Rebuild questions

[hydroshok]

I have been reading for a while, but have not found any links to rebuild kits or a rebuild guide. My motor died while towing a heavy load up a long hill and I'm not really sure why. My EGTs and engine temp spiked and as I was taking it out of gear to let it cool; the motor shut off. The coolant spewed out the overflow tank and chunks of crap also came out (I just flushed and filled it). The oil smells burnt. It still held compression to keep it on the hill, which tells me the cylinders are most likely OK. It was a 10 hour trip and I was in the last 2 hours. I weighed 19,140 with ~4000 on the steers, ~6000 on the drives and ~9000 on the trailer axles. It still runs with tons of blow-by, a knock and oil spraying out the blow-by tube. Up until this point; it had been pulling and running fine.

Questions:

Not knowing the mileage on my truck what is the best option for a rebuild?

My head gasket is fine do I still need to have the head machined?

People tell me this cannot be done in-frame. Is that correct? I don't see what's wrong with lifting the engine to get the oil pan off and going to work.

I should rebuild the VE and replace the injectors while I'm in there right?

Anything else I should add/replace while I'm at it?


Any helpful tips would be appreciated as well as any thoughts on why this happened all of sudden. My goal is to have a decent dd that gets good mileage and can tow occasionally. I am going to intercool the truck after the rebuild. Thanks!

[dazedandconfused]

Well sorry to hear about your luck. With the symptoms you describe it sound like it has broke a few rings and spun a bearing. You can't do an inframe because chances are you will need to bore the block and the crank will need turned. You dont want to try and wrestle that crank out of there for one. Pure diesel offers master oveehaul kits.
http://www.puredieselpower.com/catalog/ ... 35079.html

[hydroshok]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping for in-frame, but I need to get it fixed. How long does a rebuild usually take (just my time, not the machine shop).

[dazedandconfused]

I've not done a total overhaul on a Cummins but most other engines if i take my time measure and fit everything it takes me between 8-14 hours but i always triple check everything. Ive done them a lot faster but always makes me more nervous.

[dazedandconfused]

My machine shop took about a month to get it done.

[hydroshok]

Wow! A month... Guess I'm hooking the radio back up in my 99... Thanks! I want to do this right, not cut any corners and intercool it so I can add stuff in the future. 14 hours is not bad at all. That is only two weekends. I need to find a good machine shop though. That is just the motor rebuild not the VE right?

[dazedandconfused]

Those numbers are the last two 6.5's i rebuilt and the last big block. Ive never owned a Cummins ive had to go into.

[revemup15]

Just a suggestion... why not find another running ve motor for 1000-1200 bucks and swap it? I see them all over

[RCCUMMINS89]

Because for a little more you can have a brand spankin' new motor that will last as long as you want it to.... because you have control over how it sees its entire life.


There is a shop around here that charges $3100.00 for a complete rebuild, including an aftermarket cam as well as the labor of pulling and putting back in the truck and the tuning and test driving.

[hydroshok]

I've been looking at used motors and they do go for ~$1000, but what is to say it will hold up for another 100k or 1k? You never know what the PO used it for or did to it. I got a rebuild quote today for $2500 and they'll even bore it 20 over with warranty. It sounds tempting, but I have another truck to drive and would like to do it myself. I figure I'll be way under $2500 with intercooling it, possibly P-pumping it and adding an aftermarket cam. I'm still on the fence so I am reading and learning all I can before I decide. Winter is a slow time at work so I will have plenty of time to complete the job correctly. The company who rebuilds the motors also offers block boring for $20 per cylinder. That sounds like a steal. How much is a fair price?