike) that is also a member over on IRV2.  He has helped me many times and is very knowledgeable.    He became a IRV2 moderator for a very brief period of time, then back to a regular member. I honestly don't know what happened.   Maybe one day around the campfire we will hear the whole story.

 

1 hour ago, miacasa_2000 said:

Mike,   Glad to have you here  I watched your video on rebuilding the Webasto burner and have been a fan since.

Roy Mercier  2003 Dynasty

 

Thank you all for such a warm welcome.  I had heard of this site over the years but to be honest, I am not one to be on a ton of forums.  I like to have a couple/few and stick to them.  One such forum was irv2.com but it looks like that has now changed.  🤣

 

The other one that I am quite active on is garagejournal.com but those were the two I was most active on.  At one time I was on several Jeep forums and even a moderator on one as their technical moderator but then it got to be similar to what the RV world turned into the last few years with all of the idiotic and most basic questions coming up over and over and over.  I very quickly realized that moderator duties were not for me as I seem to not beat around the bush and say it as it is at times. 😏

 

I'm not one to bounce around sites and feel I try to be loyal to a site I belong to and take it seriously.  I really appreciate the sense of pride of ownership I have witnessed here in a very short time of looking around.  I want to be part of a "community" if you will where people interact with one another and contribute worthwhile information, especially when trying to keep these older houses on wheels running as they bounce down America's highways.

 

Thank you all for such a wonderful and warm welcome.

[jacwjames]

30 minutes ago, Ray Davis said:

No Jim that raises my impression of their crew.   I want to be careful in those areas because some of those ex-moderators are now members right here.

I like to think an individual can feel free to speak if they want to and inform us about how it works over there.  No stigma should be attached.

For current and past moderators of IRV2, my comment was purely in jest

The reason I declined to become a moderator on IRV2 was time constraints, I was in the middle of building my house and/or in the middle of a consulting job, I felt I couldn't commit enough time to commit to it.  So it felt it was better if I didn't agree to the position. 

[Guest Ray Davis]

2 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

For current and past moderators of IRV2, my comment was purely in jest

The reason I declined to become a moderator on IRV2 was time constraints, I was in the middle of building my house and/or in the middle of a consulting job, I felt I couldn't commit enough time to commit to it.  So it felt it was better if I didn't agree to the position. 

I know, I've never known you to say anything negative.  I appreciate your positive, lets figure it out manner.

[dl_racing427]

Mike,
Welcome to the group. 
I think you'll like it here, and I'm sure you'll be a great asset to us Monaco owners.

[VinceB]

On 11/13/2023 at 6:20 AM, jacwjames said:

Many won't ever have to consider a valve adjustment.  On my 8.3L ISC it recommends a check/adjustment at 150 K, I have 125 K on my rig now so I might have to consider doing one. 

I am also a member of IRV2 and like on the Monacoers when certain people post I pay attention.  One poster I follow is Zmotorsports, who maintains a long thread on his Dynasty upgrades where he provides lots of detail and even videos.  So Mike just got done doing a valve job on his ISL engine.  Great info. 

Here's a link https://www.irv2.com/forums/f123/cummins-isl-overhead-631208.html#post6657319

Still not sure if I'd try this but based on the video it seems very doable for DYI'er

I also have an 8.3 ISC.  At around 80K miles (IIRC), I could hear that I needed a valve adjustment. I took it to my mechanic and he heard the same thing. Sure enough, there were a few out of spec.  Why so early in its life?  Just one of those things I guess -but 150k is the max to not do anything.

[zmotorsports]

12 minutes ago, dl_racing427 said:

Mike,
Welcome to the group. 
I think you'll like it here, and I'm sure you'll be a great asset to us Monaco owners.

Thank you.  I appreciate the welcome and hope I can help as well as continue to learn.

 

9 minutes ago, VinceB said:

I also have an 8.3 ISC.  At around 80K miles (IIRC), I could hear that I needed a valve adjustment. I took it to my mechanic and he heard the same thing. Sure enough, there were a few out of spec.  Why so early in its life?  Just one of those things I guess -but 150k is the max to not do anything.

