Well, Ann and I are spending the night at Peterson CAT in Santa Rosa, Ca awaiting our new fuel injector tomorrow morning (so we are told). We have one replaced before in November 2008.
I have been following CAT's maintenance recommendations religiuosly, but have recently been advised to change. The first one was by the CAT dealer in El Paso, TX, who said I should be changing my oil/filters at 14,000 miles. CAT recommends 20,000 miles or yearly. I have an intermittent cylinder dropout for the last year, and finally now have a fault code. We have confirmed cylinder number 5 is dead.
Anyway, the shop foremean here, recommended I change the oil/filters at 10,000 miles. He said it had to do with the severe high pressure the oil gets pumped through the HEUI pump (3,000 psi). Specifically he mentioned the C7 and C9 engines. He said they were more prone to fuel injector failure than the larger CAT engines. He specifically mentioned soot in the oil. Anyway, thats what I have been told. I do know. I lost both injectors with about 12,000 miles on the oil. He also recommended that I change the fuel filters more regularly (5-6,000 miles). Says it very inexpensive insurance. Fuel Injectors run about $700 with labor.
Any thoughts out there?
Ken Sair 2007 Contessa (C9)