I am currently building a p pumped 24V, this is a project I am doing for fun and to learn more about these engines. This engine isn't being built for sled pulling, or racing. My main goal is to build a 100% mechanical engine that is the most reliable it could possibly be. Yes, a few things will be done performance wise such as a cam, a little pump work, and an HX40, but the rest of the engine work such as being balanced, head studs, a girdle with studs, and a waterman fuel pump, o ringed head and mild porting is all being done for reliability issues. Here is where I am really stuck.....Do I get the pistons and valves coated? I have seen the pistons usually get a cermic coating on the top, and the skirt coated with another coating. Does this really have any effect on reducing engine wear? There are currently several companies offering such coatings, but are they all equal? Has anyone taken a look at pistons 300 or 400K miles later with these coatings and do they really hold up and make a difference or is this just another performance fad with little benefits for someone like me who uses the truck as a daily driver and tows with it? Swaintech has a website I have looked at, but most websites seem to have the same information regarding their coatings and claims of reduced wear and tear, better heat dissipations....etc. Just looking for some answers from some people who have first hand knowledge with any of these coatings. I was even considering getting the valves coated too if this would offer any substantial wear resistance.

 

I did my own piston tops and valve faces with tech line coatings For my drag car. I know the coatings held up for years. I no longer run that engine and can't say for sure how much difference it made but , the coatings did not hurt anything. If you do any , I think the piston tops are probably the number one place for it. The coatings are supposed to reflect heat back into the chamber and reduce piston temps. I have seen claims that they will also hold a piston together as the piston top starts to melt.

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As mentioned, coating the pistons is in order to make them more heat resistant so you can run higher EGT's with less chance of piston meltdown. Hopefully more performance guys can help you out.

 

I've had Swaintech coat two sets of pistons on tractor pulling engines we built last winter. Had both their standard and the better coating applied, very impressed with the better coating. Can't comment on how it's held up because we haven't torn either one down yet.

A friend of mine ran a 5.9 cummins in a 2.6 turbo class for 2 or 3 seasons, I suspect his engine builder used swaintech for the coatings on stock aftermarket pistons. He said the tops of the pistons looked great every time he had the head off. Just took a rag and wiped the carbon off. Finally retired the pistons after he finished this season, said they had broke parts of the skirts off from an episode were the throttle stuck and she ran for almost a minute around 4k rpms, when they yanked the air shutoff they pulled it right off the charger.

 

Same here have not seen the engine torn down from racing, but have to say side coated pistons should work well on the street -less drag less heat and maybe better fuel mileage. If you look at new car manufactures a lot of the use it on smaller gas engines to promote quieter running higher revering fuel mileage!!

 

Another vote for Swain. He's not the most personable fella, but there's no doubt about the quality.

 

When I rebuilt the engine of an excavator (5.9 B 12V mechanical IP) I chose to side-coat the pistons with teflon and the top with a thermal barrier coating.
The engine has one cold start per day and is run at 180 hp output for about 70-80% of it's 16 hours work day. (Wood processor work,stump grinder work)
I did reduce the piston clearance below the stock recommendation, because I reasoned (guesstimated, pulled the idea out of my...) that with the thermal barrier coating the crown temperature of the piston would be lower. The teflon side coating would theoretically reduce the heat transfer from the piston to the cylinder wall, but I think that this might easyly be offset by a reduced friction.
About skirt friction- I do not think that the teflon per se should reduce the friction, but increase oil film retention over the aluminium. (I do not want to have my pistons run without oil)
One thing that was really noticeable with the thermal barrier coating is that the engine starts much better when cold and has almost no white or gray haze from the exhaust.
The engine has approximately 12000 hours since the rebuild, uses less than a quart of oil between changes (500 hrs).
I had no reason to open it up and take a look since then.

The coatings were applied by an Austrian company.

Just my2c

AlpineRAM