Hello everyone, long time no talk. Life has been busy and health has been bleh...

 

Long story short i was coming back from utah for a friends wedding and he was moving as well. I towed the uhaul trailer 6'x12' densly packed and very very heavy. Had no problems going through the mountains on HWY 80 EB till about 80 mi from lariamie WY. I was heading up a very long grade and towards the top something bad happened.

 

Here are the stats of when it happened

 

speed 70

gear 6

EGT under 1250 (no more than 60 seconds@1250, i saw it and turned the cruise off and throttled down)

boost around 20psi

rpm appx 1800~ cant remember exactly but was below 2000

oil psi normal ~65

fuel psi 18-20

temp rose from normal 180F to appx 200F when i powered down (within the white brackets)

 

What happened was a knock appeared and progressed to a loud knock quickly. I unloaded the engine and babied it to the crest which was less than half mile. Pulled over and the knock rose to a certain level and stayed there, excess blowby is observed and nothing else abnormal aside from the knock.

 

I havent torn into the engine but i am presuming either a cracked/melted piston or a conrod bearing went to hell or both.  I have my backup vehicle that ill be using for my trip and when i get back ill tear the engine apart.

 

Things i did learn from this, My RPM's were too low, egts were too high and in too high of a gear pushing too hard too long.

 

Fresh oil/filter air filter done before trip 3 weeks ago. zero issues aside from a cam sensor that gets fussy here and there. (was going to replace it when i got back this week as its bolt is stripped...)

 

Anyone have any thoughts or questions?

is there room enough to  hone  #6??    Dang cowl  is  going to  be  right in your  way.

there will be with an angled gearbox adapter

i have decided to do a full engine overhaul with .020 over bore job and new pistons i am unsure if something also may have clogged the cooling jet but the block wash and check will ensure they are clear

i have decided to do a full engine overhaul with .020 over bore job and new pistons i am unsure if something also may have clogged the cooling jet but the block wash and check will ensure they are clear

 

I strongly concur.  A much better course of action that will ensure other issues are addressed that could bite you in the *** later.

yup, the only things im not replacing are the crank, con rods, cam and valve assemblies as they are fine. ill do plastigauge check before ordering bearings

Edited September 15, 201410 yr by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

is it possible to pull the block without dropping the trans out? basically unbolt most of the bolts, hoist engine up while supporting the tranny with a jack then just pull the engine forward is what im thinking

Its possible, but its a pain to line back up with manual trans. Its just easier to pull the trans than to fight dropping in the engine and getting the input splines lined up.

I'd do  a combination!

 

Pull the engine by itself,   You'll have it out quicker... which means  it'll  be  headed to the machine shop quicker too..

 

Then snake the trans out  for   reassembly to the engine,  to  fit  it  as  a   whole  for later.

 

You'll find out if your hoist is  heavy enough   when you snag just the motor!

aligning the splines when i replaced the clutch was a beeotch, i just dont have access to a tranny jack. ill get it though

Any luck on  finding the  coated pistons?

Not sure how much money he wants to spend... https://www.industrialinjection.com/shop/category/engine-transmission/cummins/pistons/

i purchased a set of mahle clevite pistons for the HO cummins(of which i have) .020 over comes with rings and pins/clips $600

oh hey,  just remembered  a  trick you may be able to use.

 

After you snag the engine out, and  it's off the  hoist,    You may be able to  reach in through the passenger door  with  the hoist   and  lower the  trans to the ground (then drag it out from under the truck).      Might  save  your back  on  getting it off the blocks..  

I did  a  big clark trans  this way,  put a  chain around the case, lifted it  slightly,  took the blocks out, and    lowered away.      Not sure if the door on a  Ram   will open far enough though..

hey rancher, yeah what i plan is just support the tranny with the floor jack in the same place it was when the engine pulls out, put a strap on it to ensure it doesnt move. when i slide the engine back in, aligning will be just as hard as if i was aligning the tranny to the engine.

 

me and a friend did the tranny lift with a hoist when we replaced his clutch on a suburban, it worked great.

 

i have decided to install the head while the engine is on the stand and do the valve adjustment right there too. This way i run no risk of effing the gasket up trying to do it in the truck.  then ill install all the other accessories after.  While the engine is out ill be washing the engine bay and making it perty and degreased. cleaning up the rats nest of wires on the driver side and redoing the fuel lines to make them nice as well.  ill be hand cleaning everything that came out of the truck too so when all said and done ill have a nice perty engine bay.

Okay maybe not worthless, but I think everyone would like to see some pics!

ill get pics tomorrow and when i pull the block ill take a lot of pics of the piston and bore

here ya go for now

mmm Pictures! Looks like you're making good progress! 

actually took 3 days of 4 hr work to get to the point of the block being stripped in frame, one day to pull it then ill strip it all the way down in another day then get it to machine shop. while its there ill clean the engine bay real nice.

 

it is going to be painted red and accessories and covers painted black

how many miles  logged on the ol gal?