allright so i just got my truck out of the shop a few days ago. it would drive fine at low rpm's but anything over 1500 rpm and it would just bogg down and start to have a really strong odor both in and out of the cab. now i bought this truck used with 85,000 miles on it and it had 93,000 when i took it into the shop. all i can say is thank god for the cummins 100,000 mile engine warranty. Here was the report....

Removed injectors and preformed cylinder leak down tests--found leak down rates as follows cyl 1 90% cyl 2 18% cyl 3 10% cyl 4 20% cyl 5 19% cyl 6 71%. Consulted star center and advised to remove cylinder head and inspect for damage to cylinder walls, removed all components necessary to facillitate cylinder head removal and removed head, found suspect cyl 1 & 6 damage to walls beyond repair, also damage to camshaft due to lack of lubrication. Recommend replaced engine with new long block assembly, removed used engine from vehicle, transferred all components to new long block, removed timing cover and transferred injector pump gear, cleaned injector tips, replaced sealing washers on tips and oring at body, transferred all brackets and wire harness, reassemble new motor with vehicle components and install into vehicle

That was the first half of the report. here is the second...

Engine internal failure, excessive blowby into crankcase, inspection revealed broken piston rings on 1 and 9 cylinders. check for diagnostic trouble codes and found no codes present. underside of vehicle seems to have excessive oil form motor road draft tube leaking, checked oil level and found vehicle is low on oil but vehicle was not overdue for an oil change

The first dealer i took it too when i noticed all the oil leaking and strong smell came back and told me i had a bad breather assembly in the engine and they fixed that. After they fixed it i still noticed the oil leaking and it was too the point that i was putting a lot in every day to try and keep the level up. Once i got it back to the dealer in neb. they came back and showed me all of that. I just wanted to post this and see if anyone might have any idea what would have caused this. Thought that some of you guys might have an idea and was curious if you had heard of stuff like this very often
Thanks!
Alex

 

Excessive EGT's usually.......have any guages? Any pressure boxes? They can also contribute to the carnage!

 

I agree , somewhere that engine has seen very high EGT's , the most likely cause . With all the box's , down loaders out there , the buying of a good used truck has gotten to be real tricky . Thank your stars that Star is covering it at all , and engine that hold together with that many miles and then comes apart usually has had some kind of outside influence being the cause .

 

no i dont have any gauges...i didnt think i needed to get any until i bought a downloader though...i am fairly new to diesel trucks...should i get a set of gauges even if i dont have a downloader/chip on it? also i am not familiar with the pressure boxes?? what are they?

 

MP8 and TST are both pressure boxes , I believe. Definately talk to the dealer before adding any guages to make sure they wont void your warranty over it, and explain that at least an EGT guage may have prevented this all from happening. I would also ask them to have the injectors tested. It can be done at most Bosch authorized shops. Even if you had to pay for it, it could show why all this happened! Usually a bad injector ( when stock ) causes the high EGT's and resulting meltdown.

 

yeah i will talk to the dealer and have the injectors tested...what does the pressure box do? i am really confused on these

 

It raises the rail pressure to basically force more fuel into the engine, raising horsepower.........and EGT's!

 

Pressure box just ups the pressure in the rail..

I have seen quiet a few 04.5-05's with catastrophic failure. I was actually a victim. As afore mentioned, it is difficult to buy a "good" used diesel these days. You have these yoohoo's putting these insane downloaders in trucks without gauges, and then pulling freight trains with them! The changes in timing, fuel supply, and fuel pressure all effect EGT's. We had a guy come into the shop one time with a truck he used for hotshotting. He had Crazy Larry downloaded on the truck with NO gauges, and pulled between 20k and 24k lbs often. He was blown away after we put gauges in it at the fact that the motor should have melted due to the excessive EGT'S, yet he never noticed a negative effect in the way the truck ran. So go figure.

Most common failures I have seen are due to one or more injector failures, oil filters coming apart, and just plain too much heat - all which will destroy a motor over time.

As far as gauges, I know that the dealers around here actually carry them and install them, with no breach of warranty. In a diesel, your "gauges" are just as important and crucial as your fuel gauge, voltage gauge, tach and oil pressure gauge. Thats my two cents on that!

Keep us posted on what happens with your truck. Good luck!

 

i see...thanks for that...ill post updates if the dealer comes back with anything else interesting

 

I am happy for you that the dealer fixed this under warranty! Sounds to me like the previous owner torched the motor with a programmer.
Mike
###

 

Old rule of thumb on these trucks has been if modding"GAUGES FIRST".Until the 3rd gens that was taken to heart,.seems this new generation of owners don't always heed advice.

 

On a diesel more fuel equals more heat and to much fuel things will start melting , like pistons. On a gas job more fuel equals more cooling , just the opposite . With all the competition between aftermarket company's many of the engines are being damaged by to much fuel and not enough air from add-ons . More fuel means a bigger turbo to keep things safe and what is considered safe varies all over , for me it is 1200 % EGT's . I have read about many taking there trucks well past that number on here and you may have just purchased on of those trucks .

 

Stovetop,

Did you buy this truck brand new or did you buy it used?
If you got it used, the previous owner may have had a programmer on it.
One thing that I have noticed as a sign of high heat on these engines is the heat shield on the front half of the exhaust manifold. If it is still silver colored, it really hasn't seen any excessive heat in the engine. If it has turned kind of a brown, varnished color, the engine has been worked hard.

 

I doubt very seriously you got a "new long block assembly". you most likely got a remanufacured engine as there are no new 5.9's anymore. there is nothing wrong with a reman as they are done by cummins . check the part number on your invoice and see if the part number for the engine starts with an N or an R. N=new, R=remanufactured. they just have the habit of calling them "new".I just went through this same thing when my 06 with 18k miles dropped a valve recently and fought with my dealer for about 2 weeks and made numerous calls to dodge and cummins only to find out there are no "new" 5.9' long blocks anymore. mine runs better than the original one did

 

yeah mine is a remanufactured...my bad...and yeah mine runs a lot better than the original one did...is there as much of a break in period when you have the remanufactured engine? and ill check the heat shield and post back for you guys
thanks!