Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Engine rebuild

[Wyomingcowboy]

(I thought this might be a better sounding thread)



Well I just got an e-mail from Cummins Rocky Mountain with a list roughly matching the e-bay list. The pistons from Cummins are $170/ea without pins or rods. That alone is more money than the whole kit!



How many of you are running Mahle pistons? I am a newbie at this stuff and I have no idea. Is Cummins OEM going to be that much better? I kinda pounded a little on a few of the rods to get them out so I might have scarred them a little bit and might need to replace them. I want to get another million miles out of this thing and don't know what to expect from Mahle.



Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate it more than you know.

 

[kenny61]

Mahle is a good company. I am not sure but I think they were the OEM for the original pistons. There are different grades that they make so the cost will vary. I know in the gas motors they made really good high perf pistons. Since your newbie I will tell you to get the piston, pin, rod, crank assembly balanced no matter what you do. I had a friend save a few bucks by not doing this (he told me after he had another friend (ford guy) rebuild his motor for him and talked him out of it. The motor didn't last long... . Go to a local speed shop and see what prices you can get for the diff grade pistons and make your decision

 

[sbentz]

Just curious... I work for CRM. What was the P/N you were looking for and what branch did you call?

 

[WILLD420]

If you have a digital scale you can forego balancing if the replacement pieces are within a few grams of the originals. Otherwise you should balance it.

Going rate around here is between 180-300 for the job depending how much they have to do.

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

What should a good piston look like? The one I melted looks, well, melted, but the others look kinda rough too. I have black nasty crap past the first compression ring on the other 5, but none are past the oil ring. (Except the melted one) I will post pics soon if I can figure out how to do that.

I was just wondering what excessive idling looks like... .

 

[WILLD420]

A good piston will have nicely defined edges on the piston top, to include the center depression and the edges near the ring. There should be a little carbon buildup under the top ring, but nothing that looks melted. The skirts should have even wear patterns and not be tilted on the wear pattern.

If you are replacing one, I would go ahead and do them all. You never know if one of the others got hot enough to hurt it.

 

[Joe Mc]

If you are replacing one, I would go ahead and do them all. You never know if one of the others got hot enough to hurt it.

Words of wisdom - "especially" since you have it all apart - do you want to take it apart every 40k or so to replace another piston? Or, do it once - do it right and be happy . . . Bing-oh!

 

[ThrottleJockey]

My set of pistons alone was $1800. 00



I agree with Joe. Drop in the goods and button it up. Put a better cam in it, too, since it's all apart. Good time for Fire Rings or an O ring set up?

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

I have the helix 2 cam ready to go in... ... just need the rest of the stuff and my machine shop guy to get back from vacation!

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

whats good way to remove valve guides?

By valve guides I mean valve guide seals.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Piers at Peak Diesel Performance is one guy who can steer you the right way on pistons. I have heard the pistons to get have steel ring lands for both compression rings, not just the upper one. There are a lot of different pistons for the B series, depending on HP rating and application.

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

whats good way to remove valve guides?

By valve guides I mean valve guide seals.

Anybody got any help here??

 

[kenny61]

Most cars I worked on they just popped on and off I looked at the 96 12 valve factory manual and its the same. Sorry but I don't have any first hand knowledge of the 24 valve. If you look at a new one you might be able to figure it out

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Mahle makes good pistons and I would not hesitate to use a set of them with the rings they can supply. The valve seals are rubber with a spring encircling them. Just pry them off the guides with the edge of a screwdriver. If you are melting pistons, you need a reliable pyrometer, a bigger turbo to supply cool boost not just high pressure extremely hot air, and careful use of the accelerator pedal. Many of us who have boosted power have to “drive by the gauges” because it is easy to add more fuel than we can follow up with sufficient air to keep the egt's in the safe range (certainly not over 1300 degrees).

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

I appreciate the advice. My piston was caused by a split injector tip, however. I have a pyro, boost, all that stuff and never ran it hotter than 1325 and only then for very short (1-2 sec. ) If I was climbing a hill at hit 1250 I backed off. It was just that injector and my consequent running of motor with said injector for several miles at hwy speeds that did it in.

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

How do I post pics on here? I have some cool ones of my wasted piston that I would love to share!

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

I think i figured it out... . pretty nasty, huh?!

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

The cylinder walls were scored pretty good too; although you can't see it too well.



On the looks of the other piston: how does that one look? It's nasty black but mechanically it's in good shape. I plan to replace them all but I was just curious.

 

[kenny61]

As long as it's in good shape mechanically/ no gouges cracks melted spots and still the same size shape its supposed to be the color dont matter

 

[Wyomingcowboy]

OK, so here's a question for you guys. Do I want to do anything about compression? I think, from what i have read on here, low compression pistons might make cold starting hard and I sure don't want that. As of now I just have a Helix 2 cam to go in. No other major differences scheduled, but I have yet to order the rebuild kit.

Should I go as close to stock as I can (plus cam of course) and just add a smarty or edge? I don't want to get radical (nor can I afford it) and all I want is to pull a loaded horse trailer at hwy speeds. (And get awesome mileage doing it )



I am close to ordering parts now and would appreciate any final words of wisdom.

Thanks!