Motor rebuild :(
 

Well, went with the girlfriend over to the gas station the other night to get some fuel. I always leave my truck running when I get gas, no big deal there. If anyone has been following I have been having some problems with white smoke out of the oil cap and blow by tube... Anyway, as I was getting gas out of no where the truck started dumping white smoke out of the stacks. When I say dumping, I mean POURING. Killed it, checked fluids, and had no choice but to drive it back to campus about a mile away. I already knew what happened as I was expecting it, but not this early :argh:

Had the truck towed to Diesel Diagnostics in Lufkin for a full motor rebuild. They have had 5 trucks this year with the exact same problem, all of them 04.5-05 trucks, all with 100,000 to 125,000 miles on them, and all with a piston #6 failure. Moral of the story, if anybody has a truck with the same year model inspect it close!!! If you start having white smoke out of the blow by take it in to have it looked at as soon as possible before the rings give out and tear up the block.

that sux

It ain't just those years... Our 06 just did the same thing (similar anyways)...

Yeah, what it seems like according to them is the 04.5 to 05(possibly the 06 is the same engine as the 05, can't remember if they changed anything)

Tomorrow they are going to pull the head and take a look. So I will keep yall updated!

Also, I am looking at going with the BD super B turbo, maybe do twins in the future. Is that a good choice or should I look at an HTT? The only other mod I am going to do to the truck is add a smarty to the edge. Havent decided if the super B will be big enough though. With the blown motor my truck still ran 477hp and right below 1000lb of tq if i remember right.

06 they upped the hp to 305 and torque to 610. Also changed over to a newer style valve cover gasket and injector harness connections.

would would they "up" it to 305 when my 04.5 has a sticker saying 325hp?

So I guess Cummins won't be recalling them as they made past the 100 thousand mile warranty for what good it is.

Doesn't look like it. I couldn't believe this though: They started on the truck at 11am and by 5pm already had the motor pulled and had all the accessories off the block(stripped down to just the motor). Now my truck looks like it has a 14in lift with out that heavy sucker on the front end :choochoo:

Today is the day they are going to pull the head and strip it down to the block. I will keep yall undated:pca1:

About how much to fix it? thinking I might need to do mine soon thinking I need injs too, 130,000mi on the originals.

well the issue is 130,000 miles is nothing on a diesel. Esspecially the Cummins which is rated to 300,000 miles. What happened to mine shouldn't have happened. Although we are now thinking now with the crankshaft sensor going out(with engine light) and a possibly faulty injector, it ate the ring with off timing.

The motor got back today from the machine shop and is will be put together tomorrow!!!:choochoo: The #6 piston ate its own ring somehow, while all other pistons looked ok. Had some hard miles on it, but all in all the only thing wrong with the motor was a missing top ring on #6. :argh:

Work included pulling motor, tearing apart, sending to machine shop, having #6 sleeved(ugh), putting back together, and reinstalling. Also including a new BD super B special turbo, and new BD High Performance manifold, ARP head studs(:choochoo:), and all labor is going to run right about $9400 before tax.:argh:

Now, keep in mind this can be A LOT cheaper. They could have just pulled #6 out and replaced the ring but I did want a full motor rebuild, not just simple fix. I didn't need a new turbo, although mine did have some play, but its one of those if you got to take it off they aren't going to charge me to put a new one on. In the long run thats saving money. Also $1510 for the Super B Special is $120 less than I found anywhere on the net!

Motor gets to start reinstall tomorrow, and I should have it back Friday. I am super impressed. They litterally started at 9AM Monday and are planning on having my truck out the door by 3PM Friday!:U: