I just aquired a 95 3/4 ton 2wd ram from a friend of mine. Its an automatic truck with 275,000 miles. He said the motor was locked up. I asked what happened. He said his son was driving it, it started smoking real bad (white smoke) and just quit. It would not start back up or even turn over. He had it towed to the house. Now this friend of mine is not a diesel guy, it was just a ride back and forth to work for him. He got it home and pulled the tranny to see if he could get the motor to turn over. No luck. So fast forward a year or so, he tired of looking at it and want to get rid of it. I pick it up and take it to the house. I dive right in, first thing I notice no antifreeze in the radiator. I start to pull the motor. Everything is looking normal. Thats until I yank the #6 valvecover. The push rod isnt touching the rocker arm. Thats the only thing I see so far. So I pull the head. The #6 piston had gotten molten hot and there was a hundred tiny pieces on top of it . The #5 cylinder was scored from the piston skirt rubbing the cylinder wall with some pitting on the top of the piston and the #3 cylinder looked scored as well. The head gasket didnt look blown, no trash in the oil, the main and rod bearings look new. What do you guys think happened? I did find about an inch long slit in the upper radiator hose about 2 inches from the thermostat housing. Ran it out of antifreeze? Doesnt seem possible to get it hot enough to melt pistons from overheating? Hmmmm.............?

 

scored cylinder = bore and new pistons. Its not un-rebuildable but it will take some money and machine work. Or even get a whole different motor from a wrecked truck or something.

 

I would have to wonder if the oil squirters on the bottom of the pistons were clogged or maybe it was low on oil so that the double whammy of the thing being out of coolant and the pistons overheating due to the lack of cooling oil caused a melt down.

 

Sounds like you answered your own question.

No antifreeze
Split hose
Burnt pistons

Hose blew, lost antifreeze, overheated, driver ignored or would not take no for an answer, pistons started to melt and seize as well as other components. The head may be cracked or warped. Can be repaired but as said it will cost some bucks. Get the head fluxed.

Might be a good idea to quote all the parts and machine work and compare to the cost of a used engine or at least a used block and head.

Edit: Check the rods (piston end) for a dark or blue color. If so trash them too. If you see blue color in the cyls or top surface of the block think about trashing it. Since it has been a year these areas may be rusty looking due to the fact that the oil has burnt off and water vapor caused rust.

 

Thanks for the reply's guys. I have access to a machine shop so rebuilding wouldnt cost me anything but time and parts, Im not looking to rebuild it. Ive got to many trucks of my own. Im gonna part out the truck, fuel system, and what ever else is good. I was just wondering what others thought might have happened. I also suspected maybe the oil squirters. Im going to check head for warpage and magnaflux it tomorrow.