Anybody Rebuild Their Own Engines?

[socal]

well i finally took it into the shop and he said what MnTom said. looks like a bad injector. hes gonna bore it it and sleeve it and then hone the rest. he said the valves on #2 looks ok but hes gonna tear the head down check everything he said he will probably do a head job and resurface it. which is fine with me cause i want a complete fresh engine not just a fresh short block. i was gonna try to assemble it but one i don't have the time and to i want this done right so i don't have to pull it again, to much damn work. it's gonna cost me $1,400 and some change for him to do the machine work and assemble it. he's gonna install everything and i just have to put it back in the truck and install the rest.  i just have to furnish the parts other then the sleeve.   he told me to buy my parts from this company http://interstate-mcbee.com/  their like a hour away from where i live, or i could go to cummins which like 20 minutes away . he said allot of diesel customers he has, buy there parts from them and their cheaper then cummins. anybody ever use them? i don't know if that's allot that he is charging but he was the machine shop that the diesel shop i took my truck to was gonna use and i could only find two other shops that would do machine work on a diesel engine. one wanted 3.500 and the other didn't look to promising. thanks again guys for your help and info. i hope this motor work out great when i'm done.

[mopartechnician]

I have actually installed some injectors for an emd locomotive from them. So they must be big if bnsf is usuing them

[rancherman]

Yep,   IMB   been around  a long time.    And  just  like  all  suppliers  these  days,  they  may or may not  build all  their own parts.    Probably not.  You will   find  quite  a  global  mishmash  of   sourced  parts  in  your  kit.      ( no different  than  anybody elses).  

Are  you getting  a   warranty   from the  shop, since   'he'  is  going to  assemble it?  

 

 

1400    sounds  about right,         figure  about  600-800   for    actual  machine work,  and  about  600-800   assembly  charge.

[socal]

yeah hes doing assembly for 750. only 90 day warranty on the engine. don't seem like much. but i was always told you'll know if your motor is **** real quick. so i plan to drive the crap out of it to make sure there is no problems before my 90 days is up  the diesel shop i was gonna have do the work told me he does all there engine work and he has never had a problem. he said he switched machine shops the engines they did the rings wouldn't sit so he came back to this guy. 

[snowshoveler]

Did you remove the camshaft and lifters. I think it was discussed but I don't recall if you did.

I would like a pic of the cam and lifters of possible.

I paid more to get a 4 cyl gas engine cleaned up and machined than you were quoted...I think thats a good price.

Regards Chris

[socal]

i took everything out except the crank. he said the cam looked good and the lifters were fine. i posted a pic of the lifter on a earlier post but i don't have a pic of the cam. the motor seemed to be in pretty good condition other that that #2 piston.

[snowshoveler]

I was kind of wondering if your 24v cam had a lobe for the fuel pump. Some folks say yes and some say no.

In my tiny brain I wonder how a good mechanical pump would work at supplying fuel to a VP44. 

A new cam and maybe injectors...zoom zoom.

Thanks Chris

[socal]

there's no manual fuel pump. it has a electric lift pump that you have to switch to after market pump. i used the fass pump and it works great 

[TFaoro]

there's no manual fuel pump. it has a electric lift pump that you have to switch to after market pump. i used the fass pump and it works great 

 

I believe snowshoveler is talking about the lobe on the cam. On the 12V engines there is a mechanical fuel pump that is driven by a lobe on the cam. I have heard that there is a lobe on the cam, but I have not personally seen one. Maybe you could check for us?? 

[socal]

i'll ask the the guy at the machine shop.

[snowshoveler]

Yes I was wondering about the lobe on the cam for the mechanical fuel pump.

If it actually is there....makes me think about the pressures those pumps produce.

I have a Fass but you know we like to keep our options open

 Regards Chris

[socal]

well i went to the shop and it didn't have a lobe for the fuel pump. i did find out that my engine has been resleaved before on all cylinders. so i am thinking this motor came from jasper, because i have a jasper sticker on my door pillar. he said it will be fine. so i am going with that. called cummins and it's gonna cost me about $1,200 to #1,300 for everything i need. it's pretty cool that there only 15 minutes from me so no waiting for shipping or long drives to get what i need.

[snowshoveler]

Thanks for checking out the cam for me Socal.

The numbers for the parts seem pretty good to me.

Here in Nova Scotia they would charge you that much for a picture of the parts.

Regards Chris

[socal]

i was talking to the machinist and was telling him about the light film of oil on my cooler tube from the turbo and he said that it might of came from the blow-by. any thoughts on that? this truck had really bad blow-by especially when i put a load on it or took it over 70mph

[rancherman]

ok,   I'll  be  the one  that  asks  this time.

 

Where  exactly are you 'seeing' this  blowby  @  70mph?

[MnTom]

i was talking to the machinist and was telling him about the light film of oil on my cooler tube from the turbo and he said that it might of came from the blow-by. any thoughts on that?

Unless your blow by was so bad it fogged the whole area under the hood I would say  your machinist has no idea what he is talking about.

[socal]

well i finally got time to go to cummins and get everything i needed. total cost was $1,200 and some change. would of been close to $1400 but i joined their power club and save 10% . talked to the machinist today and he finished up the engine that was before me so he's gonna get back on mine tomorrow. as for seeing the blow-by. if i drove for a long period of time say over 70 i would check my front suspension and it would be dripping with oil and i would see it on my rear end and all over the driver side of the engine. and if i pulled my dump trailer with a load i would see oil spots on my tailgate at the bottom. every time i wash my truck i would degrease my chassi. and thats when i noticed if i kept it under 70 say 65 my chassi wasnt dripping as bad and now oily film on my rear end. it was all coming from my tappet cover. i had replaced it hoping it would quit leaking but it just blew it off the cover at the top. now for the turbo part he to said to rebuild it just like you guys. he told me he had rebuilt one for his ford and thats how the conversation got started on my oil film in the cooler tube.

i wanted to ask you guys what kind of head gasket you use from cummins when you need it over sized, say 10 over? the cummins guy could not find one for my year and said i would have to go off another serial # to get one i wanted. or should i just go with a aftermarket 

[Yankneck696]

Clean all of your intercooler piping & intercooler with Simple Green, as it will remove the oil & be lesss corrosive than purple power (Or equivelant) to the aluminum.

 

Ed

[MnTom]

For your headgasket, unless you need to shave a fair amount off the head to clean it up you are going to be fine with the stock thickness gasket.

[Wild and Free]

Even if the head or block were decked one can still go back with stock thickness gasket and compensate with different thickness injector sealing washers to keep the spray pattern the same in the combustion area of the piston.

This does depend on just how much was milled off the surfaces though, if a lot was taken then one would need an oversized thickness gasket.