V3 Shutting Off

[waytallwhitey]

Yesterday while on my trip home, the V3 shut off, I hadn't noticed if the green had flashed prior to this or not. I had been on the road approx 1.5 hours, so the system had been running just fine.

I called DFA and talked to Jason who asked if my red LEDs were lit, but since I was driving at the time it wasn't possible to check. I pulled over and shut the truck off and tried to cherck the LEDs on the side of the road, but because traffic was heavy and a trooper had stopped to help I chose to just get going again.

Once I was back on the road, the green light came on and stayed on for about 15 minutes, then it started flashing and eventually shut off completetly. This went on for the rest of the day and evening yesterday. During this time, I spoke to John at DFA and he suggested that I check my pre filter and advised that if I had water in my oil that the Donaldson would swell and not allow oil to pass through. I don't believe this is the case as the unit has run, it just eventually shuts down.

I just pulled the pre filter and did not see a significant amount of debris, it actually looked better than some of these screens I've seen on H-Ds and tractors. I hate to change the Donaldson prematurely, so I'm going to see how it runs just with the pre filter cleaned and blown out.

I should add I have just over 1760 miles on the V3 and I filter down to 1 micron

Any ideas???

[Fordnut74]

This sounds like either a restriction on the inlet side, or maybe a power problem. Like we discussed earlier please still check for the Red lights on the control cards with the system on. If you have no lights, you will have no system. Just keep us posted as to what happens through the day

[Clay]

I think Marv chased his tail around over this issue last week and it turned out to be the filter with low miles on it... A pressure reading would be nice here.

[waytallwhitey]

Just came back from ~ 20 miles; system came on, then flashed, then shut down.

This sounds like either a restriction on the inlet side, or maybe a power problem. Like we discussed earlier please still check for the Red lights on the control cards with the system on. If you have no lights, you will have no system. Just keep us posted as to what happens through the day

I just checked with the key on and engine off; I've got LEDs. I changed the Donaldson and have to put on about another 80 - 100 miles today so we'll see what happens; but if the filter is plugged wouldn't it always be plugged and not operate at all?

[Clay]

but if the filter is plugged wouldn't it always be plugged and not operate at all?

If its plugged and the pressure is borderline, you may see it come on at idle or low acceleration but go off under more throttle. Can you take a pressure reading now with the new filter?
If it reads low, you have other issues and now would be a good time to check that.

[waytallwhitey]

If its plugged and the pressure is borderline, you may see it come on at idle or low acceleration but go off under more throttle. Can you take a pressure reading now with the new filter?
If it reads low, you have other issues and now would be a good time to check that.

I don't have a fuel pressure gauge

[Jack_Toepfer]

I'm betting it was the filter.

[waytallwhitey]

I changed the filter and put on over 60 miles - so far so good. I had hoped to get quite a bit more out of a filter than 1700 + miles. I know it's all about filtering; hopefully once I have a centrifuge I'll see better results

[Clay]

I changed the filter and put on over 60 miles - so far so good. I had hoped to get quite a bit more out of a filter than 1700 + miles. I know it's all about filtering; hopefully once I have a centrifuge I'll see better results

I don't have a centrifuge and i see 8500 miles on filters normally....+/- 500

[waytallwhitey]

I don't have a centrifuge and i see 8500 miles on filters normally....+/- 500

I am obviously doing something wrong.....

[Clay]

I am obviously doing something wrong.....

Explain how your process works...don't leave out any details and we will get to the bottom of this.

[Marv]

Waytall, sounds like you're fighting through the same thing I was a couple weeks ago.

So far I've got 1000 miles on the new filter and no problems. We'll see how it does from here on out.

By the way, I've seen the system not work under a couple different situations. My last scenario was exactly what you described. Anything other than an idle and it wouldn't stay on. Eventually, it wouldn't even stay on at idle.

The first time I changed the filter, the system wouldn't unless the complete engine and V3 system was fully heatsoaked. Basically, the system would come on and after about 15 minutes, the light would finally light up and the truck would switch over. What I concluded was that until the oil was fully heated and at it's lowest viscosity, the system couldn't maintain pressure through the filter.

Just an FYI...maybe my experiences will help you or someone else down the road.

Thanks!

[waytallwhitey]

Explain how your process works...don't leave out any details and we will get to the bottom of this.

When I get the cubes home, they sit on a picnic table for 2-3 weeks for settling.

Next they are poured through a 600 micron filter into a 55 gal drum with a heater element in it. Once it is full, I heat it and let it settle out for a week. Sometimes I'll heat it a 2nd time.

The wvo is them pumped from that barrel through a 400 micron filter into another 55 gal drum with a heater element in it. This also is heated and settled. Both of these barrels have fuel oil vents in the tops.

From there the wvo is heated and pumped through a 3 unit cartridge filter, 25-10-1 micron into a 275 gallon fuel oil tank; this also has a heater element in it for ease of pumping into my truck.

Maybe time to go the water heater route???

I gotta say, the guys at DFA really go out of their way to help; I was on the phone with Jason then John trying to trouble shoot the problem. Not too many companies offer this type of support. I can't leave you guys out, either; I really appreciate the input!

After reading some old posts, I guess I did OK getting 1700 miles out of my first filter.

[greasyX]

Is the 275 gallon tank metal?,if so is it new.Don't over look any rust or "Crud" in used or dirty tanks,put a Golden rod filter in line after storage tank this will catch any over looked debris,thus lengthening filter life.I currently have 6,500 miles on my filter,I used to get 1,000-2,000 with oil not filtered enough.Good Luck..greasy

[Clay]

Waytall, with all due respect, your wasting alot of your time heating and filtering only to do it again...redundancy.
Alot of peeps use a series of step down filtration and i simply don't understand it. Skip to last process...heat it, settle it, drain off the snot and only filter it once through your 1 micron - i use a 5 micron but 1 is even better.
What kind of filters are these "cartridge filters"?
The 2 week settling in the cubies isn't nessecary either. Get the oil home, pour it through the 600 micron strainer to catch the chicken crumbs and then proceed to heat for 4-5 hours to 140* then settle till oil is cooled to 90 and filter while its warm. Settling time is also a cooling time. as the oil cools crap falls out of the oil so let it cool to 90* This should take about 12-24 hours depending on the ambient temps and if your drum is insulated or not.