Just one more Sol D thread

[Robyn]

Well winter is finally gone as is spring.
I had cold start issues with the Sol D again last winter and it was the worst it had ever been. Even at 30F some times the rig would not start unless the Sol D was warmed up with a hair drier.

Repeated calls to Remarq got me the excuse that they were temporarily out of stock and that new units would be available soon.
My replacement was to be shipped withing a couple weeks.

That time has long since came and went and repeated phone calls and Emails go unanswered to this day.
The phone is answered only by a recording and messages still go unanswered.

I think the company must be tummy up or they are just ignoring former customers.

Their web site is still up and running and the phone works but no answers.

Poor product, poor customer service and thats about the best I can say about this whole mess.

Sad too, as they could have carved out a nice little nitch market for themselves if they had done the job right in the first place.
Secondly they have repeatedly lied about the performance of the product and its overal ability to do the job better than the factory parts.

As the movie ratings go, I will give this one a 3 thumbs down :( :( :(
Sorry to be so cynical but for the price I paid, the sucker should have lived a good long time.

Nuff said

Robyn

[AndyL]

This really does seem to be the conclusion to what I once thought was a light at the end of the tunnel! Too bad, and good thing for Heath's 7 year warranty on his part.

Used spare in the glove box that I have not had to use in 4 years!

[TTM]

So did they solve the cold start issues at all? I'm in the same boat as you robyn. After a long winter up here with the old heat gun resting on the turbo/intake warming up the sol-d is getting old. I haven't even tried to get ahold of Chris at Remar-Q. Was hoping that they would have come up with some recall or something.

[Robyn]

I cant get him to return my calls since before New years.

I finally got a serious case of the chapped ass and bought a 5 foot extension cord and a heat sink kit and mounted the sucker down on the inside of the front skid pan and said good enough.
Burb runs fine now on a used PMD from the grab bucket at the pump shop.
2 for $25 is not a bad deal. One was junk so I returned it and got to grab another.
They just replace any that are on pumps they rebuild and toss the old ones in a bucket. Loads of good ones Im sure.
The one that did not work was wild, the engine started then smoked like crazy then screamed then died :eek:

Tried the second one and it works sweet.

Sure wish the Burb run like the 95 dually I just got. That thing is awesome.

[twaddle]

Hi Robyn,
I too have had Cold starting issues with the Sol-D and we don't get as cold a winter as some of you Guys (and Gals) in the US and Canada.
I always carry a spare Stanadyne PMD, this lets the engine fire up no problem then when warm I swap back over to the Sol-D and I have tried warming the Sol-D unit and that does get the engine started.
I have said for a while that this problem is a serious safety issue as it could leave a family stranded in severe cold weather conditions and still Sol-D have not offered me (or anyone else) a solution to the problem. So much for their 5 year warranty!!
But then our trucks all have voltage issues, don't they, Yeh right.

Our Suburban might end up being shipped over to Alberta when we move to Canada in the next few months, then we'll see how the Sol-D copes with a real winter.
Unfortunately I DO NOT have any confidence in it.
I hope Chris at Sol-D reads the forum, but I doubt it.

Regards

Jim
Biggar, Scotland
(Soon to be Alberta, Canada)

[Iain]

Good to see another 6.5 coming to Alberta, lots here for you to get ideas and parts off of. Good luck in the move from overseas to the Alberta wonderland. Based on what I have read about the Sol-D, you may want to leave it there......

Iain

[twaddle]

Hi Iain,
Thanks, we hope to be in Alberta in about two months or as soon as the house here in Scotland sells and I wind down the business (only a one man band so not much to wind down).
We had intended looking for a decent sized acreage south or south west of Calgary but the recent "Gold rush fever" that's hit the acreage prices in the area has led us to look farther north. Due to a job offer as a Heavy equipment tech on a mobile basis we'll likely end up either in the Whitecourt or Drayton Valley area.

Regards

Jim

[Mark Rinker]

Too bad. A little too little product, too late, it sounds.

Has anyone had a good experience that would like to comment? Especially anyone in cold climates? Bueller...Bueller...

[Robyn]

Mark
If you take the later units to Southern California they will probably work fine.
Ours did great except when the temp dropped down to freezing or below.
The first winter it had to get to about 25F or below before it had issues then this last winter is was even hinky at 30F.

Once I finally figured out that Remarq was full of !@#$ as far as the trucks having issues I just reached under the hood in the morning with a small propane torch and warmed the little beast a tad and boom, start right off even when below 20F.

The Standyne unit does make the truck run better though. Smoother and the power seems better too.

Ah well it was a good try even if it flopped. Just irritiates me to spend that much $$$ for a P.O.S. and not get even a replacement to try.

Robyn

[rjwest]

PM me, may be able to help...