That engine is a gold mine in parts. Good score!! I am so happy your channel really took off. I remember 3 years ago when you had 10,000 subscribers!!! ❤
I have a neighbor with a 92, obs Dodge Ram250 4x4, with a big lift, and it's 5.9 Cummins has 1.275ish million miles on it...! He rebuilt its 5-speed manual transmission at around 500k, and it's getting close to needing it done again... He said he wants to try to make it to 2 million, and will rebuild it when it needs it... He's the only owner of it and never misses any maintenance...! Maintenance matters...!!! My daily driver is a 95 f150 with 300cid/ 5-speed with over 500k... I'm it's 3rd owner, but the first two owners were an 80 year old and his 50 year old son... I bought it in 2010, but have all the receipts back to March of 96(6 months after purchased new)... Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
My guess is the rings failed some 50k miles + ago, caused poor performance and diesel fuel from worn injectors diluted the oil, accelerating the metal wear. They just drove it with the weak performance and diluted oil long change intervals.
Ditto. Had a port injection v6 gasoline engine that would smoke upon startup only sometimes. Would also misfire at around 6k+ rpm and the exhaust poured out smoke of sorts at that rpm. Ended up going through a quart of oil every 1,000 miles for over 50k miles and finally burnt an exhaust valve. Replaced the exhaust valve and ran another 9k miles before it started running on 5 cylinders again. Replaced the engine but never investigated the bottom end in the old engine. Really wish I had. But I suppose a ring or ringland was completely fubar since it was only burning oil in 1 cylinder, the other 5 looked fine. Hard to justify the money and time to refurbish the engine with such a small defect when other things are rusted/going out on the vehicle at the same time. I can see why they ran it till it was pretty much gone then got rid of the vehicle.
@@rotaryperfection The excessive metal wear. Bad injectors wont atomize the diesel, instead it will squirt it into the cylinder, run past the rings and dilute the oil. Diesel will still provide some lubricity but not enough to protect the high pressure high wear parts. Clean cylinder heads indicate excessive fuel, they should have more carbon on them for 300k miles.
@@rotaryperfection Oil analysis maybe every 3 oil changes north of 200k miles would have sensed fuel in oil and may have gotten another 200-300k out of the engine. But, as I Do Cars stated - roofing troque. Not necessarily put away dry.
9/8/24..am not a mechanic or diesel aware person, but at 80 years, am much impressed with your purpose of educating/showing all viewers details of our gas or diesel engine components. Enjoy yur channel, camera positions, lighting & shop cleanliness. Fine commentary also. Stay safe & carry on!👍⚙️🔧🍺😊
To be honest, I thought the water pump bits had been getting a bit stale. Then, this genius. Legitimately the first time I've laughed since my cat died after it was hit by a speeding water pump.
Buddy of mine had a 12 valve with 950k miles and it was still running. It was so worn out that it would barely pull itself but it it still cranked and ran everyday. They are awesome engines.
I drive a semi mack truck. It had over 900,000 miles on it. I don't think it was ever rebuilt. I drove it mostly city and oil pressure became a problem. Oil light will come on and than shut off. I figured it was a bad sensor. It was replaced and drove fine until the engine oil light came on again. Oil was full and oil light went out. No problems till the oil light came on again and stayed on. Pull over shut down got another truck. They took truck back to shop drained oil pulled the oil pan off. The oil pick up was clogged with main bearings and in the pan lots of it. I was speechless that the engine lasted as long as it did and didn't throw a rod or whatever. Diesel engines are built tough and very impressive that they last this long when engine starts to destroy itself
My 1992 Pete 379 with a Cat 3406b ran until 1.2 MILLION miles before doing a platinum in-frame. It had tons of blowby and leaked about 2 gallons per week but still ran strong.
Definitely a rebuild machine. Bore, pistons, rings, crank turn, inserts and gasket set will just about do it. Do the valves, check the head and block for flat, naturally. Worth it.
Diesel engines for commercial vehicles need to be tough. I once assisted on a project with some Chinese engineers who were working on improving tractor reliability. One of them said "for people living in rural areas, the tractor is what stands between them and starvation in winter." I once worked for a company that did ring design for Cummins (apart from other things). One problem with rings is how do you test them? You make a batch of rings, they pass every dimensional and metallurgical test - but how do you know how they will do 300 000 miles down the road? Minute differences in grain and carbon distribution can have an effect on long term life. Remember the ring takes the firing load and is very thin. Wash fuel over it, stop it lubricating for a few seconds, ring overheats.
Reminds me of the 57 Chevy I blew up when I was 15. I cranked it with the hood up and the oil cap blew out, bounced off the hood (which was at about 45 degrees), and landed in the neighbor's driveway across the street.
My sister had a 6 cyl 57 Ford that when cranked would shoot the dipstick 10 feet in the air... Had a hole in one of the pistons from a ball bearing that got in the cylinder somehow.
@@JohnSmith-pl2bk Your comment has a “Translate to English” button when it’s clearly in English, lol. We’re supposedly at peak AI with LLMs that can pick fights in the comments section and convince the vast majority of people that they’re just some troll living in mom’s basement… yet it can’t understand when you say someone’s joking. Weird times we’re living in. Edit: spacing; This damn thing starts typing the reply as if it’s part of the username.
@@groundcontrol6876 to Major Tom..mighta been ok with a g. Who knows, they hete me so this probably won't even post. Even the h word can kick it out. The pendulum has swung far too far. On another note, it's cool to read about so many loyal Cummins owners here. I knew it going in and the commenters didn't disappoint. You can't fake respect like that 👍
Two profound takeaways from this Blockbuster video: Cummins diesel engines are among the very best ever made and You are capable of the Ironman intro that would make Tony Iomi jealous!
Most diesels will go forever if taken care of. I've owned quite a few but I've had two go over 400k. To be fair one still ran but wouldn't pass emissions in my area and the cost of repairs was more than it was worth. The second was mechanically sound but the electronics took a crap it was at over 500k. Two things that kill them quick are lack of oil changes and performance mods.
