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Need your advice - Seized engine

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2.4K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  B2hibry1  
#1 ·
Good evening fellow Cummins enthusiasts.

I'm writing to you looking for some help and/or advice regarding my dad's truck. He made a bone-headed mistake and we're trying to figure out what to do (without dipping into his 401k too deeply).

Truck:
2011 Dodge Ram 3500 Dually
Cummins 6.7L 24 Valve
6-Speed Manual
Environmental System removed ~7 years ago.
~150k miles
Stock - no mods

My dad has been running around being very VERY busy of late and it caused him to make a huge mistake. I just bought a house, flew him out to Norfolk, VA to help me for 2 weeks and then he returned for Christmas and trying to get ready for my parents' annual winter road trip. All while winterizing his house before leaving.

He put his truck up on the lift, drained the oil, replaced the fuel filter, air filter, oil filter and then they had to leave for a dinner party. He cleaned up his shop, shut the hood, left the oil on the bench to complete when he returned. The following morning, he FORGOT to put the oil in, because his shop was all clean as he left it and didn't think about it correctly.

Started the truck, backed it out of his shop, drove ~1/4 mile and the oil light came on....he knew. EVEN BIGGER MISTAKE...he stopped, turned around and got 15 mph of speed, shut it down and let it coast back down the hill to his house.

He ran up to the shop, grabbed the oil, put it in immediately, then grabbed 10 gallons of water and poured it over the block. It turned over for 1-2 seconds then that was all she wrote. I've seen my dad cry like 4 times in my life...this one has got him pretty bad, and I feel so damn terrible for him. He's my literal hero and superman when it comes to home repair and the sort. This is atypical of him...

It was towed to a shop, they opened it up (not much) and determined full replacement. Sounds like they don't want to get into it too much. They have a good reputation but DON'T do rebuilds, just repairs.

Decision point: He's thinking of bringing it home, dropping the pan, pulling the injectors and loading up the cylinders (loading may be too strong of a word) with penetrating oil and then putting a space heater underneath and seeing if he can break free the pistons...might be a snowballs chance in hell.

I'm thinking it was only 4-5 minutes...the block may be still good and its salvageable...just a LOT of work (rings, rods maybe?!!?!?, main bearings, hopefully no valves, seals, etc.). He lives in Bellingham, WA so it wasn't warm outside, 45-50 degrees outside at the time this occurred.

Looking for some gearheads advice here. A new motor was quoted at ~$30k, we started looking around online and found some variation in a lot of them.

The shop is quoting ~$4,900 in labor costs if he can supply a new motor.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. I wish I lived closer to him to help him out...one of those moments I want to the be son he needs and be there, I got out of the Navy in Norfolk and got some roots here at the moment I can't leave for a few years unfortunately.

-G
 
#2 ·
Sorry to hear bud, and I understand the desire to help someone you love, in need. Most likely the damage/issue is far beyond the cylinder and rings. The starvation of oil most likely affected the main bearings, rod bearings, cam bearings, etc. I highly doubt flooding the cylinders with oil is going to free the cylinders, and if it does, will most likely just uncover the full extent of the damage. That being said, at this point, you probably can't do much more damage to it, so worth a shot anyway. You might get lucky, but don't get your hopes up. Sorry to hear about this none the less, sucks either way.
 
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#3 ·
Yea that is sort of what he is thinking. I mean, the water pump was still working so the block is probably NOT cracked, but there could be more damage. He was thinking along the same lines; he's got time (retired) so it might be worth trying to get it broken free and see where it goes from there. It is just a LOT of work.

Does anyone know where to find refurbished used motors (quality for a fair price)?

Thanks for your words 1BARN3S.
 
#4 ·
Take it apart and inspect the crank. He may be able to get away with just doing main and rod bearings. It depends how bad it is. Looks like it is time for a rebuild. Crap happens. Take the lump and keep on moving.
 
#12 ·
Yea, he's accepting that and I'm admiring his constitution in all of this. He'll get through it; it just hurts because he knows he's better than a silly mistake like that. I wish he had LITERALLY just shut it down immediately rather than contemplating to turn around and try and get it back to the shop. Those extra 30-45 seconds may have saved him a lot of time and $$$.
 
#5 ·
If I was in your boat, I would give Jasper engines a try for a reman engine. You will get alot of hit or miss reviews from what I have heard of them. They do have a 2 year warranty on their engines and seem to be high enough quality and a plus that they have installers nationwide.
 
#6 ·
$4900 for shop labor tells me they think its salvageable. Personally, I would source a used engine from FB or something of the sort and just swap it. If the engine is not in bad shape, rebuild it and sell it to offset the costs involved.
 
#7 ·
That's just to labor to swap the long blocks. LOL
 
#9 ·
These engines are really easy to rebuild, just heavy AF! The bad news is this one is seized which typically means machine work on the bores. Could you have gotten away without damaging the bores...slight chance. The only way to know for sure is to look at em. Best case scenario...light cylinder hone, new oil pump, rings, rod and mains. Worst case... build from pan up with oversized bore or new short-block.
 
#11 ·
Oh yea, heavy is an understatement for a 1 ton pickup. He's already looking around to rent a large cherry picker. Probably need to pull the bumper, radiator, intercooler, oil cooler, hood, etc. just to make the room to slide it in and out.

So my question for you (and thanks for your reply and input!) is if that engine is salvageable in any way, by means of lightly boring out (best case scenario we're hoping) can he get away with a "slightly" bigger piston ring set? I know the basics of some of this work, but not the REAL implications or details of what is truly sustainable from an engineering point. The compression and amount of work he'd be putting on the engine gets a vote also. He has a Camper and Heavy boat he trailers (rig + camper + boat = 26k ish pounds...) would it stand up? Short block wouldn't do it I don't think for all that weight and work.

Just some thoughts and questions. Thanks for your input again.

-G
 
#14 ·
If he needs someone to do the R&R i've got a buddy over north of Spokane that can do it for a lot cheaper then the quoted $4,500, but it's getting it over to this side of the state. If it was local i'd offer to tow it, but bellingham is a drive and i try not to cross the mountains.

As to the engine core, until its removed and inspected, it's anyones guess if the engine is rebuildable or not. Will there is a will there is a way. @Murphjd25 might know someone out in your neck of the woods that has a good shop to do the work, or a good rebuilder out there to have the engine rebuilt and then resell to recoup some money might be a good way to go about it
 
#17 ·
There is a bunch of videos but a huge resource would be a repair manual. That way you will have torque specs, sequences, etc. Like previously stated it is pretty simple to rebuild, involved, but not an overly complex task for a first timer with a mechanical prospective. As for whether to purchase a complete engine for swap or to rebuild really depends on your time frame, budget, and machinists available to you. I would pull the engine as it is needed either way, take an extra day and tear down the engine and spec out the cylinders and inspect the bearings. That will give you an idea of the extent of the damage and how much is salvageable. At the very least you may find the head is ok or requiring minor repair and be able to opt for a short block and save some dough. 8k for a used long block seems a little high to me, but it also depends on your area.