Broken Rings on a 06 5.9

[AH64ID]

My dad's 06 has been using oil for the last 30-40K miles. He maybe was going thru a quart in 3K miles while towing heavy, which is defiantly noticeable. Last Thursday, after driving 500 miles Wed with a slide in camper and a 6x12 cargo trailer, he fired up the truck and it was running VERY rough and blowing a lot of oil smoke out the exhaust the crankcase pressure could be felt with my had 12-15" above the oil fill cap (cap removed). We ran it for a couple minutes and shut if off. Once we figured out what to do with the camper we fired it back up and it was idling smooth and without smoke... so we where pretty sure it was rings at this point.

So we took it to the local shop and they did a leak down check and 1 and 6 where not holding but not horrible, so the head came off. Both 1/6 where burning oil, so the engine came out of the truck. Upon further disassembly the top ring was broken on 1 and 6 but luckily there was no scoring.

Ring failures seem very rare on these engines so what???

It appears something occurred that caused the consumption and the consumption is what allowed the rings to carbon up and stop turning and subsequently break.

My dad doesn't hot rod it and drives very conservativly. The highest the EGT's ever got was the first year or two when it was stock, but those high EGT's don't mean much for cylinder temps. He has ran a Smarty Jr on SW1 or UDC and always backs out before it breaks 1200°. No other mods that have been there longer than the oil consumption. He does have a HE351 with an enlarged turbine (rebuilt OEM turbo at 100K miles to see if it was the sourse of oil consumption) and he has DDP 50's on marine bodies but they where installed after the consumption started.

He has always ran good air filters and generally the stock 4" one.

Oil has been Amsoil AME with a bypass filter changed about every 10K miles.

Truck has 123,xxx miles on it and I would guess around 3200-3400 hours... can't look until it is back together.

So it is getting a full rebuild with QSB Pistons, fully balanced rotating assembly, and ARP's. The cam/springs/pushrods will all stay stock.

Still not sure what would cause the consumption... or did the rings break first?? No real way to tell I guess.

I recall jelag having a similar issue (at similar miles) and had broken rings on 4 cylinders of his 05 but I don't recall any others.

 

[Ozymandias]

I from my sight would just install new rings and fire it up.
Why make a full rebuild on this engine that is in good working order except the rings?
Never touch a running system.

 

[AH64ID]

But it's not really running. Head needs to be tanked to clean all the oil/carbon off of 1 and 6 to inspect for cracks and the block needs to be inspected for wear.

The rod bearings had some wear on them which is probably from additional wear metals going on with breaking parts.

If you take it apart to look at things you may as well build it fresh... and better.

We spend a lot of time a long ways from anywhere and partial repairs are not what works long term.

Also pulling 325 pistons out and reinstalling them is simply a bad idea so if new pistons are going in may as well do everything.

 

[p-Bar]

Glad the Cummins issues are staying in the family

 

[AH64ID]

Yeah we are apparently good at odd/untimely failures...

 

[HHhuntitall]

I see it all the time here in Texas. Last one was an '06 Dodge Quad cab. 190k, they got it hot, #6 ring was broke. I just bought a Mega Cab, the transmission cooler line on the back of the block got a pinhole, it lost water, and the check engine light came on when it got hot.... #6 ring is broke. Last year I rebuilt 4 common rail engines for customers, all had broken rings in #6, two had broken rings in #1 as well. Heat appears to be the culprit. I'm not sure, but since water temp is read on the front of the head, I think it's quite a bit hotter on the rear of the head, so with a programmer or when towing heavy, a lot of attention needs to be paid to water temp. Combine poor quality control and components, and you've got a bad situation, made worse with aftermarket air filters and added fueling.

 

[AH64ID]

Interesting.

I am not sure his has ever gotten hot but it is something to keep in mind.

Cummins allows 225° with a 190° thermostat and IME you have to work it pretty hard to get it above 215°. At 20K GCW and 80% load on a 415rwhp tune I generally pull 6-8% grades at 2200-2500 rpms and 213-215°... but I can imagine it wouldn't take long if you where low on coolant.

 

[HHhuntitall]

.... or if your ambient air temps were 110*.

My '03 hits 210-215* easy with about a 400hp tune, upgraded turbo and camshaft here in this area.

 

[AH64ID]

Mine doesn't hit it easy even on 100-105° days, unless there is a hill and a big load. I have never seen over 207° (Full open) without a trailer (or a winter front fully closed). Even breaking 200° doesn't happen often even on 100°+ days.

 

[cerberusiam]

#6 cylinder is short on cooling to begin with and being stuffed under the cowling it tends to get a wider range of temps. #1 should not be that bad but it seems those are the common ones when the rings break. The 06's seem to have some less than great components in a lot of areas, bearings, cranks, injectors, rings, etc. That and looking at the balances rates it seems 1 and 6 do a lot more fluctuating in when the injectors wear and the ECU tries to balance things. Probably just a combination of things and the luck of the draw.

