- Thread starter SVcummins
- Start date
Had the Cummins in.my case do the same thing... Welded it once (fancy welding shop) it lasted a week or so before the crack elongated. Took it to my neighbour, farmer and he rewelded it, no rod about a half inch at at time and peined the heck out of it, the we smothered it in JB weld behind a sheet steel form, and a couple of years later she's still go (hoping I haven't jinxed it).
tractorsam
Well-known Member
I apologize if I missed it in an earlier thread but what is this engine out of? Best of luck on the repair. Sam
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
How about brazing it?
It will just keep cracking until it stretches the whole side of the block and connects the core plug holes. I have seen lots of creative ways people have tried to save Dodge truck blocks. Can't blame them, that crack totals a Dodge truck, lol. You got nothing to loose, but don't spend a lot on it.
J. Schwiebert
Well-known Member
Have you thought of pinning the block?
Do you want it fixed well or just throw something at it and hope it holds???? The only way to really weld a block and know 100% that it is going to hold is to preheat the entire block to just under red hot and then weld it and slow cool it. Now that is impossible to do with the block assembled.
What works and I have done it many times is to stich it with brass bolt/screws. Start at one end of the crack and drive and tap a hole. Install a brass screws/bolt. Cut it off flush with the block. Drive a second hole half on the brass and half on the block. Install another brass screw/bolt. Repeat until done. I have never had one fail that was just a straight line crack.
What works and I have done it many times is to stich it with brass bolt/screws. Start at one end of the crack and drive and tap a hole. Install a brass screws/bolt. Cut it off flush with the block. Drive a second hole half on the brass and half on the block. Install another brass screw/bolt. Repeat until done. I have never had one fail that was just a straight line crack.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Mos rod them are fixed with the engine in the truck . Have the engine at operating temperature . Drain the coolant while removing the starter . Them weld the warm block with a stainless shell rod that has the same expansion ratio as the cast . Muggy Weld will also work .
btw I thought Diesel engines were good for a million miles, were more reliable and cost less to operate ?
TGP
Member
The Cummins 6B engine with the 53 stamped casting was a known crack issue in the late nineties.
Thankfully not too many were made before they caught it.
Cummins stood behind them and replaced the engine.
A few never got turned in.
Stich welding was the only fix that worked other than pre heating.
Tom
Thankfully not too many were made before they caught it.
Cummins stood behind them and replaced the engine.
A few never got turned in.
Stich welding was the only fix that worked other than pre heating.
Tom
A new block may be cheap, but 30 plus hours of shop time blows the bottom out of your estimate. LB7 Duramax, last one I put OE injectors in was $2500 parts and labor. Probably not gonna buy and install a Cummins block for that. Even if you could, it's still a Dodge when you're done.
timcasbolt
Well-known Member
Usually if you drill a little hole at each end of the crack before you weld it won't travel past the holes. I've never welded a diesel engine, but have welded several gas engines with no problem.
From what I have read about the 53 blocks they were cast in a different factory (Mexico?) and that factory did not maintain proper thickness of the casting in multiple locations. I think it is ok to give a shot at welding the crack. However, problems are liable to appear in other parts of the block over time. Long term I think you should plan on replacing that block. By the way, according to Motor Age magazine, the Cummins B series engine averages 450,000 miles before the first overhaul. I don't know of any car or light truck engine that matches that longevity. The only maintenance I have done to my 12 valve in 350k miles is to replace the front crank seal.
WOW, I know what "POS" means and your welding up a Cummins block and my 305,000 mile 7.3L Powerstroke still runs like new! with no leaks! Yeah, injectors cost $2400 but what's an injection pump rebuild cost for a 5.9L?
Just so you know, I drive a 2018 Ram 1500 now, gave my Son my old '96 F250 7.3L.
I wouldn't post anymore derogatory comments about other brands and work harder at getting that other engine in your truck.
Just so you know, I drive a 2018 Ram 1500 now, gave my Son my old '96 F250 7.3L.
I wouldn't post anymore derogatory comments about other brands and work harder at getting that other engine in your truck.
jacks This one has 300,000 and my other one has 386,000 on it . I?ve never seen a piece of equipment that Is used hard that doesn?t need workred on anybody can brag their half ton Chevy that hauls an 8 foot aluminum fishing boat to the lake and never had a major breakdown
Where can I buy a 24V for $2500? I'll take all I can get at that price, any 5.9 sells for $3500 in my area. The only truly reliable 5.9 was 94 to early 98 with the P pump. The early rotary VP was power limited and failure prone, the later VE was handicapped by the crap Dodge supply pump. The later common rail system was pioneered by the Duramax. The Duramax trucks were what forced Dodge and Ford to put a real drive line in their trucks. What good is a 300K+ engine when it is bolted to a 50K transmission? I believe if GM would have straight axled the HD 4x4, there would be no Ram truck today, the Super Duty line may have died with the 6.0 if not for the straight axle. The IFS is the Achilles heal of the GM HD line.
