Putting the 800 Horsepower Cat C18 Diesel Engine Back Together. 

Loved this whole project. It looks like the owners were not too cheap to do it right, and imo lucky to have hired you.

Torquing It's like a lot of things, you can get away with doing it wrong 1000's of times, or you can have it go bad on the tenth time. Just because your uncle Billy did it by feel for 30 years and didn't have an issue does not mean you won't.

Tomaytoes- Tommattoes

Mom's worry about too much irrelevant stuff

30:00 Why not just...buy a mask respirator for painting?

Days off ? Holidays ? Overtime pay ? Don't do farming if you want any of those things lol

Hey Josh. I needed a C-18 ring compressor last year for an overhaul I was doing. I bought a cheap C-15 compressor and had my local machine shop open it up to fit the C-18 rings. Works like a charm and costs less than half of a typical C-18 ring compressor.

Looks like you've made a new friend. Working on a CAT while being pestered by a cat. 😊

Built from a bare block by a professional.....should be a good engine

The rebuilt engine sounds great .nice job you have done there 👍👍👍👍

Yeah they didnt check the backlash after my 2 million rebuild on a 95 5ek and my engine was whining when warm. They said and made me replace the air compressor. Didnt work, they said it was done and i was listening to ambient noise. I bought a stetoscope and yup it was the adjusting gear whining. Fixed it before it blew up the front. Mostly it was driving me nuts.

Guys at Pakistani Truck= Torque what??

Great job on that monstrosity of an engine🤘. There are so many procedures not found on a gasoline engine.

I’ve always wondered why Cat incorporated spacer plates, shims, etc in between the head and block on some engines. I’d love to hear it from a Cat engineer but I won’t hold my breath. My only guess would be that they found that certain designs were having unacceptable “gasket scrubbing “ between the head and block and using plate/shim designs alleviated the issue.That’s just a guess though.

You read the service data, then look at what the factory didn't do and think, yea would have been nice if you done that originally we wouldn't be here. $20 sealer, $2000 labor

If two hoses look like rubbing and there is enough room I'll use a P clamp on each hose then bolt them together. Keeps them separated

How long before we can buy ADept APE t-shirts? I know as a new business you've got lots to do besides shirts i just think because of your You Tube following you'd sell lots

As a truck mechanic it's great to see professional work I see bad workmanship everyday by ignorant people . Your work is like a breath of fresh air 👍🇺🇲🇬🇧

Had like 5 or 6 C13s break the bolts for the cam retainer plate. The bolts will have their heads break which will fall through the timing gears and some times break a bunch of gear teeth. I think it's from rust building up between the block and the front gear cover putting weird stresses on the 4 cam bolts. Just my theory. Pretty crappy job too because the cam gear is pressed onto the cam. So you need to pull the cam all the way out to get the full front cover off

My old man was, in my biased opinion, one of the greatest mechanics ever. When everyone else was done work and gone for a beer he was reading his service manual either out of curiosity or checking to see what he had in store for tomorrow’s project. Anyway, long story short, the extra by the book steps you take I appreciate immensely and are probably the biggest reason I watch your channel. As a side note I’d love it if you would come and overhaul my c-15 restoration/transformation to a c-18. 😅

I hope if you ever get a customer that wants to do it on the cheap you tell them to bugger off. I've learnt the hard way and when it all goes to shit guess who gets the blame

Hope the gimps in Mexico didn’t put any of the rings in upside -down. Cat parts ain’t what they used to be.

Congratulations on finishing up the engine rebuild for the C18!!!

Block plus plate on the bottom plus a 2 piece oil pan and a 8 piece gasket, what could possibly go wrong? Been there and did that on a 988H, it didn't leak😀I primarly do transmissions, engines are far to complicated for this old bloke. I did my time on 3306, early 3406/8 and D343's, 40 years ago.

May be a silly question, but can we put the duel oil filter/cooler set up on a C-15 road engine? There is room with my setup on a W-900 KW My thought was for extra oil capacity with 1R-1808 filters. Were a heavy haul outfit, and looking for "stock" solutions as to not make things look silly and not reliable, when pulling hard and trying to keep oil temp under 230f.

.014 + or - .010 is kinda nuts to me. They're saying 0.004 to 0.024 are both fine. That's a HUGE difference.

