Volvo FL7 help

Update for Y'all.

Gerty is slowly coming up to spec. Inspection failed suspension pins and bushes, inspector meticulous wants her in factory condition it seems.... > $4800 worth of bits. Exhaust brake thingy is what is stopping turbo from breathing, $2020 for that. Hand pump for tilt cab has been confirmed as being too small for the job. Trying to source the right one second hand. Wiring all has to be reconnected as well to pass, probably a day's work for the auto electrician on fiddly bits. New beavertail body has been made and painted.
Hopefully in a week or two she will come screaming into a new life.

Well, thanks to everybody here we have a registered, functional truck.
Registration was actually easy, 30 minutes, 30 Tonnes, appropriate forms and we have plates.
Exhaust brake now activates (you hear it activate) but it makes no difference to the truck speed and the exhaust note doesn't change, so not sure if it is actually moving all the way to shut off the exhaust. I managed to check the turbo and at idle it spins away merrily, but going up the Gateway bridge with 10 Tonnes on the back she only gets 40 Km/hr. I noticed there is some side play in the turbo shaft, not sure if that has any effect at high speed that might cause it not to work fully. Somebody commented that the FL7 is the slowest truck Volvo made - 260HP, 21 1/2 Tonnes maybe that is normal performance. New body is great, dozer fits well, still have fuel sender issue waiting replacement sender. She is in Coffs Harbour now so out of my care.

The exhaust brakes do have an effect, but can take some seconds to pick up back pressure, but mostly at the higher revs. Might pay to have a look to see that the linkages are closing the flap fully, and that the internal gap on the back pressure regulator was set to specification.
Performance should be better than what you describe. If there are problems with the turbo it is most likely to start on the exhaust side - blades could be gummed up or damaged- and although it spins freely that does not neccessarily mean that it is delivering air at pressure. If you have an intercooler need to check that there are no air restrictions.

...and thanks Trackhappy for acknowledging the forum and its efforts to help you.....cheers

Well, thanks to everybody here we have a registered, functional truck.

Been wondering how you were going trackie!!

Another update for you all....

Gerty (Goldie????) has had a new A/C compressor and smoked her wiring twice, crunches gears going into (6th?) gear, throttle jams (replaced clevis, pin, lever on injector pump to fix that one). Cab tilt was eventually solved by changing the pump with a much bigger looking one, holds more oil and works a treat. Seems to use heaps of diesel but that is possibly because Lil Bro drives her near max RPM all the time. Turbo has been checked out as ok, and exhaust brake is pulling in but has almost no effect and the engineer said yep that's right.... A little more power was obtained by someone adjusting the throttle linkage whcih had apparently been wound back, but after fitting the bits last night all I can see they did was fit a cable tie to hold the push rod down instead of dismantling it and putting it back through the hole in the bracket where it should have run.

Still costing money, but useable at least.

Hey Mammoth, where do you set teh internal gap on the back pressure regulator?

Trackhappy,

Glad it is all working now. Old trucks always seem to cost money in repairs. I look at it this way if you got a new truck you would most likely be paying lease or loan. With an old truck you got to pay for all the replacement bits! No win!

You mention that it use lots of diesel and running it at max RPM all the time. Two things springs to mind. Using lots of fuel can be caused by driving style but also if the fuel pump/injectors are over fueling. Check exhaust and see what color it is. Should be clear most of the time and may only color up when accelerating.

As for running it at max RPM this is a good way of costing money in repairs and fuel. Find the spec's for the engine and note down what RPM is max torque and max HP. And run it around these RPM any faster will generally only cost money and generate no extra HP etc.

Have Fun!

The FL 7 has a later design of exhaust pressure regulator but probably doesn't differ much in internal design. The gap is a set and forget thing so you need to dismantle it. There is an outside chance that the diffuser (the bell shaped thing which the shutter presses against) has burnt which would allow gas to pass straight by.
These are a small motor punching above their weight in terms of horsepower so fiddling with the injector pump is not a good idea. The tachograph has a green zone (F7 so FL may be a bit different) from 1200 to 2100 for economy, after which you are eating into the fuel budget, and the red at 2600. Being in the bottom half of the green zone is better still as that is where torque is highest. Exhaust braking is most effective above 2100.
To deal with bad habits of another driver take a leaf out of car makers book - fit a spring to throttle which acts on 2nd half of travel so that only 1st half of travel gets used.

Bro has gotten used to driving her now. Just leave a little earlier for the job and enjoy the ride. You might see her lumbering around Coffs Harbour one day, beaver tail 8 x 4 with a 14 ton 'vator on the back.

Hi Guys,
Been quiet here, but got another issue popped up. Driving along, pre-select next gear, push the clutch.... no gear is selected. Have to go back and fiddle with the selector "switches" and you get to go again. Is intermittent but getting worse. I am thinking it must be the valves/actuators on top of the box. Has anyone had this issue or can offer some advice? Anyone got a parts list for this area of the Baby?

Cheers,
Glenn.