Single Piston Scored

[sabre85rdj]

I just bought this 02 with the HO engine that the previous owner thought had a rod out of it. Turns out it wasn't a rod but a single piston score. Number 6 cylinder has pretty heavy scoring on the piston skirt. I thought at first must have been an overheat but I removed piston 5 and it looks perfect. The other cylinders (not removed) also look perfect. I'm thinking now it could be a plugged piston cooling nozzle. The engine is still in the truck so I was wondering if there a trick out there to determine if a nozzle is plugged without having to pull engine and pull crank. I'd prefer to not disturb any more of the engine than I have to. The rest of the engine looks perfect. I still see the cross hatch in the upper ring reversal area after 200K miles.

Thanks

BTW anyone know a place to get a piston kit for reasonable money? My local Dodge dealer is just being silly.

[superdutycummins]

Try Macks's Machine and Engine in Texas. I think they are by Austin or Houston. Cant remember where at exactly. Their number is 800-856-7006. I have bought a piston kit from them once before and they are prettty reasonable on price and shipping. I had the same problem with a 12 valve a couple years ago, I just replaced number 6 piston, but the engine had a bunch of blowby. Im talking about losing a gallon of oil to 20 miles out the breather tube bad. I ended up running it another 40,000 miles till I got tired of fighting the oil issue, then I stuck a different 12 valve in, ran it for 600 miles and scored all 6 pistons due to a radiator break. I then put another 12 valve in and ran 1,000 miles and had a piston break. Im not having good luck, but I wish you plenty!!

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2001 Ford F-550 4x4 crewcab, 12 valve cummins, zf-6, 5" stacks, egt, pyro, boost, water temp, tranny temp auto meter guages, some injectors, no fuel plate, SBDD clutch, much more!! CRACKED HEAD and SCORED BLOCK New engine is here, Industrial block and head!!

[Diesel Nut]

Originally Posted by superdutycummins

Try Macks's Machine and Engine in Texas. I think they are by Austin or Houston. Cant remember where at exactly. Their number is 800-856-7006. I have bought a piston kit from them once before and they are prettty reasonable on price and shipping. I had the same problem with a 12 valve a couple years ago, I just replaced number 6 piston, but the engine had a bunch of blowby. Im talking about losing a gallon of oil to 20 miles out the breather tube bad. I ended up running it another 40,000 miles till I got tired of fighting the oil issue, then I stuck a different 12 valve in, ran it for 600 miles and scored all 6 pistons due to a radiator break. I then put another 12 valve in and ran 1,000 miles and had a piston break. Im not having good luck, but I wish you plenty!!

If that avatar is your picture it looks like you have no manner of luck at all!


How does the face of the piston look? Burnt or melted at all? If not, most likely its the saddle jet. Are you sure the cylinder wall in number 6 wasn't affected at all?

One thing you can do is pull the main cap and look at the bearing. You should also be able to roll the upper bearing out and see if there is any visible damage to the bearing. If not, then you may have to pull it and yard out the crank. Last one we saw had rubber chunks stuck in the cooling jet from an aux oil filter hose.

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[superdutycummins]

Yeah, thats my pic, that was 3 years ago, had a John Deere Dozer on the trailer. A chain didnt get tightened, and as we went around the curve it slid. When the chain caught it flipped the trailer. That was definitely a bad day. LOL.

I got bad news from the machine shop today on my engine. I took two heads to get valve jobs done on, one to put back on my superduty and one for my other project. Came to find out today, both heads are junk. Several cracks in them. I had a feeling one of them would be no good, but I thought for sure the other one was good. O well, now I have to get a head too. The piston I just broke was number 2, it broke between the top and second ring. I havent pulled the engine apart yet to see what caused it. I know it got hot right before it quit running, but I was loaded and only 2 miles from home so I decided to push on home.

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2001 Ford F-550 4x4 crewcab, 12 valve cummins, zf-6, 5" stacks, egt, pyro, boost, water temp, tranny temp auto meter guages, some injectors, no fuel plate, SBDD clutch, much more!! CRACKED HEAD and SCORED BLOCK New engine is here, Industrial block and head!!

[superdutycummins]

Hey DieselNut, you guys sell heads or anything? I wasnt paying any attention to your signature until I posted that last one. I tow regularly, sometimes upwards of 60k. Usually not loaded heavy for very long distance, but I need something that can handle the loads. Im looking to get somewhere between 400 and 600 hp. I have no clue as to where I am at hp wise right now, but beings I have to buy a new head, I want something that will work in the future. Im wanting to put twin turbos on it, but not sure what Im going to do right now. If you do any of this, let me know.

Thanks,
Zach

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2001 Ford F-550 4x4 crewcab, 12 valve cummins, zf-6, 5" stacks, egt, pyro, boost, water temp, tranny temp auto meter guages, some injectors, no fuel plate, SBDD clutch, much more!! CRACKED HEAD and SCORED BLOCK New engine is here, Industrial block and head!!

