Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Blown up motor towed by Ford.

[KWIKKURT]

Havin any luck??? I know of two very low mile engines one is complete and the other is a long block.



I personally would stick with pressing the dealer, Cummins and Dialmer..... Just be sure to keep track of every one you have spoken to and when. Also subject matter. And always ask for their supervisor or Boss. Eventually if you are persistent you will get high enough that someone will OK a rebuild under warranty.



Kurt Yardley 505-534-0434

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Updates??

Back to the Top . . .

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

TTT again



Just curious if there's any updates? This was an interesting thread since I'd never heard of a wrist pin failing on a Cummins.



Vaughn

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Ghostroller

are you back in business yet? Just curious if there's an ending to this story

 

[Ghostroller]

update

To update everybody - the date Dodge uses to start your 5 year / 100,000 mile and standard vehicle warranty is the in service date - the date it was purchased. This vehicle was purchased on October 16, 1998 - the failure occurred on October 27, 2003 it is considered out of warranty. The truck was towed to the closest dealer whoe referred it to Cummins Mid- South - to make a long story somewhat short it is still siting in pieces at Cummins Mid South and Chrysler is trying to determine iff they will cover this or part of it. I have spent my own money so far to have Cummins disassemble the engine to inspect it - Chrysler pushed me into this claiming if they were to work with me they had to know the reason for the failure. I have invested my money to find out that the # 5 cylinder' s two exhaust valves broke the heads off and ruined the whole motor. Cummins Mid South claims "they must have been bad valves". I am spending at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours per day on the phone with Cummins Mid South, Chrysler Customer Service Managers, and the local Dodge Dealer jeapordizing my job to some extent and lots of money on a rental and nobody wants to get off their ---. This whole thing is learning experience for me - one that has even led me to look at Ford's, and even Hemi powered Dodges. The list of proposed repairs at Cummins Mid South total around $4000. 00 and doesn't include anything close to the whole motor - only one piston and one rod w/ wrist pin, turbo, reman head, and the associated other stuff - wouldn't the crank be bad?

 

[stacerbob]

Send me a PM if you decide to bail out.

 

[HBarlow]

Ghostroller:



If the truck has not been modified, has been properly maintained, and has not been abused I would think having two exhaust valve heads break off simultaneously would be a very rare occurrence. If you are not the original owner I guess you have no way of knowing about the period before you owned it.



Could the valve adjustment just days before have been related to the failure? Did it run smoothly and normally before and after the valve adjust? Or was the valve adjustment done because it wasn't running right? Any experienced Cummins mechanics who could comment on this possibility?



Harvey

 

[BLandau]

I know that this has been a hassle, but I would be inclined to seek legal advice before buying a different truck or making any deals. Two valves (let alone one valve) breaking with so few miles seems suspicious (especially after an adjustment). I would have your attorney send a convincing letter detailing your complaint if you feel that you are not making progress. Make sure that he requests that all engine components be saved for documentation. A well crafted letter explaining what will happen if Cummins does not remedy the situation should not cost much and will help you gain some leverage. Chances are, someone screwed up and incorrectly adjusted your valves.



Questions that need to be answered:

1. When was the last calibration date of the mechanics torque wrench?

2. Who performed the calibration?

3. How can they prove that they adjusted the valves properly?

4. Would incorrect valve adjustment lead to the failure that you experienced? (They need to prove that maladjusted valves does not cause this failure. )



The timing between the valve adjustment and valve failure is too close to be considered unrelated. Don't give up. ALWAYS FIGHT!!!



Brent

 

[Ghostroller]

Brent



Those are excellent words of advice. The only reason a valve adjustment was done is because I was at a lull at work and the truck was approaching the 100,00 mile recommneded overhead so I took advantage of the spare time from work and took it to Cummins Mid South, the truck ran good before and after the adjustment - no noticeable problem until the kaboom or the pieces of the valve eating the turbo viens and the piston - undoubtably what caused the blackl smoke. The truck is paid for but coughing up $4,000. 00 is not a easy deal - especially when I planned on having a long term truck when I bought it in 98'. I had been looking at new ones on and off - I am at a real crossroads in that I paid a premium in 98 for the motor when I traded my 97' gas burner in that was showing signs it wouldn't be a long term truck - the 99 has been a great truck and I have followed the service manual exactly and now this - if Chrysler doesn't help me out I will pay yet another premium for repairs - (adding the original MSRP window sticker $4250. 00 to the proposed repairs $4000. 00) - I will have spent around $8000. 00 of my money for the Cummins. I would wager I could have paid someone to put three 360 V8' in my 97' 2500 and still come out ahead because I would have only been hit with depreciation on one vehicle. This is all water under the bridge in light of the current situation - I can't afford not to fix the truck but If I end up paying to fix it I won't be able to afford to trade or sell it much less have any cash to put down on a new one for a while.