@@jessietomich8043 Unfortunately I don’t think some of the modern smaller diesels are built to last. There is a reason Cummins and big truck engines generally have gear driven cams, solid lifters and are heavily built. 1/2 T diesels often have a noodle of timing chain, and one has an oil pump driven by a belt running in motor oil on the back of the crank.
So I picked up a 2015 f250 6.2l with 213,000 miles. It was a fleet vehicle from union pacific railroad. The car fax was 4 pages long. Every, and I mean EVERY 5,000 miles, the truck was at the dealer getting serviced. Oil pressure is as high as when new. Not a spec of grime in the valve covers. All parts replaced with Ford parts. One of the best vehicles to buy used is from a good company that religiously maintains their vehicles.
Injector fail in my 03 3500 at 360k that i had bought new...did a 94 12 valve swap.Governor springs fuel plate and mac plug in the pump. Scrapped the fuel shutoff solinoid for a 12$ pull stop.Can bump start it with no batteries. Luv it.
That truck paid for itself 3 time at 300 thousand miles. The last 68 thousand was gravy time. It looked like it would have driven itself into the crusher Great video
Cam damage is low quality oil and lots of idle time I think. Lower oil pressure at idle with crappy oil is a disaster in the 5.9s. EDIT: Those broken rings mean fuel got into the oil, and that's probably what killed the cam.
Same mileage on my 2004 Hemi. No smoke, no engine light on, Original spark plus STILL!. Replaced Power Steering rack, front Axles, and now a water pump, fuel pump. Thats all. I drive it every day.
@@SmittySmithsoniteOh, I have an old N/A 3-cyl one in a yacht tender I run that complains about low oil pressure every time it’s idling and leaks oil everywhere. The mechanic claims that it can’t be rebuilt anymore and that catastrophic failure and a repower needs to be planned for, but that was two seasons ago. 😂
The 5.9 common rail is notorious for breaking rings. Usually when it’s working pretty hard but no one really knows what causes it. Most people believe that Cummins underestimated the cyl pressure of the commune rails. But I’ve also heard that the ring angle was different so the fixed that on the 6.7s came out. The new CK4 rated oils don’t help either! “)
I've torn down some mechanical p7100 5.9 with broken rings too. Last one had broken rings on every cylinder, what killed it is one broke into enough small pieces it wedged between the cylinder wall and piston and put a pretty decent gouge. Was our abused old yard shunt truck and it left a trail of oil all the way into the shop from the breather hose
Gotta love those big old "liquorice engines". It's always interesting to see a heavy duty vehicle that worked as intended for a decent mileage instead of Princess garbage that dies at 70 K on your driveway... Thanks for the upload.
I overhauled an 08 24 valve that ran hot and had to replace all 6 pistons and rings. The crank and rods were perfect as was the block. It was a lot more clean than that one. I had a 93 D250 with over 330,000 miles that would start on the second roll every time. It was a HD 2WD. I miss it too!
You said it was a roofing truck. So I’m seeing probably lot of idle time on top of the high miles. Had one at work, dropped a valve. Still ran fairly decent just made some noise. Also with that many miles on it and the truck being rough the company probably was also just run it til it dies. Not going to fix it since they got their use out of it.
dont know which is worse on equipment/trucks - roofers,landscapers or farmers. all are cheap AF, beat trucks within inch of their lives. farmers though generally get 'creative' in finding ways to keep truck running
@@XkQp If a farmer can't fix his truck with duct tape and baling wire, he's not using enough duct tape or baling wire. Boom-Boom❗❗ Thank you, thank you - I'm here all week. (and my name is Eric too, btw) (PS: love the Black Sabbath refs too; of course I would, I'm from Birmingham - the one in England).
Totally agree. Just resleeve the cylinder bores and get new internal parts. Possibly even a good build for higher horsepower. The cylinder head looks like the valve seats are needing replacement because of oil leaking past them
Cummins has a problem with the #6 pistons in their smaller inline 6 cylinder engines running hotter and breaking rings. It started with the 24 valve 5.9 liter engines and continues to this day. The 06 24 valve had massive problems as it was trying to meet new EPA emission standards without a massive redesign of the engine.
Their big engines in class 8 vehicles are even worse. Tier 4 emissions have destroyed diesel reliability and longevity. Every engine manufacturer from Cummins To Detroit have had massive problems since Tier 4 was mandated.
i meet epa rules no probs.. dont buy anything past 1990..[ i have an 02 s/duty. 4.2tdi. no computer. 700nm.. mwm sprint, german tractor engine, fitted to ford, chevy,s in brazil.. tows 4.5t. 14 lt 100. ].. ausie...
I was told, by a local diesel shop, that from 2004-2007 Cummins used Chinese piston rings in the 5.9L. This is why the broken rings. Totally substandard quality. A guy I knew had an ‘06 that had 280,00kms and had 5 broken rings.
I enjoyed the tear down. I’ve worn it a few engines in my time. I probably could have kept them going a bit longer, in some cases, if I paid a bit more attention to the ‘little things’ that indicate there is a bigger problem, like low oil pressure [replace the pump? Check for leaks?] or rust in the water [may be time for a flush . . .], low power [check that valve train, already] ----but like most people, it it runs, I’m driving it!
Hi Eric, I'm less than 15 minutes in and already two dozen deep belly laughs in response to your running commentary, subtle comedy gold, thank you, high five.
That video totally killed my dreams of being a diesel mechanic! I've seen my share of used diesel oil, but just imagine if you opened up the valve cover or the oil pan on a gasoline engine and the oil looked like this. Can we say "GAME OVER" for that motor lol.
Why would it kill your dreams? High mileage engines die all the time, specially if they were neglected like it seems has become the norm. The more ignorant people that neglect easy, DIY level basic maintenance out there, the more demand for labor on these big ticket repairs will be. Seems like a good time for fulfilling those dreams.
the thing is gas isnt as dusty as a diesel. the black oil is all the soot that the oil caught. gas burns clean enough theres no soot to get caught so most of the darkening is just burnt oil and a bit of contamination. its prohibitively expensive but actually possible to change oil enough in a diesel for it to be clean. a guy tested it, took 5 changes back to back with 15 minutes idle between each change to get the oil actually clean.
