RDI Power is a diesel repair shop at 1665 Donto Way in Brooksville. We do not do general car repair. Our bays, tooling and training are built around diesel engines and the pickups, commercial trucks, buses and motorhomes they power, from Brooksville and Spring Hill out across Hernando, Pasco and Citrus counties. Every job starts the same way: find what actually failed and why, then fix it once.
How our diesel mechanics diagnose a truck
A trouble code tells you which circuit or system the engine computer flagged. It does not tell you why. Replacing parts against a code is how a truck comes back a week later with the same complaint and a bigger bill, so we treat the code as the starting point.
Our technicians connect with dealer-level diagnostic software, including Ford IDS for Power Stroke trucks and WiTECH for Ram, and go past the code list into live data and the tests that software can command. Depending on the complaint, that can mean comparing actual fuel rail pressure to what the computer is asking for, running injector balance and cylinder contribution tests, measuring boost and exhaust backpressure, reviewing DPF soot load and regen history, and testing sensors and wiring at the connector instead of assuming the part is bad. Mechanical complaints get mechanical tests: compression, crankcase pressure, cooling system pressure and smoke testing.
You see what we see. Every job gets a digital vehicle inspection with photos and technician notes, so a recommendation arrives with the evidence behind it.
Signs your diesel needs a closer look
- Hard starting or long cranking. Often fuel supply, air in the fuel, injector leakage, glow plugs or a grid heater.
- Smoke. Black usually means too much fuel for the air available. Blue points to oil being burned. White can be unburned fuel or coolant, and the difference matters.
- Loss of power or a derate message. Frequently an aftertreatment, boost or fuel pressure fault the computer is protecting the engine from.
- Rising oil level. Fuel or coolant is getting into the crankcase. Stop and get it checked.
- Coolant loss with no visible leak. Think EGR cooler, oil cooler or head gasket until proven otherwise.
- More frequent regens. The DPF is loading faster than it should, and something upstream is usually the reason.
Diesel engine repair in Brooksville, from leaks to overhauls
Engine work ranges from a leaking seal to a complete rebuild. The right answer depends on what the inspection finds, the engine’s miles or hours, and what the truck has to do next. Common engine repairs in our shop include:
- Head gaskets, head studs and cylinder head work
- Oil cooler and EGR cooler replacement
- Front and rear main seals, oil pan and valve cover leaks
- Lifters, timing components and camshaft position sensors
- In-frame and out-of-frame overhauls, and engine replacement
When an overhaul is on the table, we measure before we recommend: crankshaft and bearing wear, cylinder condition and, on wet-liner engines, liner projection and counterbore condition. If a targeted repair will buy you more good years for less money, that is what we will tell you. Owner Ryan Bethell’s first job was building engines, and that is still the standard the shop works to.
Fuel injection
Diesel injection pressures run many times higher than a gasoline engine’s, so small amounts of water, dirt or air do real damage. We diagnose and repair common rail systems, HEUI injection on the 7.3L and 6.0L Power Stroke, high-pressure pumps, lift pumps, injectors and contaminated fuel. RDI Power is a Bosch dealer and works with Alliant Power fuel injection components.
Turbochargers
Low boost, black smoke, a whistle under load and overboost codes all point at the air side, but the turbo is not always the part at fault. A split charge air cooler boot, a variable geometry vane ring sticking with soot, or a restricted exhaust can each look like a failed turbo. We test the system before we quote a turbocharger.
Emissions: DPF, regen, EGR and DEF
Aftertreatment faults cause many of the derate and limp mode complaints we see. A DPF that will not finish a regen, an EGR valve stuck with soot, a cracked EGR cooler, a failed NOx sensor or a crystallized DEF doser can each drop a truck into reduced power. We find out why the system stopped working, whether that is a sensor, a leak upstream, an injector putting extra fuel where it should not be, or a duty cycle that never lets the filter get hot enough, then repair the cause. Our exhaust and emissions repair page goes deeper.
