How to Contact Mr. Haney: Finding the CAT Diesel Community’s Most-Wanted Expert

ByWyatt Brooks

Who Is Mr. Haney?

Spend any time on trucking forums asking about Caterpillar engine modifications and his name comes up fast. Mr. Haney built his reputation over years of fielding questions about CAT diesel engines — tuning, timing, fuel economy, ECM work — with a depth that most people on those forums simply couldn’t match. On more than one board he’s been called “The CAT God,” and that nickname stuck because it was earned. He’s the name that gets tagged when everyone else is out of answers.

Why He’s So Hard to Find

His inbox has been full for years. That’s not a figure of speech. The volume of questions directed at him outpaced what any one person can field in their spare time, and his private message queues on multiple platforms hit capacity and stayed there. Some members report sending messages that never landed at all — not ignored, just lost to a full box.

There’s a second factor. Skilled diesel tuners who work in areas touching emissions-related modifications tend to go quiet over time. They get selective about who they communicate with, and publicly they pull back. Mr. Haney hasn’t vanished, but he’s not putting his hand up either.

Where He’s Shown Up

The Diesel Garage and TruckersReport.com are the two places his name surfaces most consistently. He’s also been spotted on a handful of other trucking-focused boards under the same handle, which is part of what makes tracking him down frustrating — his activity isn’t anchored to one community. A thread on one forum might go cold while he’s active somewhere else entirely.

Searching for his username across a few different boards is worth the effort before concluding he’s gone dark.

How to Actually Get Through to Him

Cold PMs with a generic question almost never work. What has worked, based on what other members report, is going through someone who already has a relationship with him.

  • Post a specific, technically detailed question in the right engine thread — 5EK, 6NZ, C15, 3406E, whatever applies — and ask openly if anyone can broker an introduction. Members who’ve worked with him before sometimes step in.
  • Frame your question well before you try to reach him. He’s more likely to engage with someone who’s already done homework than someone fishing for a free diagnosis.
  • Check his profile activity dates on whichever forum you’re using. A three-year gap in posts tells you something; a gap of a few months might mean he’s still around.

Persistence helps, but so does patience. He’s not running a service business with office hours.

If You Can’t Get Him: Other Paths for CAT Engine Help

For ECM tuning specifically, PDI (Pacific Diesel Inc.) has an authorized dealer network and comes up regularly alongside his name as an alternative route for flash services on CAT engines. That’s a legitimate starting point if you need something done on a timeline.

CAT ET (Electronic Technician) software paired with a compatible communication adapter covers the diagnostic end before you even need a tuner in the conversation. A lot of questions that seem to need Mr. Haney’s input can be answered by pulling data yourself first.

A handful of other forum regulars who know the older CAT platforms well have surfaced in the same threads where his name appears — searching for those threads turns up names worth following.


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