Here's what the cylinder sleeves looked like after 140K miles.

[LWilliams]

I just finished having the headgasket replaced. The day the mechanic took the head off I went by his shop at lunch to see how things were going. The first thing he did was to show me the inside of the cylinders. He pointed to the crosshatch that was still very visable. He said this crosshatch is the way the cylinders look after they have just been honed when they are new. He grined and said that with 140k miles on this engine and to still have the cylinders look like this, just keep doing what I have been doing.

The gasket was definately leaking where we had suspected. The red sealing surface close to the area of the thermostat housing was washed out, gone. Every where else on the gasket was perfect. The head and block cleaned up good and no cracks were found.

During this work he noticed a leak in the radiatior in two places, so it was removed for repair. After the job was finished he refilled with a 50/50 mix of Fleetrite antifreeze from the local Cummins shop and distilled water.

Having to change the headgasket was not something I wanted to have to do but to know that the engine was in this good of shape after this many miles made me feel better.

I just wanted to pass this along to others who might be in this same situation and wondering about their engine.

 

[CharlieMiller]

So whats your secret?

LWilliams,

Are you gonna let us in on what you have been doing for the last 140k ? What kind of oil? Filters? Frequency of oil change have you been doing? Inquiring minds or should I just say curiosity got the best of me?

 

[LWilliams]

I have always used Arco Lyondell 15w-40. I buy it in 55gal drums from my local distributor, Velvin Oil Co. in Henderson Texas and I use it in everything I own. I change the oil filter every 5k miles and have ALWAYS used Fleetguard filters from Cummins. The air filter is stock with replacement elements from Cummins.

 

[Strick-9]

I just pulled my head to install a ported head and lower the compression a bit. I have 190,000 miles and my cylinders were still crosshatched as well. I don't think this is uncommon for a cummins.



-Chris

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

ACTUALLY - lest we get carried away - *I* have seen well-worn high mileage GAS engines, small-block Chevies, that still display VERY clear cylinder crosshatching. That, in spite of the fact that they were greatly in need of overhauling. But yeah, it feels good to see some evidence of good internal engine condition...



Interesting, the area where your gasket let go - my own '91 is exhibiting a small external oil seepage in the same area - directly below the exhaust outlet on #1 cylinder - no other symptoms of problems, but makes me wonder if that area might be more prone to failure than others in our Cummins?

 

[shendren]

why was the head gasket in need of replacement after only 140k mi. ??

 

[DieselB59]

The head gasket is an item on the B series that Cummins has redesigned quite a bit over the years it's been in the Dodge pickup. I've done two myself on my truck, but they leaked due to power in the upper 400 hp level. Still haven't had the truck on a proper dyno to see what it can really do. Gonna eventually find someone with a Mustang dyno or go to the Cummins dealer in the state and have them put my truck on theirs. My drag times are indicative of a 500 hp engine that runs on only Diesel fuel. That's gonna be the reason for many head gasket problems on this site. Horsepower.

 

[Turbo Thom]

Chris:

What would be the seats of the pants feel of a leaking head gasket? I have a studder I can't seem to find.



Thanks.



. . Preston. .

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

TT - If your "shudder" occurs primarily when accellerating from a dead stop, that frequently occurs due to play/slop in the center carrier on the 2-piece driveshafts used in some of our trucks. Mine had a small amount of it as well, but it was cured when I added the OD unit and converted to a one piece driveshaft...

 

[Turbo Thom]

Gary:

As you see in my sig. I also have a OD unit with the one piece shaft. My problem is when I stab the throttle from idle and go to 2600, the miss is at 2000. When I increase the rpm slowly to 2600 it is smooth with no miss. I've been told it is the timing, sucking air in the fuel line, or the head gasket. I thought it may be the 370's or lift pump. The lift pump was put on last year.



Thanks for the guess.



. . Preston. .

 

[Strick-9]

Turbo Thom,



Sounds to me like a fuel pressure problem. Check your fuel pressure under WOT. Your injector pump is requesting maximum fuel delivery at 2000 RPM and it sounds like the your lift pump pressure isn't high enough to completely fill the barrells under high demand. You have a 12 V with no governor mods so the governor is pulling the rack back at 2400+ RPM. This explains why the stutter goes away at high RPM, the fueling requirement has dropped and now the pressures are sufficient to completely fill the barrels again. This also explains why the problem doesn't occur under light throttle. The fuel demand is too small to need high pressures. The problem is 'masked' under light throttle.



I'd suspect a faulty overflow valve first.



-Chris

 

[Turbo Thom]

Thanks Chris:

That I will check. New lift pump, huh?



Preston

 

[Bad340fish]

I really think alot of it has to do with the Inline design myself. My little 22re(I-4) in my toyota still had great looking cylinders at 150K when I pulled the head because of timing chain failure. My dad has an 89 Shelby Daytona with the turbo 2. 5 in it. At 165K it blew a head gasket. He decided he might as well go through the motor at that mileage considering the rest of the car was in perfect shape. The rebuilt was almost pointless lol, EVERYTHNG in the motor was well withing spec. Says a whole lot about regular maintenence doesn't it

Clark

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

yes the inline 6 is easy on cylinder walls. However, it is fairly typical to see the rod bearings worn into the copper and the top ring groove worn out at that mileage.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

As many of you may know, the inline-six is one of the best balanced engine designs. I have done headgaskets on B-series engines, and the cylinder walls always look great. V8 diesels, on the other hand, are another story. Done plenty of headgaskets on 6. 2/6. 5's and 6. 9/7. 3's, and the cylinder walls are usually scored in several places.



Eventually I will be doing my headgasket, but that will be some time down the line... Got a few other things to do first.

 

[H_D98]

Turbo Thom,



What are you running for timing and delivery valves? These will both cause a stutter, or popping. Doubt it's the head gasket.



Just my humble oppinion,



Kent Siebern

Angola, IN

 

[Tardog]

As with most manufactures you have to give credit where credit is do, I opened up my 83 6. 2 to change a cracked skirt and the wall hatching and piston machine marks where still clearly visible. This was with 220k miles on it, Driven by a 17 year old (as this is how old I was when a purchased new) and looked after as best possible, oil changes every 3500 miles. I feel that it's mostly in the maintanance of things, Dirty (or cheap) oil = interior engine sandblasting. Gotta say it sure is nice finally driving something with some power though.

 

[Turbo Thom]

Kent:

My timing was set at 16 and the delivery valves are stock from Cummins with the 215 HP 96. I left them stock because Piers said there was no need to change them. I had another lift pump installed last year not knowing if it was bad or not. I was told it needed changing, and wanting the rught for my Ram I said OK. I'm not sure if I did the right thing, now.



I talked to Piers about the timing and was told he was getting together a timing kit after the first of the year. I'm waiting on that kit to check it myself. Things seems to go better when I do things myself. At least I know what was done.



. . Preston. .