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?

i got spare parts i dont need/cant use

 

front main replacement seal kit

http://forum.mopar1973man.com/index.php?/classifieds/item/13-spare-parts/

 

12v 2nd gen oil cooler gasket

http://forum.mopar1973man.com/index.php?/classifieds/item/14-oil-cooler-gasket/

 

mike, if this shouldnt be here let me know and do what you need to do. figured to stick the info here as well.

anyone interested in once used factory 24v head bolts? i have a complete set i can ship for free

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

tall block assembled and valve adjustment performed (thanks Mike for the article!)  Now to paint tomorrow cummins red and a lime green valve cover with red stenciling.

now to stuff it in the truck tomorrow

Awesome! Love the paint job!

While its fresh in your mind...could you give us a rundown on where potential oil leaks could come from? I'd like to kill all my oil leaks. But not sure where they all can exist.

I SERIOUSLY doubt there is much if any chance of grass growing under your feet on this job!  LOL!    Looks real good so far. 

While its fresh in your mind...could you give us a rundown on where potential oil leaks could come from? I'd like to kill all my oil leaks. But not sure where they all can exist.

mainly the rear seal if worn, front main as it grooves the seal journal of the crank, i did a cummins genuine speedy sleeve on mine and the seal is a bit bigger to accomodate the sleeve. other areas are the oil pan rim, the interface of the oil pan to the rear main seal housing and oil pan to the front gear case housing. that is mostly where my engine was "weeping" from.

 

edit add:

 

when factory builds the engines they just slap a gasket on and call it good. there are a couple places they use rtv 4 to be exact, 2 spots on the rear main seal plate to block interface and 2 spots on the front  gear cover to block mating surfaces, the last is the gearcase cover (mine had rtv and no gasket)

 

I used shellac on both sides of ALL gaskets and i am confident oil will have a hard time getting through the seams now.

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/gasketing/gasket-sealants/permatex--high-tack--gasket-sealant-detail

Edited October 11, 201410 yr by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

I SERIOUSLY doubt there is much if any chance of grass growing under your feet on this job! LOL! Looks real good so far.

i take this as a good thing but never heard the phrase before so i dont get it lol

i take this as a good thing but never heard the phrase before so i dont get it lol

You leading a sheltered life? LOL... Yep, it's a good thng. He means you are moving right along with your project.

You leading a sheltered life? LOL... Yep, it's a good thng. He means you are moving right along with your project.

i dwell in a man cave :D hahaha

 

so if i dont take into account the machine shop, it took 4 days to pull the engine/strip it down and 4 days to rebuild (bearings didnt arrive till late monday afternoon)  So about 2 weeks on my part and a week and half at the machine shop. but during the wait time i cleaned everything i could.

 

so i will have a new engine and new turbo (all rebuilt of course) this truck is gonna have some nuts now!

 

and yes im going to make a set of truck nuts out of my old pistons. im gonna take the ruined one and make a gearshift out of it more than likely.

Edited October 11, 201410 yr by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

Halliburton Red Eh?  

Halliburton Red Eh?  

i liken it to cummins red...  closest i could find in short notice

I am partial to the Steiger green on the valve cover.

 

I grew up behind the wheel of a 1976 Steiger Panther II with a 310 hp 855 straight piped Cummins in it. Identical to the one posted below. Man the hours I spent in the seat of that rig as a kid. No wonder I am half deaf.

They where and still are made in Fargo ND. CaseIH bought out the Steiger family but they kept the rights to the name for 20 years and now CaseIH has the rights to the name and they did use it on the new CaseIH 4WD tractors but they are still built in Fargo ND same as the Quad tracks.

 

so good news and some little bad news.  got the engine in, hooked up enough to run (no cooling system or intercooler)  good oil pressure, didnt check for blowby yet as i still heard a bit of injector knock on #6 i believe. So i am going to swap #6 with #1 and see if it moves and if it does i need to get another rv275. If it doesnt move, i will just break it in.

 

Does anyone have a single rv275 they have lying around they want to sell? It is the only thing that is still "original" to that cylinder and i think it may have been damaged when it broke down.

Edited October 12, 201410 yr by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

^{So let me get this straight, you just rebuilt and engine and didn't have any of the fuel system sent in and checked out?}  

^{Rebuild 101 never ever do an engine rebuild without fuel system check at minimum.}

very tight budget, i am unemployed right now and funds are very low.. the engine is fine, i just think the injector is bad.

Dude,   get em out and  at least tested....  then you can decide   which way to    roll.          a  test   shouldn't cost  too much,   last  set I took in  was   'free',  only because  I  paid  them  for  going through the pump,  and  parts  (springs and  shims )  for the nozzles...

 

"test only"   should  be  less than  100 bucks?     I believe you found your   cause of the original  problem.

the engine lugged for too long and bearings started making metal which clogged a couple cooler jets and #6 got very hot to where the piston scored the bore. i think the injector got damaged from this. ill replace it

Hey Randy, Pop testing injectors is typically free. It's only when the injector has to be tuned is when money comes out of pocket. Usually about $9 to $15 a injector. Through DAP its $71.50 a injector for RV275's. Through Vulcan Performance its $70.60 per injector.