That engine held up really well considering the hard life and neglect it went through. Imagine if it had been well cared for and maintained properly. Thanks for explaining the difference between neglect and abuse.
I must admit that I'm addicted to my I Do Cars videos. Eric, thank you for your efforts on each and every video. The guitar playing was kinda fuzzy...loved it!
You mentioned overloading a trailer years back. I took a load to the dump from a house. I bought 19,000+ pound on the trailer. I was driving a 1 ton suburban and the lady looked out the window at the scale. She said you’re way over. weight on those tags on the truck and i look again their car tags there’s no weight limit and car tags. That’s why I run car tags on SUVs.
Lots of hours idling, and oil changes done if there was $20 left over from buying booze and weed, generally every 50k miles. Oil changed because they looked at the dipstick, and it was a few quarts low.
I'm waiting for the engine that makes him break down and get a ridge reamer. I had my hopes up that at 368k miles this would be the one. Maybe next week.
I'm intrigued that there is still evidence of some crosshatch in bores after the combined abuse + mileage. Impressive. I wonder what a well cared for one looks like at that mileage.
I had my 05 5.9 cummins rebuilt back in 2010. Same exact issue. No.3 piston the rings were gone exactly like this. No. 4 and 5 looked like the top of the pistons had tiny hammer marks all over the sides near the bore. The injectors had a failure and over fueled and it got hot, cracked the rings and the pock marks on the pistons were tiny molten aluminum bits from the pistons. This was at 102k miles. Of course, cummins flat out refused to warranty it since it was 2k over. We had to bore it .040 to clean up the cylinders. New cam, valve train, pistons and injectors it was running like a top again. We reused the rods, crank and Turbo. Bad injectors will cause this. The shop also said running too much timing will do the same.
I have a soft spot for the 5.9, especially the 12 valve in the first Gen. I know a guy that bought a new one back in the day and had over 600K on it. He bought a new 24 valve because the old truck rusted in half and still ran great. The 5.9 IMO was the best ever made, the newer 32s don't come close to these. Great vid Eric.
Ran across you under recommended and I've to say you have both good charisma with a touch of humor. I'm always curious to of why did it fail. Your ending analysis to me is impressive.
That engine got ran hard cold and poor oil maintenance. Also who ever did the injector install did not know what they were doing those nuts should have not been so tight and injector one with the feed tube nut being loose was a huge issue as well injector 6 having the cap spin means it was probably the cylinder not running.
Thanks, Eric. That was a great teardown. It looks to me like the injectors were dribbling raw fuel on top of the pistons, which would produce more heat, especially since it was a turbo motor. This, in turn, would create more carbon in the oil, to the point that it was no longer oil.
early common rail 5.9 cummins are notorious for melting pistons 4 and 5 because of hot tune, big injectors, and heavy foot with a load. the rings usually broke when idling for long periods and poor maintenance schedule. i think it was due to poor materials used. They'll run with broke rings, just will have tons of blow-by. Bright side though is the block looks rebuildable. the problem like you said fleet trucks are the best took care of (cough cough) by employees
I have only been inside one diesel and around a couple more, but I'ma guess that a fair amount of that wear/damage is a result of not frequent enough oil changes. The broken rings are most certainly from them flopping around in a tapered bore. This engine wore down slowly; it actually looks like it was firing on all cylinders, at least part of the time, with the bad holes contributing less and less to forward progress as more of the combustion event was slipping past the piston/cylinder into the crankcase.
Someone once told me that If I found a used Ram truck with the Cummins engine for sale for $40k, what I was looking at was a $3000 truck with a $37,000 engine bolted into it.....
Cold starts break rings. in the middle of north dakota. -12 degrees forgot to plug the truck in to warm it over night. decided to try and start the truck. loud pop and blow by after that. needed to sleeve the engine to get the blow by fixed.
I have heard that if the crank case breather is stuck closed it will keep pressure from venting. Some is normal & if it is not escaping it’s an issue. Should’ve gotten compression readings, and a video of it cranking with fuel turned off. If it has a compression skip it’s a dead cylinder. It’s new enough it’ll have a cylinder contribution test to show its blown up.
That run video was interesting. My first thought was "it sounds terrible, " but then I remembered it was a diesel so that could be how it normally sounds. The Cummins engines are great, though, for any application where you want to turn diesel into noise . . .
My 2005 had 200K on it when I sold it and the oil analysis always came back perfect. Fantastic engine that was super bulletproof if you took care of it. My 6.7 probably has a much shorter lifespan given the oil changes, fuel changes, and the damage caused by the emissions garbage. I've seen those 3rd gen 5.9s with more than 500K on them and still running strong. Usually a set of injectors and thats it. Remember, Cumming offered this engine for busses, trucks, marine, industrial and quite a few other applications. When was the last time you saw a 6.No FoRd that was so versatile?
I have an 07 F350, 6.0, crew cab, long bed FX4 with 300K+. It's been garage kept, serviced, no tunes, immaculate in and out. I buy and sell vintage Jeeps and parts and travel all over the country. Only one new injector so far. Trans serviced every 30,000. Synthetic CJ4 oil every 3000 to 5000 (depends on trip length)
Your air hammer hasn't failed, it just has to have some sort of pressure against the end of it to operate. (My Matco air hammer has always been like that, I think it's designed that way - Can't fire it without a bit in it either.)
Boo! Biggest fan.... Landed on your channel recently and am catching up by watching old videos - focusing on engines I have owned. J35 was crazy! I loved mine - ran like a top. How someone destroyed one is beyond the beyond.... EA888 - still using in a Passat - the odd chevy small block - enjoy your easy going demeanor and interesting way of overcoming obstacles. Will definitely buy a piston nugget some time in the future.
