Cummins V 8 bites the dust.....

[Nyoest]

Oddly enough right after the V 8 diesel thread got going a Link Belt crane came in for repair. It is a single engine hydraulic rig powered by a cummins 555 v8. It was overhauled by a local shop about a year ago. Recently they started having trouble with a push tube jumping out from under the rocker arm.



There was damage to one lifter, the cam lobe and the the cam. We thought that was the extent of the damage until we pulled the transmission and tried to get the cam out. Three of the five cam bearings were seized to the camshaft and had been turning in the block. Havent had time to figure out what exactly happened we were too busy building tooling to pull the cam!

 

[Mhannink]

Ouch that hurt, bet the customer isn't happy.

Almost looks like a lube problem, maybe the cam bearings were installed upside down.

 

[The patriot]

"the cam bearings were installed upside down. "
That's what I was thinking...

 

[Nyoest]

Almost looks like a lube problem, maybe the cam bearings were installed upside down.

We will never really know. The front and rear bearings are different bu appear do be installed correctly.



My first thoughts were low oil but why would it take a year to show up? This thing runs against the governor all day. Or at least that's what I've been told. I



Kind of a moot point, need a new block, cam and lifters regardless.



Unhappy customer? You bet! And these guys with a bale bed on their pickup get their nose out of joint if the pickup has to stay one more day. I can't imagine what he bills an hour for crane service and how much he has lost already.

 

[Mhannink]

like you said we will probably never know, once the bearings spin any incorrectness is wiped out.



low oil? low oil pressure, or low oil level? i guess really low oil pressure could be from low oil level. anyways, low oil pressure could show up suddenly, although im wondering how long the bearings may have been seized without the operator knowing, i have seen that before on c15's. as far as the block, cant machine it and push in thicker bearings? do they not offer oversize bearings for the cam?

 

[Nyoest]

It took two days to find a cam and it was aftermarket. There wasn't a single lifter in the USA, it was to be shipped from England if we needed it. Cummins hasn't made parts for this engine since 2001 we were told.



There may be oversize bearings available but we haven't found them yet.



The lifter was about $140, this engine has 24.



Low oil, exactly. Doesn't matter pressure or level they end up with the same results.



I will also add this is a rear gear train engine. Pure delight to work IN.

 

[Mhannink]

yeah that sounds like a bugger to work on, sounds like your having lots of fun.



i thought cummins was a lot like cat in that the never really stopped producing parts for any of their engines, i guess i was mistaken in that.



no matter what it sure doesnt sound like its going to be a cheap repair no matter what you do, and thats not including the cost of unplanned downtime.



i dont know about in your area, but what are the chances the will opt to repower it with a newer engine? i know around here a lot of mechanics are paying off a lot of big bills repowering old equipment due to emmisions, wanting to get into compliancy before its too late.

 

[Dl5treez]

The triple nickel has been obsolete for some time, and was never very good to begin with.



The 903s are better, but still not all too great.



I used to wrench for a company that had six triple nickel powered cranes, ended up repowering all of them with Cummins 6BTAs. The costs were higher than overhauls but in the long run a much less expensive option.

 

[TBartlett1]

VTA 903 600 & 660hp GOOD memories; they were installed in the US Armies Bradley Fighting Vehicle and also used in our test cells for testing their transmissions. While they may not be desirable (durable) like the Cummins inline we gave them a hellofa beating in the cell during durability testing of the transmission. They did quite well!

1 cycle through the required test schedule was 6 hours and included 1 test point that was 10 minutes long at full rated power 2600 rpm's & 1200 (600hp) or 1333 (660hp) lbft of torque.

We even had a VTA 700 rated at 2900 rpm and 1300lbft torque for a bit of testing.

Awsome engine for what it was designed for!



Tim

 

[mwilson]

Look, we snagged a crane the other day too...



Started as a turbo on the side of the road, then got serious.



Took quite a while to find a hook big enough to tow it 40 miles.



Turned into a complete overhaul now, it is an ISM Cummins. Tech says that it is the most wretched thing he has ever worked on.



He puts it on par with trying to overhaul Marine Diesels in frame or in boat, whatever it is called... . :-laf

 

[Nyoest]

It's contagious!!!!



Yah I've been saying an 8. 3 or L10 would be a perfect replacement for about a week now. A WEEK. You would think they would be worn down by now!



A repower sounds good all except for the rear mounted hyd pump above the bell housing. Don't know what kind of options there are yet because I haven't gotten the ok for repower. They dropped over $20k in the 555 rebuild a year ago.

 

[Nyoest]

Mwilson what is that miller welding machine? Looks like a good one.

 

[Dl5treez]

It's contagious!!!!



Yah I've been saying an 8. 3 or L10 would be a perfect replacement for about a week now. A WEEK. You would think they would be worn down by now!



A repower sounds good all except for the rear mounted hyd pump above the bell housing. Don't know what kind of options there are yet because I haven't gotten the ok for repower. They dropped over $20k in the 555 rebuild a year ago.

We were at about $18,000 & change for the V555 remans... . switching to 6BTAs with the correct SAE bellhousings and pump attachments--had a few with rear mounted goodies as well--went over the $25,000 & change mark but they're good for the long haul now.



Cranes are a funny deal. . the older they are, the better off you (the owner) are if they are in good working order.

 

[Nyoest]

Cranes are a funny deal. . the older they are, the better off you (the owner) are if they are in good working order.

Amen to that.



I would hate to have an issue in the middle of a big lift or personnel lift.

 

[Dl5treez]

The older cranes have more liberal load charts; that is, you can pick more at a given load radius than a newer crane with the equivalent tonnage rating.

Pouring $20,000-$100,000 into what appears to be an old clunker crane might seem crazy on the surface, but looking at the capabilities of an older unit with modern and upgraded components versus the costs of new cranes with their aforementioned strict load charts, it's a sly business decision to keep old cranes running as long as possible.

 

[mwilson]

Mwilson what is that miller welding machine? Looks like a good one.

That is a Miller "Two Fifty Twin".



We do some fabrication and trailer work here as well as everything else that can be shoved in thru an overhead door so as a result we have some pretty nice shop equipment.



Today that welder is in use repairing a cracked double frame on a Mack Tri-Axle dump. Frame had been stretched in the past by someplace else and they had done a poor job of it.



We will make it better... . :-laf



Mike.

 

[mwilson]

The older cranes have more liberal load charts; that is, you can pick more at a given load radius than a newer crane with the equivalent tonnage rating.



Pouring $20,000-$100,000 into what appears to be an old clunker crane might seem crazy on the surface, but looking at the capabilities of an older unit with modern and upgraded components versus the costs of new cranes with their aforementioned strict load charts, it's a sly business decision to keep old cranes running as long as possible.

This Grove is covered with sensors, I bet you can't lift a pound over the rated capacity without alarms sounding and reports being recorded... :-laf



Busted...



Mike.