Rebuilding my 5.9 Common Rail

[Shadrach]

I'm in the middle of rebuilding my engine and I thought I would share the story and some pics.

Background: While looking for a 93 Club Cab with a Cummins to drive while I did the Cummins repower on my 84 Crew Cab I found a " mechanics special " - an 03 Laramie Quad Cab 4WD with a NV5600. The body and interior are in good shape but it " needed a bottom end" I was told. Well I now had a dilemma as I really like the 1st gens and have been driving them since 1980, but this was a nice truck, would be nice for the family and would take me a lot less time to put on the road. So I bought it for about the same amount as I would have had to pay for a good 93. Since I am in Canada, and most of you aren't, I won't get into actual pricing. I did some research and found out it was bought new here in Alberta and the last owner had used it for his daily driver around the Province as well as haul RV's in his spare time. He rarely had anyone else in the cab with him. I was told it had 250000 kms ( about 155000 miles ) on it and since the batteries were stone dead I didn't check it out. After I got it to my buddies acreage I discovered it was actually 356000 kms ( about 221000 miles ). Who would have thought the the dealership would have made a mistake. Oh well - lesson learned. They were selling it as is and the bill of sale did say " unknown mileage ". It had been parked in the Spring of 2007. It has 5671 hours on it. Average speed 62. 8 kms ( 40 mph ) about normal, according to others I have seen here.

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That was last summer and this Jan we pushed it into his shop and pulled the engine. I had taken off the oil filter already and had cut it open and found a Gold mine. Actually it was a Silver mine as it was full of fillings - not a good sign. The metal was a combo of both metallic and nonmetallic material. I was planning a full rebuild anyway. I put a Mopar filter that I had lying around on it to keep the moisture and dirt out. All I needed was rust complicating things. It appeared, with a few exceptions like the front cover & seal and valve cover, it hadn't been apart before. I haven't found any evidence of any mods either. Even the clutch looked original, although it was near the end of it's life. The alternator bracket was still the original " cracked " one.

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To be continued...

Shadrach

 

[Prairie Dog]

Great thread.

Do you plan on doing any mods on it or will you keep it stock?

 

[KLauber]

Thats a nice looking rig! Too bad about the filter findings. Keep us posted on the progress... .

Ken

 

[meanmatt]

Yes please keep us up dated on the findings . Sharing what actually failed in this engine might save some other peoples engines in the long run.

 

[Shadrach]

Originally I had lots of ideas of what I wanted to do while the engine was apart but that changed as I got into the engine. Since it was going to be a total rebuild I knew I was going to do a cam change. It only made sence to do that now. I will continue to update you as I get more time. Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

Ok it's too early to go to bed as I'm on late shift tomorrow so heres more.

I pulled the head off and discovered some damage in # 6 cyl. One salvage sleeve for sure. A broken top ring did this damage.

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and a new piston of course

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There was some minor damage to the head as well, so it went out for full inspection. Turns out it would need a complete overhaul, guides are shot, (they are cast in, but a machine shop could install new ones) valves and seats needed to be done and of course a decking. I bought a Cummins Recon head instead.
Next the pan came off. I found out not all the fillings were in the filter. They was LOTS more in the pan. Some in the sump and lots around # 3 cyl area. OK rotate the block for a better view. Number 3 rod was VERY dark in color as was the crank on either side of it. That meant lots of heat. It also meant I needed a crank and at least 1 rod. This would explain why it needed a new bottom end. It would have made a bit of noise.

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I thought rod bearings were supposed to be smooth. This is what was left of # 3 rod shell. I wondered what else I would I find?

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This is the top of # 3 piston. Those black circles are from the valves touching the piston.

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I sent the block out for full inspection. One salvage sleeve and bore all six holes . 5 mm o/s ( . 020" ) deck the top and line bore the mains too make sure the replacement crank turns smooth and straight. Again not practical for me. I bought a brand new block. This way I could have std pistons and a std head gasket. More about the special o/s head gasket another day. It also came with both cam bushings and all frost plugs installed and also updated ( 6. 7 ) piston cooling nozzles. Piston cooling nozzles are small "jets" that squirt oil at the underside of the piston crown to help keep it cooler. On the 02 an earlier 5. 9s the nozzles were just hollow plastic " sticks " that went into a hole in the upper main bearing. On the HPCR engines ( 03 an newer ) they use a bolt in version like the bigger Cummins engines. A plastic plug fills the holes where the older style used to go. Guess what I did? I used both :-laf The boys at the local diesel hot rod shop taught me that trick. I'll take all the cooling I can get.