Not too long ago, I was leaving the dump and saw a roofer with a dump trailer that was having problems. The trailer wouldn’t dump. It was full to the brim with shingles. I can’t remember how many squares he said were in the trailer but it was well over the capacity of the trailer, maybe double. I gave him a couple oversized fuses because his had blown and went on my way.
That engine should be rebuilt and saved. Need to keep as many of these on the road running. Oil change intervals aren’t a firm one size fits all number. It varies based on the duty of the truck. If you run these as severe duty pulling heavy, idling all the time then the oil change intervals need to be much shorter/frequent than usual. Light duty can go the usual recommended intervals.
Looking at the level of build up, my initial reaction is extended OCIs, especially with that being a roofing/fleet vehicle. Staying on top of the oil changes makes a huge difference.
Ive got an 03 2500 6 speed truck in my driveway. Never tuned. 471000 and counting. No blowby. And it gets worked. Biggest think with the common rails. Is injectors. They can be bad. And it still run great.
Here’s the thing about fleet vehicles. It’s not a mileage, it’s the hours. That engine might have only had 300,000 miles on it, but 12,000 hours, half of which were spent idling. So what you’re seeing is an engine that ran the equivalent of 600K miles. And idling is the worst for diesels as is start stops. That’s what I bet killed the rings. The truck was on a job site, and would get started up and driven to get something, and back with the rings going through 10 heat expansion and cooldown cycles every day. And of the day, I won’t say that the engine was completely neglected. I suspect they got regular oil changes, that’s just how diesel oil looks. But that engine lived in an environment that kills diesel engines. These things thrive driving down the highway under 60-80% load.
idling is one of the things diesel is best at. start stops are bad on every engine. same for highway being every engines happy place. just like all those idle hours not counting into miles are equally an issue for anything. thats why i wont buy used anymore, you have no idea how hard it was or wasnt abuse until you have to start fixing it all the time
that rock was sitting under inj #4 i saw it. WHEW that cam shows poor oil change interval. cheap oil filters and oil, possibly cheap air filter. the bore scratches is from cylinder washing from extended idling/leaky injectors (early CR cummins known to have leaky injectors) the broken rings could be caused by the leaky injectors as well.
We ran the B5.9 and ISB's in class 7 Freightliner straight trucks. Really the only difference was higher capacity oil pans than what the pickup versions use. None of them needed to be rebuilt before 500K miles, and even though it was out of frame to rebuild them it was still fairly inexpensive to do.
The carbon build up on the 3 and 4 cylinder head is likely caused by (semi-)clogged injector spray nozzles. They will drip instead of mist, causing the fuel to tar up on the head. The wear looks like a cooling issue that is a design flaw of the 5.9. According to Dave from Daves auto Utah (he's big on youtube and does diesel engine rebuilds) "they all suffer from this" and it's always the 6 that will heat up so bad that it will score the piston and cylinder wall first. Dave might be interested in buying the entire core, he goes through dozens every month I believe and he's always looking for good cores. You may even want to collab with him somehow?
There is a kit for the cooling the number 6 cylinder to send coolant back to the front of the engine via a hose. It might have had a minor overheat event somewhere in its early life and amazing that it lasted 368000 miles with out blowing up.
Looks like a combination of abuse and neglect. Probably quite a few instances of "I'll get an oil change next rain day" and every rain day for the next month or two the guy assigned to the truck is drunk before 10am and it doesn't happen. That wear especially on the cam looks like it's from broken down oil holding too much soot.
I've always heard on the 5.9s to not let them low idle, but to set it to high idle at ~1,000-1,100rpm otherwise the #6 cylinder will just beat itself into the grave. But either bore over those cylinders or drop new liners in, polish the crank, new cam pistons and waterpump. Maybe new oil pump for insurance, plus injectors and that engine is good to go for a very long time. Swap it into something else even.
the black sabbath bit was hilarious lmao
The amount of effort to continue the joke was outstanding.
Time stamp homie..?
@@tacomas9602 26:50
@@joshuafunk9438it really was
@@glenslick2774❤ savage, I usually just listen to these like podcasts 😂much appreciated
That engine is a gold mine in parts. Good score!! I am so happy your channel really took off. I remember 3 years ago when you had 10,000 subscribers!!! ❤
Yeah making him be known on Linked In as well.
I have a neighbor with a 92, obs Dodge Ram250 4x4, with a big lift, and it's 5.9 Cummins has 1.275ish million miles on it...! He rebuilt its 5-speed manual transmission at around 500k, and it's getting close to needing it done again... He said he wants to try to make it to 2 million, and will rebuild it when it needs it... He's the only owner of it and never misses any maintenance...! Maintenance matters...!!! My daily driver is a 95 f150 with 300cid/ 5-speed with over 500k... I'm it's 3rd owner, but the first two owners were an 80 year old and his 50 year old son... I bought it in 2010, but have all the receipts back to March of 96(6 months after purchased new)... Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
Awesome trucks there, straight-six engines are behemoths to be messed with when it comes to reliability. 😎
Gotta love the old Ford 4.9 big 6 that can keep up with reliability of some of the most reliable engines ever made!!!
@@myk1_sp "straight-six engines are behemoths to be messed with when it comes to reliability."
BMW has entered the chat.
@computernaut The engines from BMW on their own aren't bad, it's the electronics around them that seem to fail first.
@@computernaut M57
My guess is the rings failed some 50k miles + ago, caused poor performance and diesel fuel from worn injectors diluted the oil, accelerating the metal wear. They just drove it with the weak performance and diluted oil long change intervals.
Ditto. Had a port injection v6 gasoline engine that would smoke upon startup only sometimes. Would also misfire at around 6k+ rpm and the exhaust poured out smoke of sorts at that rpm. Ended up going through a quart of oil every 1,000 miles for over 50k miles and finally burnt an exhaust valve. Replaced the exhaust valve and ran another 9k miles before it started running on 5 cylinders again. Replaced the engine but never investigated the bottom end in the old engine. Really wish I had. But I suppose a ring or ringland was completely fubar since it was only burning oil in 1 cylinder, the other 5 looked fine. Hard to justify the money and time to refurbish the engine with such a small defect when other things are rusted/going out on the vehicle at the same time. I can see why they ran it till it was pretty much gone then got rid of the vehicle.