Comparing the 6.5 to the 5.9 is not apples to apples other than the fuel they burn. The 5.9 was designed as an industrial engine. The 6.5 was designed for weight, size, fuel mileage, and have the power of a 350 gasser. When looked at like that, the 6.5 Turbo did it's job. I have one I serviced regularly that was past 350K when I told him to ditch it because the body was shot. Engine was all original, including the pump. He ran a quart of ATF in every tank of fuel since it was new. Your failure prone 6.5 was probably due to a bad harmonic balancer, which was then transferred to the replacement engine to work it's magic again. The rubber breaks down on the balancer, then the crank breaks. The largest problem with the 6.5 is the cooling system, it has to be tip top due to the hot nature of a pre-combustion engine. Same as the IDI 6.9 and 7.3 Ford.
Comparing the 6.5 to the 5.9 is not apples to apples other than the fuel they burn. The 5.9 was designed as an industrial engine. The 6.5 was designed for weight, size, fuel mileage, and have the power of a 350 gasser. When looked at like that, the 6.5 Turbo did it's job. I have one I serviced regularly that was past 350K when I told him to ditch it because the body was shot. Engine was all original, including the pump. He ran a quart of ATF in every tank of fuel since it was new. Your failure prone 6.5 was probably due to a bad harmonic balancer, which was then transferred to the replacement engine to work it's magic again. The rubber breaks down on the balancer, then the crank breaks. The largest problem with the 6.5 is the cooling system, it has to be tip top due to the hot nature of a pre-combustion engine. Same as the IDI 6.9 and 7.3 Ford.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
236,000 on our old 2003 GMC 6.0 which has towed trailers and tractors across country at freeway speed. All it has needed is an oil pump and one exhaust manifold. Lifetime fuel average is 13+ US mpg . Just so glad we didn't order it with the diesel option and get stuck with a $4000+ injector replacement bill.
I don't know why you are suggesting such short gas engine life? This is not the era of carbs, mechanical fuel pumps, heat riser valves, automatic choke, points ignition and 3 speed non lockup transmissions.
I dare you to compare any 2017 Tier IV diesel to Mrs B&D's 2017 GMC Sierra SLT 4X4 Crew Cab with the Max Towing and 6.2L direct injection gas engine. It's Cheaper to operate than a diesel too.
And what do you pull with that 2017 A whopping 5
or 6000 pounds maybe ? And probably still on gets
12 or 13 at best doing it ? We had a a Chevy sick o
gas it was luckily to get 12 empty and would get five
or 6 pulling an actual load . I guess if your idea of a
tractor is a 25 hp lawn mower I can see where your
coming from . I?ve also used these wonderful
modern gas engines in one ton trucks 2014 ford f
350 regular cab weighed 8500 pounds 1700 pounds
lighter than my truck it gets a whopping 8.5 mpg .
or 6000 pounds maybe ? And probably still on gets
12 or 13 at best doing it ? We had a a Chevy sick o
gas it was luckily to get 12 empty and would get five
or 6 pulling an actual load . I guess if your idea of a
tractor is a 25 hp lawn mower I can see where your
coming from . I?ve also used these wonderful
modern gas engines in one ton trucks 2014 ford f
350 regular cab weighed 8500 pounds 1700 pounds
lighter than my truck it gets a whopping 8.5 mpg .
buickanddeere , if I had to drive a new tier 4 diesel it would be in the shop before I even took it home to have all the emissions garbage pulled off it or I wouldn?t own it no way I?ve worked on that garbage on big trucks and then problems with those systems never ends .
Destroked 450
Well-known Member
- Location
- Harned, Ky
Comparing $2500 to replace a set of injectors in a Duramax to a full on engine block replacement of a 5.9 Cummins isn't a justifiable comparison.
Machine work plus parts for a full rebuild on my 5.9 12 valve was between $2500 and $3000 including a new set of injectors, labor was provided by myself.
GM had lost such a large share of the HD pickup market because of their mediocre 6.5 engine they had to do something, so they teamed up with Isuzu to build the Duramax engine. They were smart enough to realize the 4L80E trans wasn't able to handle the additional power and made a deal with Allison for transmissions for the diesel powered trucks.
On the manual side GM used a version of the same NV4500 that Dodge was using until they switched to the ZF based trans that Ford had been using for years.
SVcummins: Hope the weld holds holds for a while but I'd get on that block swap asap, maybe add some type of block sealer to the cooling system to help with any pin holes or future cracking.
Several threads on Cummins Forums about repairing 53 blocks but the final fix was most always replacing the block.
Destroked 450
Well-known Member
- Location
- Harned, Ky
Yes I know, I was referring to you getting started on replacing the old block as soon as you could.
But I can't say much, I've been putting off replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets on mine for a while.
cumminspuller
Member
Good luck on welding the 53 block. A lot of the ideas on here are very good ideas. I only know of one that was welded and actually held. The rest ended up cracking somewhere else on turbo side. If I understand correctly that side is the only place where the casting was actually thinner than other 5.9 blocks. Very good engines if you put a good aftermarket supply pump on them that will not let the injection pump run out of fuel and burn up. A 24 valve complete engine can be bought in my area for $2,000-2,500. That is complete (injection pump and turbo).
cumminspuller The crack is so small we can?t find it so the guy is bringing home some crack detection potion when I was in shool they called it the 3 can method probably couldn?t use the actual trade name in the textbook . And you can buy a non 53 Cummins complete engine for around 2500$ ready to drop in the truck
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