Valve adjustment on a rear bath Newell

[rheavn]

Several Newell owners I have spoken with have expressed interest in gaining access to the series 60 on a rear bath floorplan. I would guess that my experience may have similarities with rear closet models also. I was at Newell to have the valves adjusted, jake brake adjusted and injector height checked. I'll describe the process and provide photos.

Disassembly began inside the coach with the removal of a mirrored & carpeted board that is on the back wall of the rear closet down by the floor. It is velcroed to the rear wall of the closet. Removing it exposes a access cover to the engine compartment. Next go outside and remove the chrome air tube that runs left to right. Now remove a center section of the aluminum engine firewall. There are five phillips headed screws around the edges that are removed. There are also two 1/4" x 4" bolts on each side of the center section that hold the access door in place. Once the bolts & screws are removed, move the center section over to the right and set on top of the hydraulic reservoir. See photos #1,2 & 3.

Next remove four 1/4" x 4" bolt that go upward through a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" frame member into the floor access panel-see photo #4(only one bolt hole visible). There are 2 bolts on each side of the engine that are 20" apart. Both bolts on the right side are easily accessible through the engine access compartment. The left side is more challenging. Remove the coolant tank out of the way. Remove the closest bolt. Now get the skinny guy with the long arms to shimmy in between the left side of the engine and fan and remove the other bolt on the left side. Now push the access door into the coach that was behind the engine firewall center section-see photo #5. In photo #5 you can see the outline of the metal pan that surrounds the floor access cover that needs to be removed. The tech layed on the floor and using a boxcutter, cut out the grout on the outside of the metal pan. This was tedious and took awhile to cut through the grout holding the floor access panel in. Tech said as you worked on cutting the grout you could feel when you were through it. Got to remove as much grout in the thin line as possible to allow floor access panel to come out.

Now the uncomfortable part begins--prying up the floor access panel without breaking the granite floor. They pried from the rear using 1/2" blocks of plywood on the valve cover and from the right side. Prying from the rear was the most effective. As one tech pried the other tech continued to scrape out the grout around the metal pan. This process was slow, tedious, but successful as the floor access panel finally came loose--see photos #6, 7, 8 & 9. We are now 4 hours into the job. There is now access and no chipped or broken granite. Tech said it was the hardest he ever had to pry.

Photo # 10 is looking down at the open engine with the jakes still in place from inside the coach. Adjusting the valves, adjusting the jakes & cheking injector height took about 4 hours. Photo #11 is a polished up valve cover ready for installation--not included in the valve adjustment. Photo # 12 is the valve cover back on the engine and ready to assemble the coach back together in the reverse order of disassembly. The caulking in photo #13 was used in place of grout, looked great and should make removal of the floor access easier next time. Reassembly took another 3 hours. Total time for job was 11 hours.

Couldn't tell any difference in engine performance yet, but the jake brake now works much better. Before I didn't feel the jake working in the low position, now I do.

For those that do not know Detroit Diesel recommends adjusting the valves and jake the first time at 60,000 miles.

I will add the last three photos in a continuing post as I was only allowed to download ten photos. Sorry for the photo issue. The first 10 photos are now in the correct order.

I hope my experience will help others.......................210121022103210421052 10621072108210921102109210821072106210521042103210 12102210321042105210621072108210921102110

[rheavn]

Photo #11 is a polished up valve cover ready for installation--not included in the valve adjustment. Photo # 12 is the valve cover back on the engine and ready to assemble the coach back together in the reverse order of disassembly. The caulking in photo #13 was used in place of grout, looked great and should make removal of the floor access easier next time.

[encantotom]

WOW. lots of work to get that panel off.

when i did the granite floor in my 90, we used colored silicone instead of grout at the suggestion of newell. it worked great.

thanks for the great overview. how did they polish the valve cover? or did you do it?

it will be interesting to see if anything improves from adjusting the valves. did they say they were off very much?

[rheavn]

It was a lot of work, but doable. The colored silicone they used matched perfectly when it dried.

I polished the valve cover with Blue Magic.

Tech said the exhaust valves took the most adjustment. By the way the adjustment specs were listed on a plate on the right side of the engine. When I adjusted the valves on my Country Coach I couldn't feel better performance, but my mpg picked up about a full mpg. I'm hoping for similar results.

[rheavn]

I just got back from my first long trip after the valve adjustment & jake adjustment. The trip was about 1,700 miles. I felt no performance difference. My mileage was similar to trips before the valve adjustment--8.12 mpg. The jake brake functions much better than before the adjustment. Much better holding power in hilly terrain.

[Jvanloan]

I just had the valves adjusted on my C15 Cat engine at Ziegler Cat near Des Moines. They were able to remove the valve cover and adjust them without removing the engine access cover in the rear bath floor. The whole process took about four hours. The engine had about 34,000 miles -- about when Cat recommends. I've since driven about 1200 miles. It appears to have improved fuel economy by about half a mile per gallon or about 10%.

[rheavn]

Jvanloan,
You were very lucky that they had access without removing the rear bath floor cover as that was 7 hrs of the 11 hr job. On the DD series 60 the bath access sits on top of the valve cover with almost no clearance. Your improvement in fuel mileage is what I experienced with my Cummins in my Country Coach, but not yet with my series 60.

[Chester B. Stone, Jr.]

I am very impressed that a 1999 Series 60 is getting 8.12mpg. I have only put a few miles on my 2001, and I can only hope to achieve this outstanding miles per gallon. What is the secret?

[rheavn]

Cruise control on 63 mph, basically flat terrain and no wind. I was towing a 3,200 lb HHR My experience is that mileage will go up with mileage on a diesel. They are not even broken in until 100,000 miles and you should see a bump up in mpg by then.

[Chester B. Stone, Jr.]

I hope to have my valves adjusted somewhere in Arizona in early October. Access to the top of the engine seems to be the important issue. My Newell, #579, has the three mirrored closets in the back, not a walk-in or bath model. I would appreciate any information on how to access the top of the engine. Perhaps if I am able to open it up, it will be easier to take it to a Detroit service shop the adjust the valves. Miami, Oklahoma, is a long way to travel for a simple valve adjustment.

[TheCarabiners]

We had our valves done a few weeks ago. Our 95 is a rear closet also. Our floor is easy to remove. Just lift the carpet from the back and there are a few screws on the hatch. The back deckwall carpet can be pulled up and a small hatch opened there. Not a big deal at all. The folks with rear baths have a lot more issues.

[Chester B. Stone, Jr.]

Thanks for the post. Steve copied it to the other forum. Did you have to remove the center metal in the engine compartment, or did you get complete access just by removing the carpet. Great information.

[TheCarabiners]

The small metal up the back needs to come out. Not a big deal, but it must be done.

[Gone Busing]

We are looking at some different Newell's and it's nice to see pictures of the different things an owner might run in to. The difference between types of configurations for those of us tempting to do our own repairs or help with them to trim cost and time. A reference of things to consider before possibly going with a certain floor plan.

I don't know just my thoughts.