So what are the signs that the injectors are wearing down?
@@rotaryperfection The excessive metal wear. Bad injectors wont atomize the diesel, instead it will squirt it into the cylinder, run past the rings and dilute the oil. Diesel will still provide some lubricity but not enough to protect the high pressure high wear parts. Clean cylinder heads indicate excessive fuel, they should have more carbon on them for 300k miles.
@sc5015 What I mean is how to tell how the injectors are going bad before hand?
@@rotaryperfection Oil analysis maybe every 3 oil changes north of 200k miles would have sensed fuel in oil and may have gotten another 200-300k out of the engine. But, as I Do Cars stated - roofing troque. Not necessarily put away dry.
9/8/24..am not a mechanic or diesel aware person, but at 80 years, am much impressed with your purpose of educating/showing all viewers details of our gas or diesel engine components. Enjoy yur channel, camera positions, lighting & shop cleanliness. Fine commentary also. Stay safe & carry on!👍⚙️🔧🍺😊
To be honest, I thought the water pump bits had been getting a bit stale. Then, this genius. Legitimately the first time I've laughed since my cat died after it was hit by a speeding water pump.
Water pumps should obey speed limits too!
Eric is really starting to get a fast pitching arm chucking those water pumps. I mean hell, he hit your cat from the shop.
i hope Tony Iommi makes another guest appearance some time in the future
Buddy of mine had a 12 valve with 950k miles and it was still running. It was so worn out that it would barely pull itself but it it still cranked and ran everyday. They are awesome engines.
I drive a semi mack truck. It had over 900,000 miles on it. I don't think it was ever rebuilt. I drove it mostly city and oil pressure became a problem. Oil light will come on and than shut off. I figured it was a bad sensor. It was replaced and drove fine until the engine oil light came on again. Oil was full and oil light went out. No problems till the oil light came on again and stayed on. Pull over shut down got another truck. They took truck back to shop drained oil pulled the oil pan off. The oil pick up was clogged with main bearings and in the pan lots of it. I was speechless that the engine lasted as long as it did and didn't throw a rod or whatever. Diesel engines are built tough and very impressive that they last this long when engine starts to destroy itself
My 1992 Pete 379 with a Cat 3406b ran until 1.2 MILLION miles before doing a platinum in-frame. It had tons of blowby and leaked about 2 gallons per week but still ran strong.
Definitely a rebuild machine. Bore, pistons, rings, crank turn, inserts and gasket set will just about do it. Do the valves, check the head and block for flat, naturally. Worth it.
New cam or regrind the old one
Don't forget the water pump.
@@KevinSmith-qi5yn We can reuse that.
Diesel engines for commercial vehicles need to be tough. I once assisted on a project with some Chinese engineers who were working on improving tractor reliability. One of them said "for people living in rural areas, the tractor is what stands between them and starvation in winter."
I once worked for a company that did ring design for Cummins (apart from other things). One problem with rings is how do you test them? You make a batch of rings, they pass every dimensional and metallurgical test - but how do you know how they will do 300 000 miles down the road? Minute differences in grain and carbon distribution can have an effect on long term life. Remember the ring takes the firing load and is very thin. Wash fuel over it, stop it lubricating for a few seconds, ring overheats.
Reminds me of the 57 Chevy I blew up when I was 15. I cranked it with the hood up and the oil cap blew out, bounced off the hood (which was at about 45 degrees), and landed in the neighbor's driveway across the street.
Good times
LOL 😂 👍
Like a ROCK.
My sister had a 6 cyl 57 Ford that when cranked would shoot the dipstick 10 feet in the air... Had a hole in one of the pistons from a ball bearing that got in the cylinder somehow.
@@irvulture8662 LOL 😂 👍
I totally approve of the guitar. Want to see more.
Can't go wrong with an Ibanez RG
Its so nice to see the teardown of a diesel that doesn't have a speck of carbon in the intake
You jest....
@@JohnSmith-pl2bk Your comment has a “Translate to English” button when it’s clearly in English, lol. We’re supposedly at peak AI with LLMs that can pick fights in the comments section and convince the vast majority of people that they’re just some troll living in mom’s basement… yet it can’t understand when you say someone’s joking. Weird times we’re living in. Edit: spacing; This damn thing starts typing the reply as if it’s part of the username.
@@groundcontrol6876it's a scary time, as well.
@@groundcontrol6876 to Major Tom..mighta been ok with a g. Who knows, they hete me so this probably won't even post. Even the h word can kick it out. The pendulum has swung far too far.
On another note, it's cool to read about so many loyal Cummins owners here. I knew it going in and the commenters didn't disappoint. You can't fake respect like that 👍
One of your best water pump skit 🤣. Great guitar riff too 👍
This engine is definitely a builder's special for someone.
I have been using your “If it doesn’t, it should’ve” line. A lot. Thank you
The It's fine for everything crazy gets used alot. Lol
Me too! It's so universal I love it
Two profound takeaways from this Blockbuster video: Cummins diesel engines are among the very best ever made and You are capable of the Ironman intro that would make Tony Iomi jealous!
I sold my 5.9 ram 2500 at 439K years ago. It is still running today at 570K
If you take care of them, they last.
Most diesels will go forever if taken care of. I've owned quite a few but I've had two go over 400k. To be fair one still ran but wouldn't pass emissions in my area and the cost of repairs was more than it was worth. The second was mechanically sound but the electronics took a crap it was at over 500k. Two things that kill them quick are lack of oil changes and performance mods.
million mile engines if taken care of and driven like their suppose to be. 😊
I sure hope it would. Diesels are good for 800K+
@@jessietomich8043 Unfortunately I don’t think some of the modern smaller diesels are built to last. There is a reason Cummins and big truck engines generally have gear driven cams, solid lifters and are heavily built. 1/2 T diesels often have a noodle of timing chain, and one has an oil pump driven by a belt running in motor oil on the back of the crank.
