My Banks nightmare story

[Carlsummers]

You know I am very sad for this case. Not long ago, before the advent of common rail systems, I used to believe in aftermarket upgrades. But now that I hear the horror stories and know the computer shows more than you know, I am definitely going to leave my new 05 stock when it arrives. With the expense of these engines due to the complex computer controls, I find it crazy that some people will gamble with their warranty to gain just a little more power. Something to be said for simplicity and having a valid warranty.

I have been wanting to bomb my 2500 since I got it... . I am no mechanic... . I run a computer system in a hospital... . I'm by no means wealthy, so paying someone else is out of the question... . the more I read the more I am inclined to just leave it stock... . that way, I am almost assured that it will be ready to roll when I am.....

 

[driverno8]

Moolie - With my gauge on my pillar hooked to the pyro after the turbo it never went higher then 700º. The pyro that was placed pre-turbo was hooked the speedloader. There is no gauge on the speedloader to tell me what the temps were pre-turbo. But if you ad the 300º difference then you'll get a 1000º. Plus after turbo you're not going to see the needle move as quickly as pre.



Twest - After I broke down on the freeway, I took my truck directly to Banks. They did plug my truck in and gave me a list of the codes that were in the the truck. Cam, Crank, Map, etc. (Everything they plug into) They cleared them all. Re-installed the system and sent me on my way. 20 min later, light back on, trucks acts up. I took it the dealer the next day like they said. Dealer checked everything, called me to tell me to take it back to Banks and that their system was causing something weird and that everything on my truck was fine. Makes sense because when I unplugged their system (while on the freeway, see above) my check engine light immediatly went off. Truck ran perfect. A week later this mess happened. (during that week, my truck was getting lifted). If they fessed up to a mistake and took care of their customers like they say they do. Then no harm, no foul.



Also, I'm with you on the TST/Turbo upgrade. I can see where this thing would cause problems if you're not carful. It's really agressive. I do want to upgrade the turbo. But next up is the fueling. When I had the motor built. Scheid did build me a twin kit. Everything was done including the powder coating. I tried to hide this from the wife for as long as possible. When I told her she about killed me so I canceled it and kept my mouth shut about the trans upgrade. Figured the trans should be first. And for any of you thinking I'm wealthy, I am not by any means. We had to take out an equitly line of credit on the house to pay for this whole mess.

 

[BRayls]

may I ask why you did not remove the unit when you unplugged it and every thing was ok? I know that banks replaced a vp44 for me and fought it out with dc.

 

[Big MAK]

Howdy driverno8; you must be the guy that just had a rebuild done at Scheids when I was out there getting my engine fire ringed. You're right; they do fantastic work.



Too bad about the Banks; I was trying to figure out how a new engine could get toasted already. Hopefully it will work out.



Must be sweet driving that bored out fire-breathin' monster now though!!!!!

 

[ChrisOlson]

"Driverno8 I am quoteing you here

"The #5 cyclinder was burnt so bad that a chunk of the valve broke off and rattled around. "

I am offering my humble opnion on this issue with no hostility

I am A marine engineer and work with large inline diesels with bores around 20 inches I have seen this happen before on these in line engines, what I think happened is that the #5 Valve broke first, my guess is it was the Exh valve? what happens next is the injector is still putting fuel into the #5 cylnder but with the exh valve broke compression will not happen, so the unburned fuel/ air mixture is pushed into the the Exh manifold an throws the whole cycle off for the other cylinders that fuel burns in the exh manifold thus causing the 2 closest cylinders to over heat that is why your pyro did not reg any thing wrong untill after the fact. if you had an alarm for high Exh temp for each cylinder you would have seen #5 go first #4 go second then # 6 go third this happens very quickly, the large engines that I have seen this happen to turn at 580 rpm and are a 4 stroke diesel as well from the time you lose the first valve the whole thing takes about 10 seconds before the the built in safetys shut the engine down this is at 580 rpm, I have seen this first hand twice last year while I was the engineer on watch aboard the ship I was working on. you were driving your Cummins

at around 2000 rpm you could cut that 10 seconds down to about 3. 5 before your engine had the melt down. and just like the rest of us you probally had your stereo on and highway noise none of us could have time to react before it was 2 late, I am not familar with the banks kit and as I understand it it had a safety system to tied to the pyro to shut down or to change the timing to cool things down if the temps went to high this whole thing happend so quick and the temps went up so fast that this system probally did not even have time to react before it was 2 late and like I said I have seen this before and on this equipment we have event loggers that log every thing and after the coast guard comes to investigate I have become very familar with this type of casulity and what happens. one mans humble opnion.



