Poor Engineering 2004 Dodge Oil Pressure

[Rbirdy]

I recently was driving down the highway with my Cummins diesel truck. The truck started making noise, I thought it was a wheel bearing, driveshaft, etc. I was watching my gauges and they were fine. I pulled off on an exit and my check gauges light on the dash came on. It was only about 2-3 seconds later and my oil pressure dropped to zero. I shut the truck off and got out and opened the hood to find oil down the side of the truck on the same side as the turbo. I was towed to the nearest Chrysler garage and found out the next day that my oil filter came loose and blew the seal out and all the oil in the engine. I'm currently getting the motor rebuilt. All the damage was on #6 cylinder. The crank had to be turned . 010", replaced 1 piston, and had to bore and sleeve one cylinder, and purchase a new cracked rod. The Chrysler garage where I had my oil changed last refused to cover the damages. They have since sold the dealership. Chrysler corporate could not do anything about it.



I would like to advise everyone out there to get a mechanical oil pressure gauge installed on your 2004 trucks. The current oil pressure gauge is electrical and runs off a resister on the alternator, it's useless. It does not indicate oil pressure. The check gauges light comes on when you are down to 2-3 pounds of oil pressure, my engine was already knocking before this light came on. Then the oil pressure gauge 2-3 seconds later dropped to zero. The gauge only reads 40-50 pounds but the cummins diesel runs 75 pounds. At least with a real gauge you might have a chance at saving your engine. This happened to me on 2/6/05 and my truck is still in the garage. They now have electrical problems and have ordered a new computer for the engine. The electrical they are covering under warranty. I have 38,000 miles on this truck and the extended warranty package and the engine was not covered, so buy a mechanical gauge for your truck.



Part of the reason the engine took so long is there are no pistons available for this new engine. I'm probably the 1st one in the country getting this engine rebuilt. They still won't be available till the middle of March at best. A diesel specialist shop gave me a couple of phone numbers direct to Cummins. I talked to a customer service rep. and he made a call to another Cumins dealer and he located a piston with a different ring set/part# but the same piston. Cummins was very good, they said if I could not locate a piston, they would take one off the production line and ship it the same day (Great customer service by Cummins!). Nobody from Chrysler would take that extra step to help.

 

[Matt400]

Bummer! and welcome to TDR. .

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Wow helluva first post DANG! Sorry to hear that. Dodge had a fix all for the seccond gens that when reflashed it just tells the driver that there is oil pressure whether there is not to address the oil pressure sending unit failure problem. Their reliance on bummer sending units still prevail.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Rbirdy's experience is proof what a worthless POS the stock virtual oil pressure gauge is



Rbirdy, Big Bob just installed a mechanical gauge on his '03 Cummins. There is a plug on top of the oil filter mount you can remove to tap into for oil pressure. That's what Bob did.



Guess what? The dash gauge was off by a mile. His truck was showing 70psi on the mechanical gauge and 35 on the dash

 

[JHardwick]

I agree with everyone of you about the junk "tell me what I want to see" gauge ... ... ... ... but, to be honest, who is gonna look at it until the motor is acting funny? It's too late then!



I had guages in my sprint car to protect my 30K motor, even took time to put a 9V warning light in it (no charging system or battery, clutch or transmission for that matter :-laf )... ... ... ... ... then I had a veteran look at me and say "if your looking at the guages you aint racing, and at 8,500rpm, once that light comes on, the engine is already toast"! :{

 

[radar doctor]

Gentlemen We Need A Device That Will Sence Say 10 Lbs Of Pressure Or Less Then Set Off A Bell That Can Be Heard. . Why Wouldn't That Be The Way To Go. . Think We Have Enough Engineers On Tdr That Can Come Up With Something??? How About It Gang??? Radar Doc... .

 

[Matt400]

Gentlemen We Need A Device That Will Sence Say 10 Lbs Of Pressure Or Less Then Set Off A Bell That Can Be Heard. . Why Wouldn't That Be The Way To Go. . Think We Have Enough Engineers On Tdr That Can Come Up With Something??? How About It Gang??? Radar Doc... .