So I picked up a 2015 f250 6.2l with 213,000 miles. It was a fleet vehicle from union pacific railroad. The car fax was 4 pages long. Every, and I mean EVERY 5,000 miles, the truck was at the dealer getting serviced. Oil pressure is as high as when new. Not a spec of grime in the valve covers. All parts replaced with Ford parts. One of the best vehicles to buy used is from a good company that religiously maintains their vehicles.
Didn't expect a Black Sabbath reference in a Cummins teardown video. Mad props for that one, Eric
Injector fail in my 03 3500 at 360k that i had bought new...did a 94 12 valve swap.Governor springs fuel plate and mac plug in the pump.
Scrapped the fuel shutoff solinoid for a 12$ pull stop.Can bump start it with no batteries.
Luv it.
Oil and filters is so much cheaper than engines. Thanks Eric.
That truck paid for itself 3 time at 300 thousand miles. The last 68 thousand was gravy time. It looked like it would have driven itself into the crusher Great video
It worked for 370,000 miles. Many cars don’t run that many miles before falling apart. Great video. Thank you.
But this isn't a car, it's a truck diesel that regularly/normally gets twice that.
Cam damage is low quality oil and lots of idle time I think. Lower oil pressure at idle with crappy oil is a disaster in the 5.9s. EDIT: Those broken rings mean fuel got into the oil, and that's probably what killed the cam.
Same mileage on my 2004 Hemi.
No smoke, no engine light on, Original spark plus STILL!.
Replaced Power Steering rack, front Axles, and now a water pump, fuel pump.
Thats all.
I drive it every day.
I wonder if he could get ahold of a 2 stroke detroit.... that would be an intresting teardown.
I agree 100%
de boss garage has one..
Those don't fail! 😁
@@SmittySmithsoniteOh, I have an old N/A 3-cyl one in a yacht tender I run that complains about low oil pressure every time it’s idling and leaks oil everywhere. The mechanic claims that it can’t be rebuilt anymore and that catastrophic failure and a repower needs to be planned for, but that was two seasons ago. 😂
@@erichlippert3433
DD two strokes slobber oil, especially if they're run at lower rpm. Doesn't necessarily indicate trouble.
The 5.9 common rail is notorious for breaking rings. Usually when it’s working pretty hard but no one really knows what causes it. Most people believe that Cummins underestimated the cyl pressure of the commune rails. But I’ve also heard that the ring angle was different so the fixed that on the 6.7s came out. The new CK4 rated oils don’t help either! “)
so if i owned this engine, would i just get a better common rail or what
@@XkQp😂
@@XkQp looks like the fuel filters arent as good as they should be. look into upgrades for that, itll solve that problem
@@bradhaines3142 ah, thanks
I've torn down some mechanical p7100 5.9 with broken rings too. Last one had broken rings on every cylinder, what killed it is one broke into enough small pieces it wedged between the cylinder wall and piston and put a pretty decent gouge. Was our abused old yard shunt truck and it left a trail of oil all the way into the shop from the breather hose
Gotta love those big old "liquorice engines".
It's always interesting to see a heavy duty vehicle that worked as intended for a decent mileage instead of Princess garbage that dies at 70 K on your driveway... Thanks for the upload.
Wasn't expecting a Cummins! Definitely down for this.
Edit: Holy blowby Batman!
It being a Diesel AND a service truck 386000 miles is probably equal to close to 450000-500000 miles counting idling time
theres a reason most trucks these days also have a time for operating hours
I overhauled an 08 24 valve that ran hot and had to replace all 6 pistons and rings. The crank and rods were perfect as was the block. It was a lot more clean than that one. I had a 93 D250 with over 330,000 miles that would start on the second roll every time. It was a HD 2WD. I miss it too!
You said it was a roofing truck. So I’m seeing probably lot of idle time on top of the high miles.
Had one at work, dropped a valve. Still ran fairly decent just made some noise.
Also with that many miles on it and the truck being rough the company probably was also just run it til it dies. Not going to fix it since they got their use out of it.
dont know which is worse on equipment/trucks - roofers,landscapers or farmers. all are cheap AF, beat trucks within inch of their lives. farmers though generally get 'creative' in finding ways to keep truck running
@@harveylong5878 bailing wire and duct tape, they sometimes take better care of their trucks.
@@XkQp
If a farmer can't fix his truck with duct tape and baling wire,
he's not using enough duct tape or baling wire.
Boom-Boom❗❗
Thank you, thank you - I'm here all week.
(and my name is Eric too, btw)
(PS: love the Black Sabbath refs too;
of course I would, I'm from Birmingham
- the one in England).
@@ericdunn555 hahaha, very true
You're a comedic genius!
Crazy thing is that you could rebuild this engine and get another couple hundred thousand miles out of it
Why is that crazy
@@TheMainLead maybe insinuating that other engines couldnt do that
@@XkQplots of engines can do that. But it’s not worth it for do on nearly all of them.
Totally agree. Just resleeve the cylinder bores and get new internal parts. Possibly even a good build for higher horsepower. The cylinder head looks like the valve seats are needing replacement because of oil leaking past them
@@FishFind3000 I guess so. also that these engines have a cult-like following. good engines.
Cummins has a problem with the #6 pistons in their smaller inline 6 cylinder engines running hotter and breaking rings. It started with the 24 valve 5.9 liter engines and continues to this day. The 06 24 valve had massive problems as it was trying to meet new EPA emission standards without a massive redesign of the engine.
coolant bypass fixes that. Issue is that coolant runs through first 5 cylinders and by time it hits 6th, it's much hotter and doesn't cool it.
Their big engines in class 8 vehicles are even worse. Tier 4 emissions have destroyed diesel reliability and longevity. Every engine manufacturer from Cummins To Detroit have had massive problems since Tier 4 was mandated.
i meet epa rules no probs.. dont buy anything past 1990..[ i have an 02 s/duty. 4.2tdi. no computer. 700nm.. mwm sprint, german tractor engine, fitted to ford, chevy,s in brazil.. tows 4.5t. 14 lt 100. ].. ausie...
