so I have a 53 block. I know! I am stupid for doing it. this was my first Cummins and I knew nothing of this 53 block, first I heard of it was on this forum and I was reading it and sure enough went outside and checked my truck and bam big 53 on the side of her. other then that the truck was a awesome buy. anyhow im starting to do upgrades and I am just thinking I will push it until she cracks and if it does come to that point I will look for a new or used block. ive seen them for sale completely rebuilt for 5 grand online from DFCdiesel. what do you guys think, is this a stupid idea? im open to any opinions. I mean if it doesn't crack then awesome.

 

If you wait til the coolant warms up before you hot rod it i would do the exact same thing you are. Even if it cracks you can fix it they fix boat motors with this special bolt and stack em. I can't remember the website but some YouTube videos are floating around about this same repair.


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How many miles are on the truck? Usually if you are 150k or more and its not cracked its not going to. I know quite a few guys that have 53 blocks. One guy has like 600hp on his and the other one has like 330,000 miles. Let it warm up to temp before you are hard on it and should be alright. The % of 53's that actually crack are very small. You can fix them with the lock N stitch method.

 

I'm in the same boat as you, when I originally found out I had one, I was irritated to say the least. So far I have 117,000 and no signs of any problems. Once I start doing some power upgrades I'll be monitoring it, but most of my commuting is done on a stock truck with minimal/light towing. And if you get a new block for 5000, you can still use all the parts you already have!

 

My buddy had a 53 block and it cracked, the block got welded using the block and stitch method and it worked. Theres also people who have over 300,000 and are fully built with over 50psi of boost and studs and the engines have been fine. Some 53 blocks are thicker than others.

 

The "53" Block number is the manufactures number of the castings made, they had numerous castings to create engine blocks but only a few were in the bad castings and the rest of the castings were ok, so if it has yet to crack I would not even worry about it, it can be fixed but I would never feel safe with it. Its called casting stitching.

 

I have a 53 block with almost 400 and I'm still all good....