Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) "my 53 block cracked, and my truck was built in..."

[Holzarbeiter]

Hate to be a party pooper but i thought this poll was about people with a cracked 53 block and where it was built.

 

[Supermod56]

Hey,anybody know if the 2001. 5 trucks had any of the dreaded "53" blocks?? Mine was built in Mexico, I would check but I'm over the pond at the moment.

Thanks!

Tom

 

[DPelletier]

Hey,anybody know if the 2001. 5 trucks had any of the dreaded "53" blocks?? Mine was built in Mexico, I would check but I'm over the pond at the moment.

Thanks!

Tom

Tom,

Officially no, but I have heard of some early '01's with the 53. I would think the chances of your 2001. 5 having one, especially considering its a mexican built truck, to be low. My 2001. 5 had a mexican block.



Cheers,

Dave

 

[VicR]

the results

Well, based on a sample size of 14 as of today, there is a pretty even split between Mexico and St. Louis made trucks. Either 1) the 'bad' casting factory in Brazil supplied both plants (due to the location of other plants this seems unlikely unless it was an 'overflow plant' that directed production based on need), 2) more then one casting factory had the problem or 3) there is more to the problem then we know.



Considering Cummins reputation, it seems unlikely to me that the so called Brazil factory simply misread the specs. As I understand it, they were not producing these under a license from Cummins, they were producing them FOR Cummins. In which case Cummins would have had production engineers all over the place. I guess anything is possible though.



I've poked around a little trying to find out what kind of supply chain Cummins/ Dodge had for these engines but haven't had much luck. Would probably have to find an insider at Cummins to confirm if its #1 or #2 above.



In the meantime, I don't think I'm going to lose any sleep over it.



-Vic

 

[SHobbs]

I say sue them, class action style. How many of us have them? We all put some money in a kitty and get a lawyer better yet how bout Ralph Nader. I bet if we banded together and started a letter campaign we might get something done. I'm all for it. Anyone else? Or am I blowing soot outta my hiney.

 

[rmrc]

Count me in!

 

[Mad Bomber]

Or am I blowing soot outta my hiney.

No your not.



No leak yet BUT will it??? down the road?



I'd be in too

 

[tractorface]

I'm in

Where do I sign up?

 

[jrhodes]

Count me in. No problems or leaks so far with 87,000 miles.

 

[SHobbs]

Might need a big kitty, knowing all the money Chrysler and Cummins have. The positive to this is that Cummins admitted to the mistake. I am currently working with my union legislative director. He is getting me a list of the right people to contact and showing the right direction to go. What I am unsure of is how to get a list of current owners of the 53 blocks and how many have had failures. I will have to do some research here as well in the archives to find anything and everything related to these blocks. I have the ball rolling and once all my ducks are in a row we will see what happens. I also know that those that own these blocks have a snowballs chance in you know where on this, but it has to be tried.

 

[BigEasy]

I say sue them, class action style.

I'm guessing it takes more than 14 people for a class action lawsuit.

 

[CarlJensen]

All it takes is ONE person for a class action but then that person is paying the bills for the lawyers!

 

[DavidC]

What it takes is the news media. I am sure there were more than 14 #53 block trucks made. Like the current ball joint issue that was aired around here over a year ago once it made national news Chrysler will do something. The ball joint issue was under investigation for the last 17 months. At anytime Chrysler could have said "I think we have a problem and maybe do a recall" but instead they do the usual and turn their back on the consumer and hope they get away with it. There are many unsuspecting people that will buy a 2nd gen used truck that most likely has a 53 block along with original owners that have been left holding the bag. I believe the only way anything will happen is publicity. Chrysler does not like bad publicity. If you have any news stations that have daily reports of having helped people in distress I would start there. I know I did with a local NBC affiliate yesterday. I will see if anything develops with this approach. If not I have at least 2 more affiliate stations to try.