 

[seafish]

I,m thinking about installing the Fleece Performance #5/6 cylinder coolant bypass in my truck when I change out the turbo. It is thermostatically controlled versus pressure controlled like all the other coolant bypass valves. IIRC it uses a very common Chevy small block thermostat set at 10 degrees lower then the oem Cummins. People who use it say that you can see the temp gauge fluctuate as it opens and closes, providing more cooling to the rear cylinders. Many people who use a coolant bypass on the rear cylinders say that it is only necessary in high rpm situations, but I think that your situation shows that it could only help out even on a stock motor. More cooling, like more filtration, can never hurt IMO, as long as you can maintain minimum temps as well.

 

[AH64ID]

I would set it 10° higher than the OEM as you don't need bypass when you are cruising empty and in the winter you run the risk of running colder. 10° higher means it would open when you needed it.

I looked into them when I did my motor work in 2013 and didn't feel they where warranted at my power level. Heat on the back 6 is the biggest issue on higher rpms at higher power when you get on it hard before the thermostat has a chance to open.

Just make sure your cooling system is in good order, avoid full power on a cold engine, and don't let it exceed the reccommended temps. For a 190° that's 225° and for a 180° it's 212°.

 

[seafish]

I would set it 10° higher than the OEM as you don't need bypass when you are cruising empty and in the winter you run the risk of running colder. 10° higher means it would open when you needed it.

.

My bad…you are correct the secondary thermostat is set too open AFTER the oem thermostat opens, which would mean 10* higher, not lower.

 

[Regcabguy]

Sometimes I think properly maintained trucks is the culprit. The shop I use gets high mileage beat to crap trucks in all the time for issues other than engine.
They just had an '06 auto in the other day that has towed a giant 5th wheeler all over the west coast. Stock filters,decent oil change intervals,stock tires,no tuner and 2wd. Same 48re no less.

 

[AH64ID]

I know what you mean. Seen lots of abused trucks run forever and lots of great maintenance setups fail prematurely. Makes me wonder why even change your oil....

 

[HHhuntitall]

Yeah, I don't know, it's like was said above, it's the luck of the draw, I think. My '03's block split vertically through a head bolt in the rear on #6. It probably would have never done it at a stock fueling level, though. These dang CR engines are VERY tempermental. The least amount of particulates in the air, fuel, or oil, and they don't last long. The injection system is finicky, the electronics lowest bidder, and all assembled in Mexico..... If they hadn't finally made them 4 doors, they would have a hard time selling them!!

 

[Mathes308]

The trucks are assembled in Mexico.
The cummins is made and assembled in the US.
Just remember before going ballistic over quality, visit some ford sites.
I've heard it best here before said, for every person that has a problem there are thousands that don't.
90% of piston rings for EVERYTHING are made by Kaydon Ring And Seal (now owned by SKF)
I know because we build the vacuum furnaces that heat treat them.
Ford rings, cummins rings, rings for the space shuttle (reminder posters all over the plant about the challenger explosion), air compressors, Hondas, CAT, etc.
They cast their own steel in house, though recently some has been imported.

Sometimes things just happen, the common place for 1 and 6 failure points to cooling.

I even back up the Ford guys, a 6.0 blows, it's not because ford sucks, it's because international sucks, Helse the 6.7
Whew, that got long quick

 

[cerberusiam]

Cummins engines may be designed in the US but definitely not made here. The block and heads are all cast in Brazil, the fuel systems are predominantly manufactured in Euro countries as are the turbo systems. Seals and such may or may not be US made, probably a mix since the suppliers are all part of a global network now. Likely the rings, rods, and injectors that are the random failures are likely batches from different locations that at one time had QC issues. A single engine may have parts from anywhere in the world in it. The 53 block and the injector failures pretty much defined what can happen.

Add to that the engine controls on the 06 trucks moved to CAN bus and that just seems to have been a cause of issues. A slight imbalance in with injectors, larger nozzles, a programmer are all enough to promote early failure even if the parts are top of the line. It is made by mankind, it can fail.

 

[Mathes308]

Yup, the reliability pretty much boils down to engineering and care of assembly.
I've seen some really shady Chinese equipment last a long time if cared for.

 

[darkhorse_05]

I have one of those "Coolant Bypass Hose kits with the small block chevy t-stats in (180 degrees BTW emailed Fleece directly)". I was told by a gentleman that was doing some work on my engine at the time (first time ever took anything to the shop to get work done and will be the last) said it would be a good idea. I have yet to be pleased (I think). Cant keep warm in the winter, hell on a 85 degree day you wont see 190 unless your on the highway or under a decent load. I have also thought, does it disrupt the designed flow of coolant and if so by how much, Are you helping matters or moving the problem (heat) somewhere else? IDK. Ive been looking for folks that have it installed to see if any of my concerns could be answered havent found any yet. Cant even find a coolant flow diagram for the engine. BTW here is email. copied and pasted.....Fleece Performance <info@fleeceperformance.com>

10/28/13

to me
Joe,

We use a 180* thermostat in the bypass kit it is a small block chevy thermostat. The best suggestion to keep the engine warmer in the winter would be a winter front of some sort.

Thanks


On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 2:03 PM, Fleece Perfomance Engineering, Inc. <sales@fleeceperformance.com> wrote:

E-mail: -- email address removed --
Telephone:
Comment: Hi, I was wondering what temp thermostat that u use in the cummins coolant bypass kit??? Where do you get a replacement incase of failure?? And are there any suggestions as to keeping the engine warmer during cold winter months. Thank You. Joe