As far as I know, Cat is the only company using spacer plates under the cylinder head and as you mentioned, not on all engines. So why are spacer plates used on some engines and others get away with cast iron? I suppose when you consider the reliability of the 3406 and c15-c18 platform. Maybe I should be asking why all diesels aren't made like a C15...

Ever have a connecting rod bolt to snap after a rebuild after 2years / 100k mi. What would cause that? I've watched you rebuild c15 and I did it to what you do. Any thoughts?

Im not involved in the heavy duty equipment industry at all. I used to run bush equipment and/or drove logging semi trucks in the past. I just like Cat engines and think yer work is high degree of competency and enjoyable to watch. Id never go back to punching a clock, fak dat chit.

Get a proper respirator mask with the charcoal filters for painting, they will let you breathe without getting all the fumes. Those jock cup dust masks will just save you from blowing Cat yellow boogers later.

I try and replace all the self locking bolts in the gear train and all the bolts behind the flywheel. Replace the bearings/bushings in the front gears, if they have high miles or hours on them. 92U engines used the ring on the exhaust. Had an adapter that connected to the exhaust flange. The ring would get stuck over time and leak exhaust. You had to get a torch and heat the ring up. Then chisel it out of the sleeve. Once you got the ring out, you take the new ring and place it in backwards. Walk it all the way around the sleeve making sure it would fit. If you came to a hard spot, take a file and open that area up.

With all the shit and wrong parts I've gotten in the past few years I don't trust anything anymore. I measure and check everything some things twice.

Nice work. Is there a break-in procedure for a rebuilt engine like that?

That’s a nice shop partner you got there she’s a cutie. I’m sure she helped a bunch. 😂

Thats not a one ton gantry. its a won ton.

i really wanted to see the head bolts being torqued, those magnificent clicks

Hard to believe that a powdercoat company is 6 months behind? Might be time to open a powdercoat business right across the street from the existing one that works 24/7 and never gets caught up.

maybe this makes a difference or maybe it doesnt. but it was shocking to see you torque the first cam bolt without snugging the others up pretty tight evenly. you just went straight to the first one and tightened it up and torqued it. you done the same thing to the peanut cover. very surprised you do it like that.

I think you could make a ring compressor out of an old liner

Headed to a 3412E in a horizontal grinding mill. Over 20,000 Hours grinding railroad ties on that unit. Josh, I'd agree, there are a number of places that I trust my "calibrated arm" or just an impact, but the powertrain and drivetrain aren't on that list. I keep my torque wrenches certified, and use them on every engine.

Hey Josh, this is Walter, looking forward to meeting you in October, hopefully everything goes through so you can do my overhead!

It sounded so smooth when it started!

True, AGREEE! Always verify measurements, Always Verify Torques unless you love redoing it over and over again!

You're a pretty cool guy josh, I really enjoy your videos and your companions at the end. Safe travels wishing you the best.

Btw, those are not liners, those are the cylinders, they are not "lining" anything, without those you have a big hole....😂😂😂😂

ZK Mastertech showed a John Deere with split exhaust manifold with same ring style set up. Also gave him a pain in the neck for assembly.

Aussie Electrician here. Love the videos, Josh. I wanted to be a diesel mechanic or electrician when I left school. Scored an Electrician Apprenticeship and completed that. Still love big diesels. Working in the coal mines a fair bit, I still get my diesel fix there and your channel.

Happy to hear you mention the self employed business owner. I own my own business and have for almost 20 years. No paid holidays, no paid insurance, etc. It has its advantages, but it’s not for everyone for sure. Discipline is a must.

I used to work for a logging company that had two Morebark brand whole tree chippers. They had 1,200 hp Cummins engines. Those things were a beast.

Worked at Anchorage Intl airport, we had some of those in Osh Kosh snowblowers that only powerd the blower section the chassis had a c15. What a fun machine to operate! The c18 were straight piped and when the load came on they were singing a song! Always thought that engine would be cool in a truck.

Now that you are working for yourself I am sure that you have discovered that the nit picking know it alls have given you more attention. Keep digging and don’t let it bother you. At least they comment!

Mom should be worried about the fact that someone thought you needed a little kitty in this video! Ha ha i couldn't resist! Great work your doing my brother! Love northern I da ho! Here happens to be a novel idea, get yourself an actual respirator that fits correctly and don't use a dust mask when painting!

