i am looking at an engine online and asked the guy if it was the dreaded code 53 block and they dont know where it is located at. i have heard before but have forgot where it was located at. so if you know would you let me know. ty

 

How Do I Find out?
If you want to see if your engine block could be one of these dreaded "53" blocks, crawl under the front, left side, and look up at the block on the front, directly under the injector pump (by the PS pump). You should see a large wiring harness mounted to the block. Directly below this, just above where the oil pan meets the block you will look for a "53" cast in the block. The numbers will be about 1 inch tall.

 

i thought itwas on the left but dont have my truck so i couldnt go out and lookto make sure where it is. thank you

 

keep in mind, not all of the 53 blocks were bad, just some of the early castings, TDR explained it very well in their latest issue. my buddies truck has the dreaded 53 block, hes making close to 550 hp with it and its got 165k and not cracked, my grandfathers truck also has it, 130k, no crack. According to TDR, 98 percent crack before hitting 100k.

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oh here it is straight from TDR, "if you pull the freeze plug and check the thickness of the wall between the 3 and 4 cylinders, if its less then .250, then at some point, it wil lcrack, if its greater then .250 then it is less likely to crack."

 

if i buy an engine i wont want to take a chance on getting one with the dreaded code 53 block. a motor aint cheap on these beasts so i dont wont to get a code 53 block and it crack also. but thanks for the info dukeboy, i had never heard that before

 

Its always been on the Drivers Side when ive seen it

 

according to TDR, they crack because people dont let the engine come up to operating temps before either towing a heavy load, or driving rough on them while still cold. Its caused by the thinner metal expanding and contracting unevenly. i wouldnt worry bout it till it cracks and then, even if it does crack, it wont do any more then seep colant and the crack can be repaired for around 400 bucks with a mig welder and the kit you can buy to reinforce that block. ive studied the 53 block motors for about 2 yrs now. ive seen several dozens of them, but only a few of those had cracks or repaired cracks. keep in mind that 53 block was also used in school buses, motorhomes, cranes, generators and even dump trucks and reports of blocks in those cracking are extremely rare to almost non exsistant. Theres nothing you can do about it till it cracks so keep on trucking.

 

something I read 'bout the dreaded 53

Cummins 5.9 Engine Repair

just doin' research

 

I have a 53 and its cast on BOTH sides of the block. The numbers are about an inch high.

 

There is also this site:

aluminum welding, pot metal repair, cast iron, silver solder

Specifically, this page: http://www.muggyweld.com/castiron.html