[quote author=HC link=board=8;threadid=9245;start=30#93422 date=1042898567]<br>[quote author=mymaur link=board=8;threadid=9245;start=15#89520 date=1041979704]<br>I wish Dodge would put the CTD in their Ram Van. [/quote]<br><br>Search on the words &quot;Sprinter Van&quot;, or go to a White Freightliner site. Dodge will be distributing them next year. Mercedes engine and tranny. In Europe, you can get 4WD, but in this market who knows?<br><br>All claims are &quot;over 20 mpg&quot;, one guy swears he's getting 30 mpg at 65 mph.<br>[/quote]<br><br>The 30mpg claim is true. Since I work at OKC Freightliner, I have seen a number of these come in. In SRW 3/4 chassis, as well as a DRW 1 ton chassis frame. Some of the things that you may want to consider on these is how much maintenince the customer can do on his own. Auto tranny dipstick? Nope, just a cap, to get the tranny level checked, you have to take it to your authorized Freightliner MB shop. Fuel filter changes . The worst ive seen by far. The little plastic tabs that they use for the fuel line locks is a joke. About the first time a fuel filter is changed, they are broke. To prime the new fuel filter, you have to have a special vacumn priming tool that primes the new filter. No priming buttons on the engine or an electric fuel pump to do it the easy way. Other than that, this little van is quite a performer. Instant response with the little turbocharged MB.

 

Gear Poet,<br><br>The head came off and the rod and piston went through the hood? Seems to me that the pressure to do that would be equlivant to a stick of dynamite. Also if there was enough pressure to lift the head, wouldn't that have put an equal amount of pressure on the rod and piston, causing it to go down trough the pan, and not out through the hood. You're going to need more than pictures to convience me. Sorry.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Bill

 

Bill, I'm with you. We've been in the car business since the mid 70's and never have we seen any vehicle that &quot;blew the head clean off&quot;. I don't see how that is scientifically possible ??? I mean the force required to do that would blow half the truck apart. &gt; &gt; &gt;

 

CruisingRam2,<br><br>The &quot;KDP&quot; is the &quot;killer dowl pin&quot;. It is an alignment dowl pin used on the front gear case cover of some Cummins engines. Not sure if your 93 fall into this range or not... do a little research here and at the TDR and you will find several fixes available.<br><br>Jim<br>

 

I've seen a few fan blades on old cars and trucks come through the hood. But thats not the same.<br><br>

 

CTD/359,<br><br>I would never question the ability of any flying object to come through the hood. I question the ability of the engine to develop enough pressure, even with a fluid leak into the cylinder that would cause hydraulic pressure, to be able to remove a head from a block. The engine would fail at the weakest link, ie. piston or rod, before it would rip all the head bolts loose and cause a piston and rod to come through the hood. Plus if there was that kind of pressure, the piston and rod should be going down, not up.<br><br>Regards,<br><br><br>Bill

 

Now...if you had gotten the VIN from that Duramix....

 

In 38000 miles my Duramax has had it all. Blown head gaskets, cracked heads, every injector has went bad, and the fuel pump was leaking fuel into the oil. :<br><br>NOT!! ;D ;D 8) 8)<br><br>PS. One problem (that CD player quit) 8)

 

[quote author=reera link=board=8;threadid=9245;start=45#94677 date=1043186385]<br>In 38000 miles my Duramax has had it all. Blown head gaskets, cracked heads, every injector has went bad, and the fuel pump was leaking fuel into the oil. :<br><br>NOT!! ;D ;D 8) 8)<br><br>PS. One problem (that CD player quit) 8)<br>[/quote]<br><br><br>thats good enuf reason for me not to buy one...<br><br>i need my music ;D

 

GearPoet,<br><br>No offense, but does &quot;innocently provocative statement&quot; mean exaggeration to the point of disbelief? This just sounds like the typical DMax bashing that I hear all the time. Maybe the need for VIN verification is so necessary because there is so much misinformation created by &quot;innocently provacative statements.&quot;<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Bill

 

I've never seen a small diesel blow a piston through a head but I have saw the results of a larger slow speed diesel after it blew the side door vents out of the block. The large diesels use air injection into the cylinders to get the engine turning and some then switch to natural gas or propane and diesel to keep the engine running until it will operate on the heavy fuel. Usually engines that are using gas are found on tankers where it is readily available. In some cases the gas will build up in below the pistons and explode. To keep the block from being cracked or other damage from the explosion being on the wrong side of the piston, large inspection doors are place on the side of each rod. These doors are also emergency relief valves in case of a crankcase type explosion in the block.<br><br>If that Duramax was running propane and there was a gas build up where it should not have been, could it have caused head damage including cracked bolts, etc? Just a thought.

 

SmokeDog,<br><br>I work with large engines (1800 to 2500 HP V-10's) that compress natural gas. These engines all have explosion doors to relieve pressure from crankcase explosions. The pressure for these reliefs is set in Inches of Mercury, rather than PSI, so the pressure to blow them is not much.<br><br>As far as a crankcase explosion on a small diesel creating enough pressure to lift a head, I believe that the pressure would follow the path of least resistance. The heads are 4 or 5 inches thick held down by several bolts that are probably 1/2&quot; or better in diameter. The sidewall of the block is probably 1/2 to 5/8&quot; thick. It seems to me that a crankcase explosion would go out the side of the block were there is less resistance. Just my thoughts.<br><br>Please don't hold me to the deminisions I have given above. It was purely a guess based on the insides of other engines that I have seen. I have not been inside a DMax, or any other small diesel.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Bill

 

hey Bill who Makes those big V10 1800 to 2500 HP engines. Is it CAT?<br>Just wandering.<br>DM01