Love the videos! Do you know which c18 turbo model will directly fit My 6nz? Thanks in advance ☺️

Josh, do you have a method to remember where the bolts came from when disassembling an engine or component? Great video. Thanks.

Thank you for the goat!!!!

How has the journey been thus far since leaving the dealership? Seems like your doing ok.

if you where wanting a dust mask to stop solvent vapors look for the ones that have an activated carbon layer in them like the 3m 9923V ones

Hey josh this was relaxing watching you work and interesting but it's a shame there no footage of the grinder working

If you have a friendly machinist take a used liner and cut it down and put a taper in it and make a ring compressor.

The powdercoat shop was closed on Labor day😂

Also, I’ll bet you a steak that if you put a blanket on one of those cheap rolling tool trays that your four-wheel drive shop supervisor would happily hang out with you until she gets hungry again.

Man, as soon as it fired up you could hear that beast ran better. Awesome work!

Im just a diesel nerd that loves this channel and im thinking of getting into the industry

For the crane you could put different pins in at the bottoms of those struts so you could put a piece of pipe across and secure it with cross pins. That’d give you something to pull on and keep the frame of it aligned.

Looking fantastic Josh 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Enjoy your evening with all your family around you,Adept Ape 👍 WISE,Adept Ape Adept Ape,take care From Nick Ayivor from London England UK 🇬🇧 ⏰️ 22:36pm Good Evening

Take old liner to machine shop and they can cut a taper and square it up

Cat would have a hay day with there new particale counting checking technique of building components after you cleaned the peanut cover surface on the engine after installing it. Prep surfaces clean part install. No prep once installed on engine. Also I like to install timing probe while oil pan is off. Did you not set timing after?

Josh, quick question. Given the propensity of cylinders to flash rust just sitting there, what is your method of prevention? Light coat of motor oil? WD? ATF?

I go into a trans watching you work you are a master

Sounds like you need to go back and work for the dealer. There is nothing wrong with working for the person. Hopefully you can get back to and not mis a step. . . Sorry you had to work on labor day

Good work bud..I enjoy ur top notch work

Whats parts number on the otc turning tool sir

Great series Josh! Thank you.

all good videos take care again.

Like that filler gauge trick.

Josh is there a difference between the oil pump on the C15 and C18?

the twin turbos like these are the sickest LOL

The shop cat really loved you ❤️ 🐈

Thanks for another great video

15:54 That is a dial indicator, a depth micrometer is a different tool. I know this has been noted before. Do not want Josh to get into trouble with the machinists out there.

Nice job, Josh!😊

i have the same rotary tool from amazon. It's been working fine for me.

You may want to try the 3M 6002 masks. They come with different filters (i believe) I have some that filter VOCs , like solvents in paint. Be prepared to smell nothing even in the most smelliest areas :D

Hey Josh, congrats on finishing the rebuild, looks and sounds great. I’ve had one question for you since you did your video on your stint in electrical power generation. Why did you choose to get out of it and go to trucks? I work in EPG myself and feel so spoiled by the ease of working on a generator, can’t see why anybody would do anything else lol. Hope to see you work on a genset now that you’re out on your own!

On your point about painting and headaches, i found if you arent using a filter respirator, make sure the mask has a carbon layer. I had a job where i was rolling CARC paint on stencils, its real harsh stuff. Working around a container and other guys i could paint all 6 number stencils in like 2 hours and never had a headache with a dust mask that had a carbon layer, it might have been a N95, but this was 2018/2019 so i dont remember anymore

Cool beans! 👍

Does CAT recomend but NOT use silicone on the 3 corner joints? Like Toyota? All the Toyota guys just said, it's self undercoating.

Job, well done.

I remember when the coolant ferals had a copper squash collar instead of the plastic centers. When ever I had a front structure off, I would put silicone sealant on the two half inch studs for the fan drive. I've had too many 3400 series engines leak oil around those studs.

Great video series.

hopefully cat improved the oil return passage from the head to the block since the 5EK the epoxy fix just seemed a little cheezy

Jpaydirt says; you cannot trust a cylinder pack these days. or just about any part. The junk they are selling as genuine, can cause terrible issues.

Well done Josh.

Good job man !

good job man.

Nice work!

bonjour vous peignez le moteur caterpillar en jaune,mais quel est la référence de la peinture (ral) ? (merci)

Good Video

Good one !