I am about to have my engine in-framed by a cummins dealer. Is 4000.00 bucks sound like a reasonable price for this, with a one year warranty, unlimited mileage? While I am getting new pistons, are there any pistons that I can get installed that will give me more power. My service mgr. seems to be willing to push the envelope a little within reason. Any Extra Powerful ideas will be appreciated. According to him, cummins has an A,B,&C pistons that these engines originally come with. Each of the 3 different pistons has a little different com,pression ratio. They determine which one makes the most power & meets EPA specs.Has anyone heard of this? On this re-build, I want to make sure I get the most power, so if this is true, does anyone know which is the most powerful, A,B, or C?

 

a,b,c. usually are pistons slightly oversize to fit the bore better due to machining differances. it has nothing to do with compression.

 

Well you asked so I will tel ya. A inframe on these is asking for problems .
1- they will break one or more of the plastik oil tubes off that direct the spray to the bottom of the piston (I can all most gaurntee it as there is no room up there to roll the mains in w.o. shearing the tops of these high quality pc of crap coolers off)
2- these cranks need to be checked for roundnees as the rockwell is not that hard
3- there are no liners so the block needs to be bored...
B.T.D.T
by all means put in the tafalon skirted ceramic topped pistons

 

I ask first why are you doing a inframe, and that is correct about the piston cooling nozzle on the 5.9 and the 8.3 , what I like about the new 600 is they have the metal piston cooling nozzle on the main oil press. rail like the larger engines. but it is done all the time, I would reuse the same piston if your doing a inframe , with new rings , but if it was my engine , I would remove the block and have it bored and use the hard anodize piston which can handle higher heat and have stronger ring lands , all the piston come in A , B and C for different protrusion of the pistons in the block , there are 3 different pistons available from Cummins for the 5.9 and they all have the A B C for different heights.

 

I am doing an inframe due to the fact I have had at least one ring break & maybe two. I will know for sure Monday. I figured an inframe was the better option to go, especially trying not to sink any more money in this truck than necessary. CUMMINS offered me a REMAN engine for about 11 grand. I don't think so, even with the 2 year unlimited mileage warranty. I don't want to keep my truck that long. I am planning on buying a new one at the end of the summer. JOHN, you say re-use the same pistons with new rings? Am I understanding you correctly? I just really want to patch the thing up for awhile. I know that may not be the wisest thing to do, but I am tired of sinking money into this truck. Thanks for you fellows help.

 

I cannot believe that a Cummins dealer is going to do an inframe on a B engine. Been there, done that, don't do it. There is not that much difference in labor to pull it. Cummins has different engine offerings. $3500 gets you a short block, $5000 gets you a long block and $7200 gets you a complete reman engine with full warranty. The short block with the 22 hours change labor would come not too far from what you are paying.

 

Yes , it is done all the time , but you need to check the bore of the cyl. and make sure the broken rings did not scratch the bore. most likely not, if the bore is ok , just rering it and all the reuse specs. are in the manaul. there are reuse specs. for everything on that motor , if the only problem your having is high blowby and suspect broken rings , I would reuse everything on that motor including rods and main bearings, this is not like a gas motor where you just replace everything , that engine is tuff and takes a lot of miles to wear that thing out , they shouldnt even have to remove the main bearings , just pull one main , and usually I pull #6 main cap . you should be able to cut most of the cost out of that quote you got , and any work they did is still warranteed up to one year , now if something else goes out not related to the work or inspection they did , that another story.

 

What he said, Mains don't generally wear on these engines. If they are warn, just replace the bottom half, leave the top in place so not to disturb the cooler jets.

 

OK, until I know for sure Monday what is wrong, I am not sure which approach to take. The service mgr told me that a CUMMMINS RECON ENGINE, with a 2 year warranty would wind up costing me between 10 to 11 grand installed. HAULIN, where did you get that 7200 dollar figure? It sounds to me that the short block is the way to go & re-use my head & all. Then again, if I can get a long block for 5000 bucks, that seems more cost effecctive. If I wind up replacing the engine, do you fellows know of any engines I could install that would give me more power in the ISB 5.9 CONFIGURATION, that would work with the chrysler electronics? Thanks again for the help.

 

Those figures are Cummins Mid-South figures. The highest labor charges are for the short block. The $7200 is for a complete recon engine of course the labor is added to install and is probably the figure you received. The book calls for about 22 hours labor to install the short block. A Dodge dealer gets near $8000 for the complete job.

On the more powerful engine, find an RV275 long block, install it with the Dodge electronics and injection pump. A noticable rise in torque and economy. Dodge pump still retains the higher rpm performance.

 

A, B and C piston numbers are for protrusion height above the deck.

The reason for the variance is the crank throws are not all the same between crankshafts.

A, B , C are the piston pin location.

Use the same ones that came in the engine as far as A B C goes. The Marine 370 ( for the 12 valve) pistons and the RV275's ( for the 24 valve ) are teflon coated.

 

Thanks guys for some valuable info. DONM are you saying the 275 pistons will work if i wanted to install them, should I decide to do the inframe? Would I need to change rods & mains as well? Do you guys have any part numbers for the 275 long block,pistons, etc. because these CUMMINS guys don't how to look up something without a number.

 

Internal engine parts also come from the CPL number, give them CPL2080, that is the RV275 engine.

 

There are no A,or B Or C pistons (for grading as the book states) once you go oversize......the way the book reads it would apear so.......but not true

Cummins themselfs on the east coast and west coast could not tell me why they spent so much time "grading " a stock piston then as soon as you O.S. there nothing available.
Ps Go dwn to your local Machine shop and have steel squirters made and you will get rid of the most dangerous part of the eng. (the plastic crap!)

 

Yeah Cummins guys need the engine serial number most of the time:

Use this serial number for parts on a RV275 engine:

45546674 This is the CPL2080 mentioned earlier

Piston part numbers are here:

Grade A 3942665
Grade B 3942666
Grade C 3942667

These are standard size bore pistons, not oversized.

Piston Pins might not be the same as your stock ones. Some are shorter.

Piston rings are: Standard size 3802919

In frame is up to you. If it were me and I was getting rid of the truck I would just patch it up and move on.

Don~