Archived Stranded/ Loud knocking noise

[dray]

Stranded/ Loud knocking noise

At the top of Raton Pass my truck started making a loud knocking noise internally in the engine. Had it towed to Pueblo Dodge where they said the # 5 or #6 piston is damaged, but the head was not pulled. The Service Writer thought the oil filter caused it. The truck is an '03 2500 4x4 quad cab w/ 170,000 miles and very well cared for. Had to return back home to Tulsa and left the truck there. Any ideas about this problem? Could it be anything other than internal damage. Can this engine be rebuilt instead of having to buy a new engine? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am stuck w/o transportation and this has been a great truck.

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2003 3/4 ton 4x4 Quad Cab - Automatic w/ 150,000 miles

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[JLandry]

Just curious...



Did they tell you how they came to that conclusion about a piston? Did they do a compression test?



John L.

 

[dray]

I don't believe so, not sure what they did. Had to catch a plane to get back home because of work. I have to get it home.

 

[JFought]

where did you leave the truck?
And where do you live?
I am travling in 3 weeks to cali. .

 

[HBarlow]

Sorry for your problem. I'm sure it's not a good feeling.

You provided very little information.

Were you towing a heavy trailer or driving unloaded when it started knocking?

Is the engine modified in any way or has it previously been modified?

Does your truck have gauges? What was egt?

Why does the dealer service department suspect that an oil filter caused one or more pistons to fail? Are you using an aftermarket oil filter? What brand? What kind of service interval have you used and what brand and weight oil? Did it lose oil pressure? Was the crankcase oil level low?

Did the service tech pull an injector to check for compression or disable an injector to identify where the knock is?

Did it overheat, lose coolant, or smoke? Did you have any warning, any prior odd sounds?

The safest repair method is always a new Cummins remanufactured engine with a warranty installed by a Cummins dealer but this solution would have a higher initial cost. Often less expensive than a poor or marginal quality repair by an independent shop, though.

It is possible that the existing engine can be rebuilt but there is no way to know until you have the head pulled and the pistons, cylinder walls, and crankshaft inspected by a skilled Cummins mechanic.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Did they say anything about injector being stuck open?

 

[dray]

Pueblo Colorado

 

[dray]

They did not mention the injector, just the oil filter, although I am not sure how they diagnosed this.

 

[Missouri Mule]

What type of oil filter?

 

[HBarlow]

The original poster pm'd me with the answer. He apparently wishes to keep his reply private and I will honor his desire.

I will say this. He was using an aftermarket filter that many of us know to be a ticking time bomb when installed on a Cummins engine.

The moral of this story, in my opinion, is use only a Dodge MOPAR or Fleetguard oil filter on your Cummins ISB.

 

[dray]

There is no secret, I am just trying to get help and you said to PM you with a reply. The engine had a Fram filter on it, but not sure if this had anything to do with it or not.

 

[DieselLady]

If it is in Pueblo CO. It may be worth the added tow bill to have it hauled up to Denver and to ATS. There is not too much they don't know or can't fix on a diesel pickup. That is where I would want my truck to be if it ever had a problem like this. They do rebuilds on cummins all the time. Just an FYI.

 

[HBarlow]

ATS could not correct the problems with the interface between their transmission rebuild and the Cummins engine in a 2005 Ram 3500 belonging to a friend of mine.

They did reportedly try according to my friend but could not and cut him loose. He lost so much work with his truck out of service or breaking down he went broke and lost the truck.

 

[rkressg]

There is no secret, I am just trying to get help and you said to PM you with a reply. The engine had a Fram filter on it, but not sure if this had anything to do with it or not.

I can't remember back this far, but wasn't there some type of issue with these filters, and wasn't Fram doing something to help out people with engine failures? I know this is going back about 8 years, but I kind of vaguely remember this.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Yes Cummins engines been having trouble with Fram oil filters. The guts of the filter get sucked into the engine and plug the piston cooling nozzels causing piston melt down.

Fram stands behind their filter.

When,if Dodge takes the oil pan off the engine and find material in the nozzels. They need to stop there. Call the business you purchased the filter from so they can contact Fram. Fram will send a rep out to exract the material out of the nozzel and retrieve the oil filter to do test.

When they conclude that is material out of the filter they will pay for the repair.



This is how it went when other members who had Fram filters come apart.



Make sure Dodge did not throw away the filter!