Cooling systems
Florida heat and heavy loads are hard on cooling systems. We repair radiators, water pumps, thermostats, fan clutches, hoses and charge air coolers, along with the oil and EGR coolers that tie the cooling system to the rest of the engine. Oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, or a truck that only runs hot while towing gets pressure tested and traced, not topped off.
Electrical
A modern diesel depends on modules that talk to each other. We diagnose charging and starting problems, batteries, chafed harnesses, corroded connectors, failed sensors and network communication faults that leave a truck with a dash full of warning lights.
Preventive maintenance
Most expensive diesel failures start as something a maintenance visit would have caught: a weeping hose, a fuel filter past its interval, a belt tensioner starting to chatter. We service oil, fuel filters, air filters, coolant and driveline fluids on the manufacturer’s schedule, adjusted for how hard the truck actually works, and every visit includes an inspection with photos.
Light, medium and heavy duty diesel repair
Light duty
Ford Super Duty trucks with the Power Stroke, Ram trucks with the Cummins, Chevrolet and GMC trucks with the Duramax, and the Nissan Titan XD with its 5.0L Cummins V8. These are daily drivers, tow rigs, hotshot trucks and contractor trucks. Our diesel pickup and light duty truck repair page covers them in detail, and we have dedicated pages for Power Stroke repair and Duramax repair.
Medium duty
F-450 through F-750 chassis cabs, Ram 4500 and 5500 trucks, Freightliner and International medium duty trucks, box trucks, service body trucks, buses and diesel motorhomes. This class carries the most mixed work: an engine that also shows up in pickups, bolted into a vocational truck that works like a heavy one.
Heavy duty
Class 8 tractors, dump trucks and vocational trucks from Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, Volvo, International and Western Star. Air brakes, aftertreatment, drivetrain and engine work for these trucks are covered on our semi and heavy duty truck repair page.
Diesel engines we repair
- Cummins: Ram 5.9L and 6.7L, Nissan Titan XD 5.0L, ISB, ISL, ISX and X15. See Cummins diesel repair.
- Caterpillar: C7, C9, C13, C15 and the 3406, from a Caterpillar certified shop. See Caterpillar engine repair.
- Detroit: Series 60, DD13, DD15 and DD16.
- Ford Power Stroke: 7.3L, 6.0L, 6.4L and 6.7L.
- GM Duramax: 6.6L from the LB7 through the L5P.
- Volvo: D11 and D13.
We also work on diesel engines in equipment used for construction, agriculture, mining and forestry, often on-site where the machine is working.
In our Brooksville shop or on-site
The shop handles everything from diagnostics to engine removal. When a truck cannot come to us, or when it makes more sense to work where it sits, our mobile technicians bring diagnostic tools and repair capability to fleet yards, job sites and roadside breakdowns. Mobile service is also how we reach customers beyond the shop area, up to 100 miles across Central Florida. Fleets on the RDI Fleet program get scheduled maintenance, priority service and 24/7 roadside assistance. See mobile diesel repair for how on-site work runs.
What happens when you bring your diesel in
- Tell us what it is doing. When it started, whether it happens hot or cold, loaded or empty, and anything done to the truck recently. Those details shorten the diagnosis.
- We diagnose before we quote. A technician scans, tests and inspects until the cause is confirmed, not guessed.
- You get the inspection. Photos, technician notes and a plan that separates what needs doing now from what can wait.
- You approve the work. Nothing is repaired without your go-ahead.
- We confirm the fix. The goal is a truck that leaves fixed, so the repair gets checked under the conditions that caused the complaint.
What stands behind the work
Repairs at RDI Power carry a 3-year/36,000-mile labor warranty, and fleet repairs under RDI Fleet carry a 2-year/24,000-mile warranty. Before work starts, you get a plan: what we found, what we recommend, what can wait, and why. We do not sell work a truck does not need.
If your diesel is down, running wrong or due for service, call the shop or request service online and tell us what it is doing. We will diagnose it, show you what we found and give you a straight answer before a wrench turns.