05' engine knocking, rebuild or replace?

[HBarlow]

I always meant to ask you. . why did you decide to change injectors early on?

Because I attended a TDR Rally in Kerrville, TX four months after I bought the Dodge. The truck had only a few thousand miles on it.

Bill Stockard and his wife were camped in the next RV space. Joe Donnelly, Piers Harry, Bill and Stefan Kondalay, and many others were there giving presentations.

Joe Donnelly gave a presentation on RV275 injectors and I asked Bill his opinion. I bought a set from Joe Donnelly and he installed them. Afterwards, Bill and I took a ride west on I-10. The increase was impressive. The only trade-off was high egts when pulling steep grades loaded.

I ran that truck 325k miles before retiring it. It belongs to my long-time mechanic and friend now with about 360k miles and the same injectors still installed.

 

[MChrist]

Harvey, thanks. That sounds like a good injector selection, especially with that many miles on them! Good info for those with an '01.



Grey Wolf. . :--):--) last time I had a diesel rebuilt, I remember it was around $500/cylinder in parts, however that was piston, liner, and rod!! (stock DT-466).



I remember when I built up my Kawasaki ZX-11 back in '92, I used Carillo rods and Wiseco pistons, and the pistons were the same price as stock, overbore Kawasaki pistons. Times change, I suppose.

 

[Grey Wolf]

Yeah like they say, If you want to play you gotta pay:-laf



We also had a saying similar to that if you owned a "K" series Cummins, if you own a K your gonna pay!

 

[rashwor]

Ouch! I am sorry for your issue. I too wonder where the oil went. I am running out to check the oil in mine right now!

 

[MD500E]

Here is a little video I shot today of the knock. It is interesting how the knock randomly comes and goes after the engine is revved to about 1,500 rpm.



05 dodge cummins knocking - YouTube

 

[B.G. Smith]

Sounds like a rod bearing gone to me. The bearing shell is probably moving around causing the knock to stop at times. bg

 

[MChrist]

Sounds to me like 6 knocking sounds per second, so about 360 knocks per minute, so one knock every 2 revolutions, which equals one knock every power stroke. Sounds like a spun bearing to me... sorry.
I had this sound once on an LS-6 I had once. Turned out to be loose torque converter bolts, thankfully. But the sound wasn't intermittent like yours.

 

[sag2]

Sounds like a rod knock, but you might take a good look at the flex plate when you can to make sure it isn't broken.

If it is just a rod bearing you should be able to get by with a crank, bearings and oil pump. You don't say how many miles, but everything else should be good. You still need to find the source of the oil loss.

 

[MD500E]

The engine just turned 80,000 miles. I found it strange how the knocking would come and go but the bearing shell moving around into different positions seems to makes sense. I am guessing that once you hear that sound that crank is most likely damaged from the excess play of the disintegrating bearing. I have decided to have the engine rebuilt. I narrowed it down to 3 shops, Haisely, Enterprise, or Scheid. Anyone have any recommendations with any of these shops or possibly others? Thanks.





Kevin

 

[TCDiesel]

Sounds like a rod knock, but you might take a good look at the flex plate when you can to make sure it isn't broken.

If it is just a rod bearing you should be able to get by with a crank, bearings and oil pump. You don't say how many miles, but everything else should be good. You still need to find the source of the oil loss.

Yep X2, I've heard that Knock before bent rod.

 

[MChrist]

My suggestion would be to have a plan for what you want to accomplish with your motor in the future, and rebuild accordingly. Going nutso, or just 500-600 hp? The engine rebuilder you choose should be able to answer your questions. Hopefully, the crank won't need to be replaced. . can't imagine how much that would cost... eek!

 

[PKnight]

I just listened to the video of the knock and do not believe it is a rod. It is too high pitch for a rod and is intermittent which to me indicates something else. I guess it really doesn't matter at this point since it appears the engine needs a tear down but I would start by checking the flexplate and engine end play, and removing some rod caps , take off the front of the engine, in that order, before pulling the engine. PK

 

[rscurtis]

I vote for a spun rod bearing. The reason the noise is intermittent is that once the engine is revved up, boost pressure will keep the bearing loaded in one direction, and centrifugal force will cause the rod to "walk" around the crank journal instead of merely moving up and down. Notice how pronounced the knock is when the engine decelerates.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Doesn't sound like a rod to me ~ too tinny and echoing but I guess I could be wrong. I would crawl around the whole thing with a mechanics stethoscope and try to pin point the exact origin.

 

[MD500E]

Here are a few photos showing the thick paste like oil stuck to the bottom of the filler cap.

 

[rscurtis]

As I said in post #9, that oil is contaminated with something. This engine should be fine with 4-5 quarts of oil missing, it still has 7 or 8 left in the system. I doubt Cummins would design an engine that can't access 2/3 of its oil capacity.

 

[MChrist]

Being that thick, I wonder if it was able to be squirted under the pistons via the cooling jets.

As far as contamination is concerned, what would be contaminating it? Wouldn't coolant make it chocolate milk colored? Or is diesel oil just so black that it doesn't show up as chocolate milk? Has your coolant bottle been going down?

 

[rscurtis]

Now would be a good time for an oil analysis, then you'll know the answer for sure.

 

[MD500E]

I did save some oil to send out for analysis. I cut open the filter last night did not find any metal but did find the bottom 1/3 of the filter housing was clogged with oil the consistency of jelly. I have attached a youtube video. Dodge cummins oil filter - YouTube

I have also never seen oil this black before. Based on how thick this oil in the filter housing was at 70 degrees when I cut it open, I was thinking that maybe my loss of oil pressure was from this cold thick oil not making it back down to the pan fast enough with with the pan already down 3-4 quarts to start with. Do you guys think some bad injectors could cause the oil to be so contaminated with soot? My truck would always put out a slight haze of smoke even while driving 65 on the highway, not loaded and even in the winter. This is visible during the day and very apparent at night. This haze seemed to have gotten worse over the last year. I will keep you guys posted with what I find as soon as we get the engine apart. Thanks

 

[rscurtis]

I think you found the cause of your bearing failure. I would still have it analyzed to see what your soot level is.