Travis Maassen

I bought a 5.9 Cummins a few weeks ago after about 9 months of research of the most reliable long term mileage getter diesel. I found a 1 owner 1998 1/2 Cummins 24v Diesel and bought it for what I thought was a good price (9k) and got all service records for it. Previous owner had most of the work always done at dealer and has FAAS already. I thought I got the dream truck for my hauling situation (10k enclosed trailer). Since I bought it, I have spent a lot of time waiting at shops to have various things repaired. First it was fuel filter day 2. Then brake line busted at 80 on the interstate. After that tranny fluid all over the place calling for new tranny lines. Short story long my truck has cost me nearly 2k in 2 weeks. I am thinking about using as a boat anchor. Currently the truck has developed a bad knock. I did a little research and thought maybe it was due to a leaking injector. I am currently on the East coast so I took it to a Cummins tech at the truck shop to inspect. After looking at the truck he thought cutting the filter was a good idea. I got a look at what appeared to be a bit of aluminum (as it was not attracted by the magnet) in the somewhat new filter (just changed oil about 1500 miles before). The shop basically quoted me 3k in labor alone to troubleshoot the motor issues. They advised basically they would have the rebuild it no matter what was wrong. Please help! I really need to keep this thing moving and I am currently in Mass (near Boston) right now and need to get home to Indiana with my trailer. Thanks!

gorms

Need to make sure it isn't making oil (adding diesel to the crankcase) first. If it is the rest of the motor will not last very long. Next I would try to see if the knock can be isolated to one cylinder by cracking the lines one by one.

What shop are you using? Where are you located? I'm closer to Rhode Island, near Taunton if you need help.

Mike L

Good grief! thazt sounds like some serious crap going on with your new to you truck! How many miles on it? Maybe try to fill out your signature profile so it shows up on each of your posts. It would help all of us who read your thread!

Good Luck to you with figuring it out and getting it road worthy.

Cheers!

Mike

Travis Maassen

Hey guys I wanted to post a quick update on the truck. I have made it home and plan to beat on it some more while I wait to have time to properly inspect it. Several have told me I will spend 2-3k just to fix the knock. I believe it is one of a few possible things causing this. It could be a valve hitting a piston. I assume I would need a new head? I am not sure about cracking the fuel lines as I had read it takes like 1800 PSI to open the injector and that is quite a bit of pressure. Can this be done in a safe way? If it is aluminum in the oil some have suggested it could be the turbo but I sense possible piston damage. I was quoted a new motor for 3800 from a shop in New Mexico with a 3 yr warranty. Does that sound pretty reasonable?

patdaly

First off, your injectors fire at considerably higher pressure than 1800 PSI, so be careful. That being said, cracking the nut to see if the knock goes away won't cause any problems, just don't kill it tightening it back up. If your engine is still together after what I assume is a fairly long trip, then you probably don't have anything real serious, I would bet more Injector related.

If it were me, I would trust a used engine out of a wrecked or rotted away truck before I would trust anything other than a Cummins remanned engine.