Dave

 

[SHobbs]

Right now I am just looking into the possibility. Why would anyone settle for this, why would you be happy to pay for half the replacement? Cummins should step up to the plate. I just can't sit back on my heels and say oh well, here Cummins, here is 3k or more for replacing the engine that you admitted was defective and that you should have taken care of in the first place. Like Isaid it does'nt hurt to look into the what ifs on this. It's not like Cummins is in a bind as far as money goes.

 

[DavidC]

The thing that every 53 owner has to remember is the engine is purchased by Chrysler with no implied warranty. When Chrysler installs the engine it is essentially a Chrysler engine. If something goes wrong it is Chryslers responsibility to repair. It is up to Chrysler and Cummins to battle between themselves what happened and any financial responsibilities. My understanding was that Cummins approached Chrysler in the beginning of this problem trying to determine what to do. Chrysler in the typical fashion would not do anything which then left Cummins holding the bag and has helped to some extent. It is Chrysler corporation I want.



Dave

 

[VicR]

Well, not quite enough data for a real substantial analysis, so I'm going to try a slightly different approach with another poll.



Although I do have to point out that only 15 confirmed responses of cracked blocks so far... maybe this problem isn't as wide spread as everyone assumes? (Or maybe everyone who had a cracked block was so mad they sold the Dodge and bought a powerstroke!)



My latest poll will help nail down how big the overall population is. If you haven't responded, please do so. Its here:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118316



Thanks,



-Vic

 

[SHobbs]

It does not matter if your block has cracked or not, it's the fact that we are supposed to live with this. There is no reason to wait till it's cracked. The responsible thing would be to replace them before they crack. None of us bought these trucks and signed a waiver stating that we were buying a defective block you are on your own. It boils down to responsibility to the consumer. Good example look at Southbend when you contact Peter and have a problem what does he do, he takes care of the problem. That's what needs to be done with this and as long as everyone sits on the sidelines we will all have to deal with this at one point in time. A recall should have been done with complete replacement of the block.

 

[reddge]

Good Business

Count me in.

I am in manufacturing and we would look at a problem to see what the percentage of failures is. If it were say 10 to 15% we would pay as the product failed. That is good business sense. If it approaches 30+ % it would be something different. You may not like it but that is life.

I would guess that the % is low. They could have built 20K to 100K engines. Would you replace all of them if the % were low?

What they should do is replace your engine when in fails no questions asks no matter who owns the truck (engine). There would be a time limit say 10 years and or 200K miles.

Just my two cents.

 

[Bandit1]

i have a #53 block, damn thing better not crack after all the work that i have having done to it. 115K on the clock and no cracks (yet), life is a gamble so is bombing a 53 block, if it cracks i will find someone up as high as i can and give them more than an ear full and prob have to fix it myself. i dont see how they can claim these are medium duty motors that last 3-400K before a rebuild and then not offer some assistance on the 53 block problem that the company knows about, false advertising if you ask me.

 

[2-ND TIME]

Dreaded 53 block

This is what I have and it has been leaking coolant since new to where I don't know and at the time the cry-slurr re&re's had no answers and had to buy dye from cummins and put in the engine even though the maintance manual said that they had dye to test the engine for leaks. There is no external leak but there is a very narrow window that the engine burns it for when I go hunting that is the time that I go through the most coolant. Cold weather starts. I am also curious about the MDH month day hour built date of these trucks mine is 101019 in the bottom left corner of the sticker. When I had my piece of junk for the first month??????? one evening after work (long hours of work) the over flow was dry and the rad was down about a couple of liters also. With this truck I have learned that the teckies are NOT very compitant at all have very little mechanical skills and know very little or don't want to know . This is what I have found at the dollarships so far. Cummins also falls into this as far as I am concerned!!!!!!!!!! SO COUNT ME IN. THIS NO GUTS JUNK OF MINE. If mine developed the power that it was supposed to, it would have cracked by now also. this will be the last cry-slurrr and cummins junk that I ever buy!!! :-{} :-{} :-{}