Looking up from the bottom.
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and with the nozzles and piston installed. The updated bolt is hollow ( the original ones looked a rethreading tap ) and goes directly into the oil gallery. You can see the piston skirt is notched for the nozzle.
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I had a good used crank from a 12 valve. The only difference is the 03 engines have a tone wheel behind the damper and therefore have a small pin sticking out the nose of the crank to make sure you put it on correctly. This tone wheel is used for the crank position sensor. We just drilled a hole, using the tone wheel as a template, and installed a new pin. Finally some good news in the $ department.

You had asked about what mods I was going to do? Well I now had to rethink that real hard as I only have so much money to spend on this engine. Did I mention I get a really good deal on Cummins parts and that I have access to a full engine shop. If I didn't and also do the majority of the work myself there's no way I could afford this. The old cam did have some pitting and normal wear so now was the time to change it as it's not lots of money. I went with a reground stage 2 from Peak Diesel. I still had to check out the turbo and injectors to see what condition they were in. The back 2 inj were past specs, but the turbo only need a basic rebuild, so I had it rebuilt and bought 2 Recon injs. I had wanted DDP 50hp tips an ATS exh man and a better turbo but they will have to wait. They can always be added later if I find I really need them. Don't forget I am going from a 26 year old truck that dynoed at 113 at the rears to an 03 with 300 + ponies and gobs more torque. I had better check the welds on my trailer hitch :-laf I did splurge and buy a Smarty Sr, mostly for diagnostic and to help with mileage.

Shadrach

 

[Prairie Dog]

That rod bearing is amazing ~ I guess we can only imagine the racket it must have made.

How does the exhaust manifold look? Does it still fit normally or has it distorted from the heat?

Thanks for the update and pics, it makes for very interesting reading!

 

[Shadrach]

The exh man is fine. It has now been sandblasted and painted with a "Cast Blast" paint, as has the elbow that goes on the back of the turbo. I still have to drill it for the pyro.

Shadrach

 

[JamesStevens]

Wow good write up, keep em comming. I am going to take some pictures in early April when we crack into mine!

 

[DPashko]

hey shadrach, do you want a extrude honed stock manifold for you truck? gasket matched. I got one done yrs ago made about 75* drop on exhaust temps. PM me if you want. Im out at work till next thurs.

 

[Shadrach]

Today I drilled the exh man for the pryo probe. For those who haven't done this you will need a 1/8" ( for pilot hole ) an 11/32" drill bit and a 1/8-27 NPT pipe tap. Since my exh man is still off the engine I put it in the drill press to get it straight. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me. Pictures at 11 Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

Here is a pic of the #3 rod journal that the burnt rod was on. it should be mirror smooth. Notice how black the crank is, just like the rod was. No oil and therefore lots of heat. I think the PO must have blown all the oil out from too much crankcase pressure ( blowby ).

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I mentioned I used a used crank from a 12 valve engine. This is the nose of the 03 crank showing the pin for the tone wheel.

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One thing I forgot to mention earlier is many people cut the cross bar that goes across between the fenders to remove the engine. You can't slide it enough to either side to get it out, but if you remove the large bolt and mount ( 1 on each side ) that holds the fenders to the front of the frame rails and gently use a port a power ( a long hyd jack and ram assy ) the fenders will spread enough ( about 1 1/2 " ) to remove it without damage to anything.

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Here's the polished crank installed in the new block. The 03 gears are straight cut and the 12 valves are angle cut so I had to swap the crank gear as well as drill a hole for the pin.

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If all goes well I will finish assembling the engine this weekend and paint it Cummins Apex Red. All the outside pieces are painted Cummins Titanium Black. I will put them on later back at my friends shop. The exhaust manifold, bolts, turbo and elbow are painted a high heat paint called " Cast Blast". It takes a lot of time to clean, sandblast and paint all those bolts and brackets.

Last weekend we pulled the transfer case and transmission. Man that NV5600 is big and heavy. I am installing a G56 and a South Bend CON OF E clutch. That swap will be covered in a different thread.

Shadrach

 

[Prairie Dog]

Great info but I'm curious, why are you going from the NV to the G56?