[Diesel Nut]

Give me a call and lets see what we can do for you. We have a few heads in stock . . . .

As for your power needs, at your load levels you hit a point where less is more. 600hp and 60k lbs is a recipe for disaster.

__________________

800.450.7036
Diesel Nut Motorsports.com
Not just an online vendor, we are your #1 source for parts, service and installations! Custom transmission and motor builds as well!

Our Amsoil webpage
Become an Amsoil Preferred Customer
Become an Amsoil Dealer

[superdutycummins]

Ok, Ill give you a call tomorrow. Yeah, I know 600 hp and 60k isnt good. Ive only towed that much twice. I have a trackhoe I haul every once in a great while and thats what Im grossing with it on the trailer. I would like to have 600, but I know thats probably not practical with this truck. My other project on the other hand... most definitely.

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2001 Ford F-550 4x4 crewcab, 12 valve cummins, zf-6, 5" stacks, egt, pyro, boost, water temp, tranny temp auto meter guages, some injectors, no fuel plate, SBDD clutch, much more!! CRACKED HEAD and SCORED BLOCK New engine is here, Industrial block and head!!

[sabre85rdj]

Thanks all, I called Mack's diesel in Texas and they fixed me up with a piston and a set of rings. They saved me over 60% compared to the dealer prices. Both skirts of the piston are heavily scored but the top of the piston doesn't look like it's been hot or erroded in anyway. I've honed the cylinder lightly and it looks good. I've ordered a ball hone to put the cross hatch on the cylinder and to take the edge off of the upper ring ridge. There's hardly any wear in the ring reversal area and I can't feel the ridge with my finger although I can see where the deglazing hone didn't touch the wall.

I'm planning to roll the bearing out of the no.6 main and then poke a wire through the cooling nozzle. I'd like to figure out a way to capture any debris so I can tell for sure what the root cause was. I then plan to blow compressed air through the nozzle and make sure I can get good flow through it. I think that should insure a clean jet. I'd hate to have to do this again.

I've heard that Fram filters have had quality problems that allowed debris to plug the cooling nozzle. This engine had a fram filter on it but I can't say that was the source of the debris if it's actually plugged

[superdutycummins]

Glad to hear you got your parts ordered. Id think that would work, hopefully you dont have to do it again. Come to find out the blowby I was having on the engine that I replaced #6 on was coming from a cracked head.

Good luck with your repair.

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2001 Ford F-550 4x4 crewcab, 12 valve cummins, zf-6, 5" stacks, egt, pyro, boost, water temp, tranny temp auto meter guages, some injectors, no fuel plate, SBDD clutch, much more!! CRACKED HEAD and SCORED BLOCK New engine is here, Industrial block and head!!

[Cookie]

Originally Posted by Diesel Nut

Give me a call and lets see what we can do for you. We have a few heads in stock . . . .

As for your power needs, at your load levels you hit a point where less is more. 600hp and 60k lbs is a recipe for disaster.

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2006 3500 Mega Cab 6 speed manual tranny 6 cyl 5.9L diesel
I call it my "Cowgirls Limo"

[Diesel Nut]

NO FRAM FILTERS!!!! EVER!


Ok, that said, you can run a wire down through the cooling nozzle, but you won't have enough room to run it under the crank and get the debris out. The nozzle presses into the main saddle from behind the bearing, so its kinda in there as long as the crank is in. Also, with the oil pressure, if it is clogged its most likely going to be hard to clear it out.

__________________

800.450.7036
Diesel Nut Motorsports.com
Not just an online vendor, we are your #1 source for parts, service and installations! Custom transmission and motor builds as well!

Our Amsoil webpage
Become an Amsoil Preferred Customer
Become an Amsoil Dealer

[demondogdodge]

Originally Posted by superdutycummins

Ok, Ill give you a call tomorrow. Yeah, I know 600 hp and 60k isnt good. Ive only towed that much twice. I have a trackhoe I haul every once in a great while and thats what Im grossing with it on the trailer. I would like to have 600, but I know thats probably not practical with this truck. My other project on the other hand... most definitely.

Sounds like we do some similar stuff. I get loaded real heavy at times but usually only go 10-30 miles with it. If DOT ever caught me on those days I think they'd lock me up!!

Anyways, at top settings I'm pushing close to 600 hp, but I usually drive with programmer turned off and when pulling heavy loads only have programmer turned to about 2 or so too much power creates too much heat so I drive accordingly. Of course at the PULLS we go all out, I do have a couple of 1st place trophys

I've been driving diesel trucks for 30 years. You can turn up the power and drive smart and they'll last a long time. Turn them up and drive like an ARS and you'll burn it up in a jiffy.

Stay cool

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01 3500 quad 4x4, FASS 150 4" pac brake,5" exhaust-6"tip,6spd,edge juice/monitor ,150 hp injectors,BHAF,air ride drives,1000 hp clutch,64/14 turbo