More internet parroting...My 06 driven daily 570,000mi, still factory injectors and cp3...My friends all the same.
@@harrywalker968 ?
5.9l 24v Common rail will always have a special place in my heart
this is my favorite channel ever
One of the best engines ever built.
Lol this thing is rebuildable. Thank you Eric. It reminded me of a 327 I had as a 17 year old kid.
I was told, by a local diesel shop, that from 2004-2007 Cummins used Chinese piston rings in the 5.9L. This is why the broken rings. Totally substandard quality. A guy I knew had an ‘06 that had 280,00kms and had 5 broken rings.
Naa man, the broken rings are from shit getting past the air filter. They erode pretty quick, carbon packs in the land and ring breaks.
This is a classic example of running a diesel engine on short trips and not enough oil changes.
I enjoyed the tear down. I’ve worn it a few engines in my time. I probably could have kept them going a bit longer, in some cases, if I paid a bit more attention to the ‘little things’ that indicate there is a bigger problem, like low oil pressure [replace the pump? Check for leaks?] or rust in the water [may be time for a flush . . .], low power [check that valve train, already] ----but like most people, it it runs, I’m driving it!
Since I work Saturdays and by 7pm I shower eat and fall asleep.. this has now become my Sunday morning routine. Thank you
Thanks for taking the biberty to bless us with your guitar skills.
I just love your channel.. especially the diesel tear downs.
Thanks Eric. I didn’t know you played the guitar. Well done.
Hi Eric, I'm less than 15 minutes in and already two dozen deep belly laughs in response to your running commentary, subtle comedy gold, thank you, high five.
That video totally killed my dreams of being a diesel mechanic!
I've seen my share of used diesel oil, but just imagine if you opened up the valve cover or the oil pan on a gasoline engine and the oil looked like this. Can we say "GAME OVER" for that motor lol.
Why would it kill your dreams? High mileage engines die all the time, specially if they were neglected like it seems has become the norm. The more ignorant people that neglect easy, DIY level basic maintenance out there, the more demand for labor on these big ticket repairs will be. Seems like a good time for fulfilling those dreams.
the thing is gas isnt as dusty as a diesel. the black oil is all the soot that the oil caught. gas burns clean enough theres no soot to get caught so most of the darkening is just burnt oil and a bit of contamination.
its prohibitively expensive but actually possible to change oil enough in a diesel for it to be clean. a guy tested it, took 5 changes back to back with 15 minutes idle between each change to get the oil actually clean.
I'll say thank you Eric for taking the time to clean all those parts, and yes the Black Sabbeth thing was cool.
I bet it's fun working for Eric : )
That engine held up really well considering the hard life and neglect it went through. Imagine if it had been well cared for and maintained properly. Thanks for explaining the difference between neglect and abuse.
I must admit that I'm addicted to my I Do Cars videos. Eric, thank you for your efforts on each and every video. The guitar playing was kinda fuzzy...loved it!
Another entertaining and educational Saturday night spent watching I Do Cars tear down an engine. Thanks as always Eric!
You mentioned overloading a trailer years back. I took a load to the dump from a house. I bought 19,000+ pound on the trailer. I was driving a 1 ton suburban and the lady looked out the window at the scale. She said you’re way over. weight on those tags on the truck and i look again their car tags there’s no weight limit and car tags. That’s why I run car tags on SUVs.
The letter of the law....not the intent.
We all feel safer...
26:49 - Ok, you are officially having way too much fun 😂
I’ve seen this one in the background for a while and I’m happy to see it being olened
Your water pump bits keep getting better
Lots of hours idling, and oil changes done if there was $20 left over from buying booze and weed, generally every 50k miles. Oil changed because they looked at the dipstick, and it was a few quarts low.
I'm waiting for the engine that makes him break down and get a ridge reamer. I had my hopes up that at 368k miles this would be the one. Maybe next week.
I'm intrigued that there is still evidence of some crosshatch in bores after the combined abuse + mileage. Impressive. I wonder what a well cared for one looks like at that mileage.
I noticed that also. if only all engines were as tough as a 5.9 life would be great
I'm a non-gearhead and really love your channel. There's no question that "blue" is a natural in front of the camera!😆
2:16 "biberty"
I had my 05 5.9 cummins rebuilt back in 2010. Same exact issue. No.3 piston the rings were gone exactly like this. No. 4 and 5 looked like the top of the pistons had tiny hammer marks all over the sides near the bore.
The injectors had a failure and over fueled and it got hot, cracked the rings and the pock marks on the pistons were tiny molten aluminum bits from the pistons.
This was at 102k miles. Of course, cummins flat out refused to warranty it since it was 2k over.
We had to bore it .040 to clean up the cylinders. New cam, valve train, pistons and injectors it was running like a top again. We reused the rods, crank and Turbo.
Bad injectors will cause this. The shop also said running too much timing will do the same.
That's crazy if maintained well they should last way longer unless your getting bad fuel. My oem injectors on my 04.5 ram 3500 lasted 227k
I have a soft spot for the 5.9, especially the 12 valve in the first Gen. I know a guy that bought a new one back in the day and had over 600K on it. He bought a new 24 valve because the old truck rusted in half and still ran great. The 5.9 IMO was the best ever made, the newer 32s don't come close to these. Great vid Eric.
Ran across you under recommended and I've to say you have both good charisma with a touch of humor. I'm always curious to of why did it fail. Your ending analysis to me is impressive.
That engine got ran hard cold and poor oil maintenance. Also who ever did the injector install did not know what they were doing those nuts should have not been so tight and injector one with the feed tube nut being loose was a huge issue as well injector 6 having the cap spin means it was probably the cylinder not running.