please do not Flame me as I am only offering a different perspective



good luck

 

[Don-T]

Moolie - With my gauge on my pillar hooked to the pyro after the turbo it never went higher then 700º. The pyro that was placed pre-turbo was hooked the speedloader. There is no gauge on the speedloader to tell me what the temps were pre-turbo. But if you ad the 300º difference then you'll get a 1000º. Plus after turbo you're not going to see the needle move as quickly as pre.

I think the problem with this is there was far more than 300° difference in the pre and post turbo temps. When I had pyros on both sides I could easily get 500° difference when I had the Banks kit. I bet on a sustained pull up a hill it would go more than that.



Was the pre turbo pyro, going to the Banks box, on the 1,2,3 side or the 4,5,6 side of the exhaust manifold? The back three run hotter under load than the front three.

 

[rashwor]

ChrisOlson, makes sense to me. It is one of those things we will never know for sure... but what you are saying definitely makes sense. I had not thought about that.

 

[TCDiesel]

Driverno08, All the Banks higher ups are at a convention this week,including Peter,Also if you could PM the serial # and the date it was manufactured,I see you had trouble with the tuner from the start. Chris thanks for the post,I also have seen this before and when the engine is broken down, the cause is related to catastrophic internal engine failure.

 

[Pkelly]

i HAD a banks kit on my 02, seemed to wok good initially and as well it should for the price, however, two lift pumps later and not alot of help from banks i now have a new 04. you can bet there will be no banks system on this truck. i called them for help when the second lift pump and injection pump went and it was as if i was bothering them.

 

[LightmanE300]

Driverno8 - let me get this straight... You had to take out an equity line against your house to pay for this mess due to aftermarket parts melting your engine, your wife is going crazy - so why in the world would you try to get twins, and get trans upgrades and a tst box? No wonder such a high percentage of people in this country are hopelessly lost in credit card debt and other sorts... talk about priorities! :-laf

 

[CATCRACKER]

bottom line is you play you pay! i just learned that just recently. it cost me 1600 bones! for all of those with perfomance mods you have been warned. if you bomb dont get mad when your warranty is voided, you burn engines, blow tannys and kill injections pumps etc. but my advice is life is short play hard!

 

[JHardwick]

but my advice is life is short play hard!

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well

preserved body, but rather to slide in sideways, totally worn out,

shouting "... holy **** ... what a ride!"

 

[CATCRACKER]

J,

 

[EEdmondson]

Hey, Lightman, the sad part is, by the time he pays off the loan the truck will be ancient history.

 

[DPKetchum]

The vp44 and lift pumps failed at the same rate STOCK as they did with MODS. That was a D. C. problem.

 

[DPKetchum]

Banks also did this with a customer we had in the dealer I worked at also.

 

[DPKetchum]

There have been other trucks to do this same thing. Brand new and STOCK. One posted at 500 odd miles with the tech and shopforeman driving it.

 

[Sarge]

Driverno8, I feel for you. But as a consumer, there are a few lasting truths. One is that unless the customer (you) has a ton of time and money to waste, it will always be cheaper (for them) to stonewall you. The reality is, most of us can't afford to pay for justice. Sooner or later you get lost in the shuffle, and most folks have a short memory. I got burned by BD once, and will never give them another chance. I figure if I talk one person a month out of buying their products, it's a little victory for me. I recommend the same for you. If you obsess over it, it will eat you up inside.



This brings up another truth: "The best lessons in life either hurt the most, or cost the most. " I should know, I've done both.



Enjoy your truck, enjoy your life. It's short and there is no do over's.



Remember, there is no crying in baseball, and no whining in BOMBing... :-laf



Sarge

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the truth about engine computer mod chips.

 

[HOCummins04]

Sarge reminds me of this: Someone once said judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from a lot of bad judgment.



Been there, done that, still paying for it. Tis life.