For the top of the line route you could go with one of these gauges Set the alarm led to flash at what ever pressure you want and also set the external alarm output to sound a buzzer.



Or for a more low cost method just add a warning lamp sender and 12v lamp inside.

 

[Bertram65]

That's a bummer, but the real problem is the people who changed your oil and did not put the filter on right.

 

[Cliffman]

First thing I did after reading this post was go out and check my filter



Rbirdy, do you do your own oil changes and how many miles did you have on that filter???

 

[mikepvg]

I would like to know why your engine was not covered when your truck comes with a basic Cummins diesel engine warranty of 7yr 100K mile warranty?

 

[Texasrattler]

Sorry to hear about your situation. Even if the delaer causing the problem is out of business, why isn't it still under warranty? Gee, I have a mechanical gauge (Autometer) sitting in the garage; been reluctant to install it because it is mechanical and affraid of it leaking, but probably the lessor of two evils. Hope they fix it right for you.



Pete

 

[LightmanE300]

I'm also curious why it wasn't covered under warranty?

 

[Kry226]

I would like to know why your engine was not covered when your truck comes with a basic Cummins diesel engine warranty of 7yr 100K mile warranty?

I agree. Someone is responsible for the failure and it sure as hell shouldn't be you.

 

[Hercules130]

i wonder if it would be possible to install the oil pressure guage in the space under the HVAC controls with the other 2. i have never installed one before. why would it leak?

 

[RedRam401]

Years ago big trucks had low pressure and high temperature warning lights & buzzers, you should still be able to get the sending units and buzers from a big truck dealer.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

The way they look at it is THEY did not install THEIR (Read Reccomended) EXACT oil filter. Joe Homeowner can change his oil in the driveway and install an oil filter that even though is a fleetguard is not a mopar filter. And then the lip seal turns to dust , miss installed , slipped out , exploded , turned neon green , what have you and empties the engine DC will look at you and say "See I told ya so" and pat ya on the shoulder and walk away.

 

[mikepvg]

I thought Fleetguard was a Cummins approved filter?



Your saying that if we don't use a genuine Mopar filter we are putting our warranty at risk & especially when dealing with an unscrupulous dealer?



This thread is giving me the willys regarding our beloved CTD.

 

[AMink]

The Chrysler garage where I had my oil changed last refused to cover the damages.

I would think that since Chrysler is a part of Daimler Chrysler, they should cover it. Whether or not the shop sold, the point is that it was a Chrysler shop at the time the work was done. Did they use a D/C suggested filter? This one may be worth a lawyer. Sorry to hear about this. Everytime a post like this comes up, it just reinforces that good dealers are few and far between and corporate is not willing to force change. Good luck!

 

[rbattelle]

First of all, I am very sorry to hear about what happened. And I completely agree with everyone about how useless the factory gauge is.



But there are some nagging questions:

1. If a Chrysler shop changed the oil, why are they refusing to cover it?

2. Since when do dealerships rebuild Cummins engines? Normally the customer is issued a new engine.

3. Why are there no pistons available for an engine Cummins has been manufacturing for several years?

4. Why was damage confined to the #6 cylinder?

5. Since when do any dealers have the ability to turn a crank and bore/re-sleeve a cylinder?

6. Is it possible to turn a crank down 0. 010" on only one cylinder without throwing the entire thing out of balance? Is such practice common in engine rebuilding?

7. How do you replace a connecting rod for a crank that's been machined down 0. 010"? Oversized bearings?



A remarkable story! I'm very interested in how this all works out!!



-Ryan

 

[JHardwick]

But there are some nagging questions:



1. If a Chrysler shop changed the oil, why are they refusing to cover it?







5. Since when do any dealers have the ability to turn a crank and bore/re-sleeve a cylinder?



none do that I am aware of



6. Is it possible to turn a crank down 0. 010" on only one cylinder without throwing the entire thing out of balance? Is such practice common in engine rebuilding?



possible but not common from my experience, all of the journals will be turned (ground) I'm guessing



7. How do you replace a connecting rod for a crank that's been machined down 0. 010"? Oversized bearings?



yes

thats my little bit of input



edit after re-reading the initial post, I don't think the rebuild is being done at a dealership