 

[Ghostroller]

valve adjustments

I don't want anyone to be scared by my experience - I think valve adjustents are an important part of normal PM. Cummins Mid South has routinely done the adjustments (every 15,000 miles) on my dad's 89 (currently showing 364,000 miles) and always done an excellent job. This is a point my dad brought up - He made the comment that he doesn't care what the book says 100,000 mile interval or not he would have an overhead every 30,000 minimum on a long stroke diesel (he is an old CAT engineer) to prevent stress risers from forming on valve with out of spec valve lash. He claims that long stroke diesels place to mush stress on the overhead - springs, keepers, studs, valve stems etc. if something is out of spec. - my counter arguement was that the keepers were all intact on my failed engine - he claims that the valves broke the heads off most likely due to the valve lash being to great and placing a shock load on the valve stem instead of an evenly applied rolling load from the camshaft. If I had done excessive maintenance this probably would not have happened according to him.

 

[Chief USA]

I VERY strongly agree with BLandau. 2 valves is not coincidense. My instincts tell me perhaps the valves on that cylinder may have been improperly adjusted and caused contact with the piston head during the adjustment process and subsequently broke both valves. If the Cummins dealer is not willing to entertain this possibility or come clean; have the truck moved to another Cummins or independent diesel servicing dealer. Have the Cummins or other dealer closely examine the rest of the valve train and conduct a failure analysis. Get it ALL in writting. See if you can get the Cummins dealer to write a statement as to what they feel the most likely cause of failure was. You may be able to take them to small claims court and win a judgement. A lawyer will only drain your money unless you know one who is willing to be reasonable. In any case; I hope you are able to work something out and get your truck fixed for a reasonable price if not free. Hang in there!

 

[dseabaugh]

I think what Ghost says is right. My great uncle was a cat design engineer (3160 ,3204) and he had the same notions. Reminds me that I need to run the overhead on our 3408. I had the overhead run at Cummins gateway on my pickup around 56K mi. and it never has run like it used to. I ran It myself the last time ( has another 20K on it now) Wife tells me if I ever let anyone else adjust the valves on a vehicle of mine again she'll divorce me.

 

[Ghostroller]

I have never done any of the work on my diesel except for oil changes, fuel filter, etc. - I regularly rebuild gas burners for my Dad's race cars and could probably handle the work on the 24V. What kind of liability to you open yourself up to with the warranty if you do it yourself and maybe we ought to start a "preferred vehicle repair location list" for those people who can't do the work themselves or don't want to - it appears there are some places out there to avoid

 

[OTRPU]

I feel for you. . . I know this isn't where this thread been headed, but don't feel any better having mine towed by a 99 Ram. >280k guess I got no warranty huh? On the bright side though, old girls gonna have a new heart.



Cheers,

Steve J.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

NEVERMIND THE 53 PART LOOK AT THE WARRANTEE INFO

Ghostroller,

Originally posted by ToolManTimTaylor

I got this in an e mail and the guy sent this over when he saw another 53 story and you may find this interesting..... I sure did.



<hr>

From:M. S Guy



A friend I work with and I both have 99 CTD. His is a DRW w/auto. His block also cracked, but he was under 100,000 and didn't have any problems getting it fixed. Because of my concern, I went home and read through the 99 Ram Pickup Warranty Information Book that came with my truck. I don't know if anyone's tried this yet, but on page 12, section 2. 6, paragraph A, there is a definition of when the warranty begins on the Cummins Diesel Engine. According to this paragraph, the warranty begins at the END of the 3/36 Warranty. Theoretically, we would be able to have 135,999 miles on the odometer and still be covered.



There is a series of numbers on the back cover of this book. these numbers are:



81-016-9009 (12/98) DIAL #00PM1577

<hr>

 

[HBarlow]

Ghostroller:



How about an update for fellow Dodge-Cummins owners?



Have you determined the cause of the failure yet?



Have you decided on a solution?



Harvey

 

[John Berger]

I hope you get this resolved reasonably cheap or free. By the way, isn't the valve adjustment schedule on the 24 valve engine 150,000 miles?

 

[24VChev]

valve adjustment

If the mechanic who adjusted the valves adjusted them to tight the push rod for that valve set would most likley be bent.



Are there any bent push rods?





Best of luck





Malcolm

 

[Ghostroller]

Just to update everone - the cause of the failure was a s listed above "a bad valve" - Chrysler is coming through and has agreed to cover the repair lists - most of which includes Recon parts - head, etc. - I have to pay a deductible which I don't understand - for you 99' owners the page listed above in the warranty info helped - it does imply the warranty begins at 36months/36,000 miles - the 2001 models books don't read the same by the way. I have been down over a month now and the estimated repair time from Cummins Midsouth is another couple weeks, but I am much happier now. My advice is to be patient and don't get angry - Chrysler builds the best pick ups on the road and that is not just because of their initial quality - they take care of their past customers - I think this is something Daimler has improved since their aquisition.

 

[Thomas]

"for you 99' owners the page listed above in the warranty info helped - it does imply the warranty begins at 36months/36,000 miles"



How exactly did it help? Were you able to get D/C to acknowledge that the 5 year/100,000 mile engine warranty begins at the conclusion of the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty? The wording in the warranty information booklet for 2000 is the same as the wording used in 1999. I imagine a lot of Cummins equipped Ram owners with more than 5 years/100,000 miles have paid for engine repairs during the 8 year/136,000 mile period spelled out in the warranty information booklet.