10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

January 2006 - Performance Zone

NEVER GIVE UP!
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

Let me tell you a story about a man named Dean Cravens. I had the pleasure of meeting Dean at the Louisville Truck Show in March of 2005. Dean has a degree in Broadcasting but somehow ended up an owner-operator eight years ago. I learned that Dean is a persistent and patient man. He waited a long time to fulfill his dream of a powerful truck, but that persistence paid off.

Dean started his trucking career in 1997 and is now 47 years old. His first truck was a 1986 Freightliner powered with a 425B Mechanical Caterpillar that ran great. One year later, he purchased a 1995 T-600 Kenworth powered with a 425 horsepower 3406 Electronic Cat that did NOT run good. So in the year 2000, he purchased a brand new champagne-colored W900-L Kenworth powered by a 500 horsepower DD4 Detroit Diesel. The truck was beautiful, however the engine was gutless – I mean 25 mph up Sherman Mountain pulling a reefer grossing 80,000 lbs. With his foot flat on the floor, the fuel mileage was 3.5 mpg. Needless to say, Dean was upset. His first new truck and it would not pull a grade, let alone a mountain.

At this point, he was thinking it’s time to go back to broadcasting. Detroit Diesel checked out the engine with their computer and told him that everything was within specifications. To appease him, they reset the injectors and he was on his way – but the engine was still sluggish. His friend Chuck Wilson at Custom Truck Services in Delta, Ohio reset the overhead and the truck picked up a small amount of power, but Dean was lost. He wondered, “Where do I go from here? A new truck with lots of chrome and payments and it won’t run.” Oh, she sure is beautiful, but if it won’t pull a hill, it sure can be embarrassing.

Since the engine ran so poorly, his foot just rode the floorboard, and in 2004, at only 500,250 miles, the #6 piston burned. The engine was rebuilt in Bakersfield, CA. Dean told the dealership how poorly the engine ran and asked them to please try to help him with some power. After the rebuild, the engine still had no power, but the fuel mileage improved to 4.35 mpg. You see, like I always say, low power means low fuel mileage. This dog was as far away from a thoroughbred as you can get. Dean decided to make some changes on his own and went to a larger turbocharger. This modification helped him to gain a few horsepower, however his foot was still flat on the floor and the fuel mileage was still lousy.

While loading one day, he met another owner-operator by the name of Mike Perkins. At the time, Mike had a high performance Big Cam III Cummins which he built with parts from Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh. Mike now owns a Peterbilt powered by a 14-liter Detroit and it runs very well. So in 2005, Mike and Dean came to the Louisville Truck Show to see the Pittsburgh Power Performance Computer. Dean purchased one for his Detroit, installed it at home, and found that the truck did run better (and, of course, it pulled much better). About a month later he stopped by our shop and I went for a ride with him.

During our ride, I said, “Dean, this truck feels lazy to me,” and he agreed. So back to the shop we went, changed the turbo, and headed off for another test ride. It helped a little but not enough – there was still a problem. But we were out of time. His load had to be delivered and so he left, saying he would return in two weeks. This went on for about six weeks. We’d analyze, make some changes, take a test drive and still not get the response we wanted. It was very frustrating.

The next time he came to our shop, we installed a used DD4 ECM off of a Freightliner that we knew ran well, keeping in mind the fact that Freightliner and Kenworth do not always use the same wires for each sensor, so this ECM might not even run Dean’s engine. Well, she started, and then the low coolant buzzer came on. After checking the coolant and making sure it was okay, Dean unplugged the wires from the buzzer. We went for another test ride and we finally had response. You could feel all nine power levels of the Pittsburgh Power Computer and this Detroit Diesel ran like a thoroughbred – finally! She would get out in the hammer lane going uphill and just pull like a raped ape!

So Dean was on his way with a loaner ECM. We kept his to get it repaired. Not only were we able to get the bad programs out of his ECM, but we set the governor for 2400 rpm. Two weeks later, Dean was back and we switched the ECM’s. During the test ride, he took the rpm over 2000 and laid the throttle to the floor. Dean was ecstatic – power, speed and smoothness. He said that he had a tingling feeling all over his body as the Detroit Diesel powered Kenworth nailed him to the back of his seat. Mission accomplished. His truck now owns the hammer lane.

Dean, I must say that you are a Prince. I do not know how you drove that truck for five long years running as poorly as it did – and you stayed sane! You were a gentleman every time we worked on your truck, and you have the disposition that every man should strive to have. Keep up the good work.

If you have any questions for Dean Cravens about his truck, please feel free to call him at 419-779-0250 (if your cell phone can catch him). If you ever have the opportunity to have lunch or dinner with this man, you will certainly enjoy his company – and you too will have a new friend. This man is a true example of the phrase, “NEVER GIVE UP.” For more information about power and performance, visit www.dieselinjection.net today.