I knew for awhile that I had a small leak at my drivers side exhaust manifold. Talked to Stewart & Stevenson back in March and was told to expect the job to run around twelve hundred if no problems came up while doing the work. But, the guy told me to expect at least one stud to break during removal and that would push the price up even more.
I knew the mechanic that did the code read and ran the valves on my engine last year was somewhere around Dallas, so I called Paul Davis and got his phone number. This guy worked for Stewart & Stevenson for several years and knows his stuff around Detroit Diesel engines. Took the coach to him a week ago today. I also bought and delivered to him new manifold gaskets for both sides, new studs, nuts & washers, 8 gallons of Power Cool antifreeze ($20 a gallon) and told him to call me if he found anything else that needed replacing. We talked several times during the week. He wanted to replace both pyro probes and we found them at Buddy Gregg in Dallas, and new turbo tube clamps.
Now I will say that my engine has never leaked oil, and before I took the coach to him I cleaned the engine and engine compartment real good. Every time we talked he said something about how nice and clean everything was and it sure made the job go faster.
OK, all of that to say the mechanic called around noon today to say the coach was ready to pick up. Great, how much cash should I bring with me??
Well, he says, how about $450 bucks.
Dang, this guy does BOTH sides and a few other things for one third of what S&S wanted for one side. Yea, I can live with that.
So, if anyone around Dallas needs a good DD mechanic and is willing to pay below what you might expect, send me a PM and I will get you this guys info.