reman motor and Tidewater Machine

[kjfst4]

Anyone have any experience with Tidewater machine in Norfolk VA? He sells remaned long block 5. 9s for $3900 with free shipping. Seeems like a good deal but who knows.

I'm kinda new to these diesels and my '03 SO gave up the ghost at 115000. Bad rings on 1 and 6 , cyl walls scored real bad and a bad knock. Blow-by smoke fills my shop almost instantly.

 

[kjfst4]

anybody???

 

[HBarlow]

A cheap rebuilt engine may not be a bargain. What does the rebuilder claim he does to "rebuild" one? Does he simply hone the cylinder walls, polish the crank and replace rings and bearings with new standard size? Visit a local Cummins parts counter and check the prices of a few Cummins parts. The prices will be an eye opening experience.

Will the rebuilder provide a parts and labor list for that specific block and a written warranty. If so, how good is his warranty? If he is a small business owner with limited assets operating from a rented building he may not have the financial resources to back his warranty even if he is honest.

A Cummins engine is very robust and capable of long life under normal usage but availability of aftermarket injectors and timing boxes for late model 24 valve and HPCR engines make it very easy to quickly destroy one.

A rebuilder could occasionally get fooled buying a "rebuildable core" but upon disassembly find himself the owner of six scored or melted pistons, scored cylinder walls, scored crankshaft, bent valves, damaged cylinder head, etc. If he is strictly honest he might simply junk that engine or do a full rebuild with quality Cummins parts. His parts cost would be extensive. If he is feeling financially squeezed he might try to put it together with a pile of worn parts and sell it to an unsuspecting buyer.

I've never bought a used or rebuilt Cummins engine but I would only consider two options: (1) a guaranteed factory rebuilt from Cummins, Inc. with a Cummins warranty or (2) an unmolested engine removed from a wrecked Dodge IF I could inspect the truck and make an informed guess as to whether the truck had been owned and driven by an old guy like me and had relatively low mileage.

It's hard to know about used take-out engines also. I know of an older local man here where I live who bought a nice looking used Gen III Dodge-Cummins dually from a used car lot recently. He hadn't owned the truck very long when he experienced a complete engine failure. No doubt the previous owner had stressed the engine to the breaking point with modifications before trading it.

Buyer beware!

 

[Motorhead]

Again I second HBarlow. When I worked at UPS we had 12 and 24v Cummins engines running in package cars. I retired before any of the 24v's gave up but several 12v's did and they (as cheap as they were),would only install Cummins Remans. With the gassers that they ran, they tried the rebuild routine but everyone of them didn't last. On the gassers which we primarily ran 300ci FORD 6's, they finally got bright enough to just buy NEW longblocks from Ford or GM.
I have worked on cars/trucks for over 40 years and have NEVER yet had a "Joes machine shop" rebuild that I didn't have some MAJOR issues with.
There are enough wrecks out there that you should be able to find a good, unmolested engine out there OR go only with a Cummins rebuild. You had better check out your injectors if you are reusing them. With only 115,000 miles on the origional, sounds like you had injector problems that caused engine failure.

 

[Wingate]

At my previous job, we bought a "reman" long block from a facility in the Dallas area, engine looked really good (visually) from the outside. I prepped the engine and installed it.

When I fired it up, noticed it had extremely low oil pressure, pulled the pan back off, rechecked the pump, pickup, really couldn't find anything wrong. Pulled the engine back out, put it on a stand and started disassembly.

Come to find out, some of the rod journals had been turned . 010, some were still standard but under minimum spec. Pulled the crank and had it turned properly. While waiting on the crank, I could tell that some of the cylinder walls looked fresh and some didn't. Pulled one head and found two standard bore holes, one . 040 hole and one . 060 hole. Pulled the other head and found pretty much the same thing!!!. .

You might inquire what brand of parts they use for rebuild, exactly what the block is spec'ed out at, the crankshaft, What machining processes they use... . etc... If they check/correct line bore. . If you get vauge responses to any of your questions, I would shy away from them. . Any engine can be reliably rebuilt, usually better that factory if the right procedures are taken.

 

[kjfst4]

Thanks for the opinions. Here is a link to what the guy says is done to the engines. I just hate to drop 4 grand on a used engine from a yard with 90000 mi. and find it to be worn out too. tough decisions.



eBay Motors: REMAN DODGE CUMMINS 5. 9 24V ISB TURBO DIESEL ENGINE (item 250388721776 end time May-11-09 14:19:49 PDT)

 

[SShafranko]

I agree with HBarlow. The money you save will disappear later when problems arrise. Although that add does look appealing. They do cover most of the aspects that would worry me, and they make you feel some what comfortable. I still wouldn't do it unless they were close to you, you could visit their facility, speak to them and see their operation in person. Too bad you don't know someone who has purchased one of their engines and put some miles on it to verify. But even then what's to say that every rebuilt engine coming from a performance shop is done to spec. I learned my lesson with automatic transmissions. Rebuilt one three years ago twice and still wasn't right. I finally ordered a reman from GM with a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty and haven't looked back since. Good Luck

 

[burnin oil]

Did you see the add that Tidewater Machine runs on EBAY? I just picked up a 12 valve from them this past friday for my 95. I havent taken it off the crate and wont have time to prior to deployment but they seem alright. I spent about an hour at the shop talking to the owner and the mech assembling my motor. They do alot off Cummins motors there and had contracts with UPS and the federal gov. They had another awaiting assembly after mine and had tons of parts lying around. Gaskets were a mixture of Cummins and Felpro with Mahle pistons and Cummins cam. The guys seemed great and I left with a pile of small parts for the engine. The only thing that I saw that I didnt care for to much is the front seal area of the crank was lightly damaged and had a Cummins crank sleeve to repair the 0 under crankshaft. They also have a warrenty program although I havent read the paperwork. The owner said to fill it out and return it after the motor is installed even with the delay in installation due to deployment.

This outfit does complete rebuilds. They had a core 6. 7 there that had 100 miles on it getting rebuilt! Their policy is that they dont sell used engines. Even getting new pistons. If you are local call the shop. They knocked a little off the motors price because I went and picked it up.

 

[BigPapa]

... a used engine from a yard with 90000 mi. and find it to be worn out too.

I take it from this statement that you consider your engine "worn out". Could you tell us what caused the ring failure? Maybe even how it has been maintained and what mods had been performed? How was the truck used?



Thanks,



Scott

 

[CAPN Harley]

Burnin,



I see you said deployment, be safe overthere.

 

[kjfst4]

worn out would be correct. No real mods. I purchased the truck used from a local dealer near Erie PA with 108,000 miles. Seeemed to be in pretty good shape but alot of dirt and dust on or in the frame nooks and cranies , and a tip over ball in the bed. who knows what the previous owner towed? Front diff had some blow by oil on it, but from what I read that seemed pretty normal. Truck started smoking out the bb tube more so got a comp test (low all cyl) and then I pulled the head. #1 and #6 gouged , middle 4 looked ok but no crosshatches. Tried honing and re-ring in the frame , real PITA, but no luck. the truck has 115000 on the clock now and i cant decide if I should repower it or trade it in. My guess on the cause would be "dusted" or flood damaged.



Worst part is I gotta drive a f150 4. 6l that can barely get out of its own way with my tool trailer attached. Even on 4 cyl the cummins still pulled easily.

 

[burnin oil]

Sounds like someone may have swapped motors on ya. I had the head off my motor about 20k ago and it still had crosshatches in the block.