 

Not sure why other than either an anomaly during the assembly process OR excessive wear from something in the valvetrain.  It's been my experience that the vast majority of the time the clearances decrease under normal circumstances and only increase if there's excessive wear or possibly a fluke.  Good thing you caught it nonetheless.    

 

[VinceB]

7 minutes ago, zmotorsports said:

 

Not sure why other than either an anomaly during the assembly process OR excessive wear from something in the valvetrain.  It's been my experience that the vast majority of the time the clearances decrease under normal circumstances and only increase if there's excessive wear or possibly a fluke.  Good thing you caught it nonetheless.    

 

Agreed. You can bet that I listen very carefully now in case it is something that is wearing prematurely. I'm at around 120k now.

[David Pratt]

Mike,
Welcome to the group. I personally want to welcome your knowledge and expertise to our Group. I am one of the four Members who started this group back in 2004. We wanted a Forum that was more technical and to develop a knowledge base of information to share and help other Monaco Brand Owners with issues that come up with owning these beasts.

Bill Duckwitz was the Founder of the Monacoers Group along with Fred White, Rex Darley and myself as a Moderator. Bill, Fred and Rex have since passed away and I took on the ownership reins in 2018. I have a great knowledgeable Staff, Scotty Hutto, administrator, moderator and is our web site wiz guy. Frank McElroy, administrator, moderator and Tom Cherry, administrator, moderator that have a wealth of knowledge on the Monaco Brand Coaches. Frank McElroy also maintains our parts list and all the technical data  you can access on the forum.

There are also many members that have the expertise and knowledge and are always helping our fellow members with their issues. 

I look forward to your participation and expertise and I'm sure you'll be a great asset to the Members.
 

[zmotorsports]

On 11/15/2023 at 12:40 PM, David Pratt said:

Mike,
Welcome to the group. I personally want to welcome your knowledge and expertise to our Group. I am one of the four Members who started this group back in 2004. We wanted a Forum that was more technical and to develop a knowledge base of information to share and help other Monaco Brand Owners with issues that come up with owning these beasts.

Bill Duckwitz was the Founder of the Monacoers Group along with Fred White, Rex Darley and myself as a Moderator. Bill, Fred and Rex have since passed away and I took on the ownership reins in 2018. I have a great knowledgeable Staff, Scotty Hutto, administrator, moderator and is our web site wiz guy. Frank McElroy, Tom Cherry, Moderators and have a wealth of knowledge on the Monaco Brand Coaches and Frank McElroy who maintains our parts list and all the technical data  you can access on the forum.

There are also many members that have the expertise and knowledge and are always helping our fellow members with their issues. 

I look forward to your participation and expertise and I'm sure you'll be a great asset to the Members.
 

 

Thanks for the warm welcome David.

 

I am looking forward to being a member of the forum and hope I can contribute in some small way as well as continue to learn.

 

I watch and follow the WOG (Wanderlodge Owners Group) quite closely as I had a friend who owned several Wanderlodges over the years and was able to work on them for him occasionally.  I have always been impressed on their forum the shear wealth of knowledge and skill possessed by the coach owners.  I had often dreamed of being a member of such a world class organization where people really cared for and shared knowledge and information about their older coaches and it seems I may have found what I have been longing for.

 

Like many other owners of these older rigs, I am quite passionate about our coach and the work that goes into maintaining her.  It really is a labor of love and something few people truly understand or can relate to.  

 

Thank you.

[Happycarz]

Hi Mike, glad you made it to this site. After following you for a number of years, reading your how to projects and watching your YouTube videos, I know you will be an asset here.

Many folks will learn from your detailed pictures and easy to follow directions for maintenance work, repairs, and modifications. 

Years ago you described how you made Samsung refrigerator shelf retaining bars that just drop into place. When it comes to the top of your things to do, posting that here would be appreciated.