 

[Shadrach]

Well I was going to do a diesel swap in my 84 crew and I bought the G56 new from Dodge ( with all the parts like mount and stick etc ) for that truck. It's too expensive to use as a paper weight and my truck does have 356k kms (221k miles ) on it. I also need to change the clutch and as stated I have a new one for the G56 along with the HD slave cyl. I will sell off the NV5600 to help offset some of my costs ( got someone lined up already ). We put a G56 and a 96 engine in my buddies 93 W350 and he loves it. Without trying to get into an argument about which is " better " let's just say I like the ratios ( it's an AE version ) better and it's a current model trans while the NV is out of production. That may not be a big deal for an 03 truck but for 1st gens I thought it was important. Personal choice. Shadrach

 

[Prairie Dog]

Ok, good points ~ thanks.

 

[Shadrach]

We finished assembling the engine yesterday. None of the outside pieces are installed yet but it is sealed up and has had it first coat of paint, Cummins Apex Red. The bolt ons ( as said before ) are going to be black and I have to finish some details there.



The bottom end with the stiffner plate installed. The tube is the oils suction tube.



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The top end. As we were barring it over to do the valve set the green tape over the exh ports would suck in and blow out with the stroke of the piston.



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The front gear train. Note: engine is upside down as it is on a rotating stand. Yes that is an old water pump on there. It is for painting purposes as the new one is black. The big gear on the left is the cam , the small one at the top is the crank and the 2 others are the lube pump. The hole with green masking tape is where the CP3 fuel pump will mount.



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I didn't have time to photo it in red just yet. Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

I said before I would talk about head gaskets. Here is a picture of a head gasket from an HPCR 5. 9 Notice the cyl hole is not round. According to a Cummins technical bulletin if you bore out the cyl or put in a salvage sleeve ( which brings the hole back to stock bore) you need to use a special oversize ( as in bigger diameter hole ) head gasket. This gasket, like the stock one comes in thick and thin versions, but costs more than the complete head gasket set. When you take off the old head gasket check to see if it is a thick or a thin version, BEFORE you throw it away. This is used to determine piston protrusion, how far the piston sticks up above the deck of the block. The two head gaskets are 1. 18 mm and 1. 25 mm thick. You can tell which one you have by looking at the tab with the holes in it. One hole for thin and two holes for thick. See picture # 2. The holes are different in an o/s gasket.

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This is a thin gasket. I just realized the gasket is upside down in the picture. Oops

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A 12 valve head gasket. 24v are very similar. Sorry for the blurry picture. It was taken through the plastic wrap.

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I worked on grooming my engine last Sat and will finish it this Sat. It is scheduled to go in next weekend. Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

Back in post # 10 TDR member DPashko offered me a ported stock manifold so I bought it from him. He had already drilled it for a pyro but had drilled the hole on the top of the manifold since it was in the truck at the time and that was the easiest way to do it. Even though I had already drilled and painted my original manifold I put this one in the drill press to drill a hole as before but this time I goofed and didn't get it centered. Not a big problem, but when I tapped it I got the tap angled. I showed it to my mechanic friend at work and he took his die grinder and "moved " the hole closer to center and made it into a 1/4 NPT instead of 1/8. He also got out one of his air tools and smoothed out the rough casting. It's nice to have talented friends. Now if I could just clear coat it.

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Here is the gasket on the stock manifold. The replacement was opened up to the size of the gasket itself.

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I painted it grey as I had the other on and got it mounted on Sat. The engine is now ready to go in next weekend. It now looks a bit different from when I pulled it out. I still have to mount # 5 & 6 inj lines, but I will do that after it's in the truck so I don't damage them with the chain and sling. The black plastic cover that fits on the top will go on then as well.

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Shadrach

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Awesome write up and pics! Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

 

[Shadrach]

Look before you pull

Note on pulling an engine you haven't pulled before: ALWAYS check for things attached at the rear of the engine. After I got it out I discovered the remains of a ground strap bolted on the back of the engine. Fortunately the Dodge part number was on the half I had. I looked for the other part but couldn't find it easily. Turns out it had flipped over the top edge of the trans and was "hiding" behind a bracket.



You can see the new one bolted just above the trans adapter. I have it looped over the fuel line to keep it out of the way while I installed the SBC CON OFE clutch and flywheel.



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I remember when my friend pulled his CTD from his 93 he forgot to unplug the temp sender as it is in the left rear corner of the head. That cost him a sender and a plug. This ground strap was cheap.



Shadrach