I have a couple of questions. I was wondering if my motor would be damaged from an injector sticking open and filling the engine with diesel fuel. I was driving and had about 60 miles left on the DTE overhead console-a minute later, it said zero and my tank was empty. It died, I pulled over and there was diesel fuel and motor oil covering my tailgate and the bottom of my truck. I took it to the dealer and they told me 2 injectors failed and filled the motor with diesel fuel. I just want to know if there could be any motor damage from this happening. Any ideas? Anyone know how I could get the warranty company to cover the $400 towing charge? I don't have roadside assistance. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere at midnight 400 miles from home..I have a 2005 Dodge 2500 Quad Cab Laramie 4WD-with only 18000 miles..Also, I have a MBRP Muffler and no other modifications. The dealership told me that the injectors are on national backorder and I'm stuck 500 miles from home until it's fixed-I have to pay for a hotel. Also, they want me to pay for the oil change and fuel filter change. Any info appreciated.

 

you shouldnt have to pay for the tow, that should be covered by the factory bumper to bumper warranty, as should all costs incured, including the hotel, oil and filter changes. check the book in the glove box.

 

Where are you anyway?

 

Can you find out from your dealer (including pictures...) what exactly failed ? How exactly did the fuel get into the crankcase ?

- Did the injector fuel connector tube loosen and allow a leak ?
- Did the injector body crack ?
- Did a nozzle fail ? (You would have noticed that.)
- Did the injector O Ring fail ?
- Did the injector come loose in the head ?

I am very curious why they said TWO failed. At the same time.

The next thing we want from you is to know if your truck is a 600 or a 610. (The injectors design was changed.)

Have you ever had any CP3 or lift pump problems ?

When was the last time you checked your oil ? How long do you think it ran with diesel in the crankcase ? What sort of load was the engine under ? Towing ?

How was the engine running prior to this ?

Are you sure you didn't run a box ? (Sorry to have to ask... we won't tell anyone, but I'd like to know to learn from this. )

Thanks.

 

You shouldn't have to pay for a single thing. The bearings in the engine could have been damaged if they ran for real long with a ton of diesel in the oil.

 

Of all the things that could go wrong with a Cummins, I fear these the most

a) injector failure, crankcase filling with fuel
b) injector nozzle leaks, melts piston. I would hear/see this, so I am not too worried about it.
c) piston cooling jet plugs. Melts piston.

I'd love to know exactly what the heck happens when the crankcase fills with fuel.

Do the 24Vs ever fill the crankcase with fuel ? They use fuel connector tubes as well, right ?

 

Believe me, I speak from experiance.

Call Damiler Chrysler then politely (at first) explain your problem and request a loaner car/truck. They should get you on the road fairly soon. They have to confirm that your truck is under warranty and that it will be down for a definate period. Truck has to be diagionosed prior to DC taking any action. Then explain that the contamination of oil etc was caused by an engine componet failure and that you are not responsiable for same therefore it is covered by warranty.Yes I know a simple explanation but sometimes you have to hit someone in the head to get your point across. Alslo express this to your phoned DC rep when requesting your rental car/truck. If this fails ask for the district representatives phone or contact number and request to use their phone to call him/her. Again re-explain all and demand some type of solution for you immediatly. It works but just takes much time sometimes. I'm on my third experiance and hope to get truck back tomorrow but not sure yet.

The worst part will be returning the 500 miles to get your vehicle back.
I have found that the DC phone reps are not always fully knowledgable but do look further and/or ask supervisors for decisions. Only problem is that it takes some time. Getting really scared about my cell time this month due to my problems and may ask DC to help foot the bill for any overage on my plan.

 

Thanks for all the info. I am in Texarkana..on the Texas/Arkansas border-I'm from St. Louis. All I know about what happened was that the injectors were involved. I will find out more tomorrow and let you know. It's a 610. I've never had any lift pump problems or issues. I checked the oil before I left the house. I drove 450 miles before I had a problem and then the fuel started quickly dissappearing and drove 5 more miles -while it dumped probably 4-6 gallons in the crankcase. I wasn't towing anything, it was running great before this. I did not have a box either. I was thinking of getting one but now I'm not so sure. I have no idea how the fuel would even get in there. I have no experience with diesel motors. I'm trying the learn quickly though. Thanks to all for the info. I really appreciate it. I'm going to work tomorrow on getting D.C. to pay for everything.

 

Well, you didn't drive it far or under a load, so that is good.

It is interesting that it is a 610 because I thought they changed the injectors to fix this issue.

Can you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get some pictures and a really good explanation of what goes wrong when this happens. Could you ask the shop foreman if it would help to pull the valve cover and torque the injector holddown bolts or fuel connector tubes to prevent this ? PLEASE ?

 

Same here but with just one going bad. DC towed the truck and did not charge me a thing. Oddly enough they tried to make me pay for the oil & filter too. I firmly refused to pay for what their warranted part damaged (had about 5k on the oil). Good luck!

See my thread:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=70751

 

Cummins600: Difference is that your truck was running a box according to the link you gave. This guy says he was stock.

The first Duramax injectors would crack where the fuel line went into the injector. The casting was weak. They would fill the crankcase too.

I've heard of Cummins with fuel in the crankcase but I was hoping it was fixed.

Anyone know where the actual leak occurs ?

 

my truck cracked an injector a few months back and it was cracked on the housing on the valve cover side. It was leaking fuel into the oil galleys and back into the pan. Mine was covered under warranty all except for the two oil changes I did on my own before I got to the dealer (on the way, 40 miles) and the fuel filter change to get the dye into the system to find out which one. All in all it cost me $100 deductible and another $75.00 or so. Also I got a reman injector instead of a new one since they had one sitting on the shelf.

 

What do you mean on the valve cover side ? It cracked the injector body itself ?

Can I ask if you were running the box at the time ? You can PM me if you don't want to say publicly.

 

The $100 deductable on Engine and Fuel system ONLY applys after the 5 years.Read the OWNERS manual and get your c/note back.

 

the engine internals should be ok after having this happen. the rod/main bearings and cam bushings will be ok. the only thing that could get hurt is the turbocharger bearings. but if you use an indicator dial and check the thrust and lateral on the turbo and everything is in spec, run it [and you will end up upgrading sooner or later anyways ]

with these injectors, if the control solenoid jams/sticks it can leave the spill port open and the injector will keep spraying fuel until the engine shuts down. [the solenoid does not it self lift the needle off the seat in the injector tip, but opens a fuel spill passage allowing the pressure differential of the HP fuel pressure to lift the needle off the seat]

in other HPCR applications, there is a flow limiter valve that can be used to stop fuel flow in such an event as if the solenoid were to jam open. i know my school text books show such a thing, but i don't know which hpcr engine uses them. they work similar to a delievery valve on an inline fuel pump [P-pump] but in reverse. although if we were to have such things on our engines, they would very much limit the potential power the engine could put out [they would need to be recalibrated to the maximum fuel flow those injectors would see]