Thanks, Eric. That was a great teardown. It looks to me like the injectors were dribbling raw fuel on top of the pistons, which would produce more heat, especially since it was a turbo motor. This, in turn, would create more carbon in the oil, to the point that it was no longer oil.
early common rail 5.9 cummins are notorious for melting pistons 4 and 5 because of hot tune, big injectors, and heavy foot with a load. the rings usually broke when idling for long periods and poor maintenance schedule. i think it was due to poor materials used. They'll run with broke rings, just will have tons of blow-by. Bright side though is the block looks rebuildable. the problem like you said fleet trucks are the best took care of (cough cough) by employees
I have only been inside one diesel and around a couple more, but I'ma guess that a fair amount of that wear/damage is a result of not frequent enough oil changes. The broken rings are most certainly from them flopping around in a tapered bore. This engine wore down slowly; it actually looks like it was firing on all cylinders, at least part of the time, with the bad holes contributing less and less to forward progress as more of the combustion event was slipping past the piston/cylinder into the crankcase.
Someone once told me that If I found a used Ram truck with the Cummins engine for sale for $40k, what I was looking at was a $3000 truck with a $37,000 engine bolted into it.....
Wanna buy my bridge?
Got to be a ford guy ?
@@timhardin7287 Porsche: There is no substitute-
Putting a Cummins in a Dodge, is like dropping a block of gold in a bucket of shit
@@chrisrossman9566 Hahaha!
Fantastic teardown as usual. Im here to say just how awesome the water pump skit was in this one. Well done!
@3:01 - I hate to disagree with you, but I just might be your biggest fan.
Cold starts break rings. in the middle of north dakota. -12 degrees forgot to plug the truck in to warm it over night. decided to try and start the truck. loud pop and blow by after that. needed to sleeve the engine to get the blow by fixed.
I have heard that if the crank case breather is stuck closed it will keep pressure from venting. Some is normal & if it is not escaping it’s an issue.
Should’ve gotten compression readings, and a video of it cranking with fuel turned off. If it has a compression skip it’s a dead cylinder.
It’s new enough it’ll have a cylinder contribution test to show its blown up.
Never knew the Cummins timing system was gear driven. Why aren’t all engines made like that?
That run video was interesting. My first thought was "it sounds terrible, " but then I remembered it was a diesel so that could be how it normally sounds.
The Cummins engines are great, though, for any application where you want to turn diesel into noise . . .
My 2005 had 200K on it when I sold it and the oil analysis always came back perfect. Fantastic engine that was super bulletproof if you took care of it. My 6.7 probably has a much shorter lifespan given the oil changes, fuel changes, and the damage caused by the emissions garbage. I've seen those 3rd gen 5.9s with more than 500K on them and still running strong. Usually a set of injectors and thats it. Remember, Cumming offered this engine for busses, trucks, marine, industrial and quite a few other applications. When was the last time you saw a 6.No FoRd that was so versatile?
Well the powerstroke has many uses as well. Only built and developed by international.
as a door stop or a funny youtube video
I have an 07 F350, 6.0, crew cab, long bed FX4 with 300K+. It's been garage kept, serviced, no tunes, immaculate in and out. I buy and sell vintage Jeeps and parts and travel all over the country. Only one new injector so far. Trans serviced every 30,000. Synthetic CJ4 oil every 3000 to 5000 (depends on trip length)
@TheBandit7613 how's it treated you? are they good when reliable? I've heard some nasty things abt 6.0s.
700,000 + on my 2011 6.7 Cummins
Thanks for the Iron Man bit! Always enjoy the videos!
Your air hammer hasn't failed, it just has to have some sort of pressure against the end of it to operate. (My Matco air hammer has always been like that, I think it's designed that way - Can't fire it without a bit in it either.)
Boo! Biggest fan.... Landed on your channel recently and am catching up by watching old videos - focusing on engines I have owned. J35 was crazy! I loved mine - ran like a top. How someone destroyed one is beyond the beyond.... EA888 - still using in a Passat - the odd chevy small block - enjoy your easy going demeanor and interesting way of overcoming obstacles. Will definitely buy a piston nugget some time in the future.
Kinda surprised it didn't run away on its own oil.
They dodged a runaway diesel there.
Not too long ago, I was leaving the dump and saw a roofer with a dump trailer that was having problems. The trailer wouldn’t dump. It was full to the brim with shingles. I can’t remember how many squares he said were in the trailer but it was well over the capacity of the trailer, maybe double. I gave him a couple oversized fuses because his had blown and went on my way.
That engine should be rebuilt and saved. Need to keep as many of these on the road running. Oil change intervals aren’t a firm one size fits all number. It varies based on the duty of the truck. If you run these as severe duty pulling heavy, idling all the time then the oil change intervals need to be much shorter/frequent than usual. Light duty can go the usual recommended intervals.
I swear just for you I’m going to start tack welding every dip stick on every vehicle that comes through my shop! 😂😂
I can't believe the head bolts came out without Elephants and gymnastics.
Great way to end the day after Grant's Farm with the family. Finally get to relax.
Looking at the level of build up, my initial reaction is extended OCIs, especially with that being a roofing/fleet vehicle. Staying on top of the oil changes makes a huge difference.
Ive got an 03 2500 6 speed truck in my driveway. Never tuned. 471000 and counting. No blowby. And it gets worked. Biggest think with the common rails. Is injectors. They can be bad. And it still run great.
Here’s the thing about fleet vehicles. It’s not a mileage, it’s the hours. That engine might have only had 300,000 miles on it, but 12,000 hours, half of which were spent idling. So what you’re seeing is an engine that ran the equivalent of 600K miles. And idling is the worst for diesels as is start stops. That’s what I bet killed the rings. The truck was on a job site, and would get started up and driven to get something, and back with the rings going through 10 heat expansion and cooldown cycles every day.
And of the day, I won’t say that the engine was completely neglected. I suspect they got regular oil changes, that’s just how diesel oil looks. But that engine lived in an environment that kills diesel engines. These things thrive driving down the highway under 60-80% load.
Good day from Ontario. O have neighbour use 4bt for generator, It had 40,000 hrs on, I seen some cross hatch onit
Water got in oil. Ths
idling is one of the things diesel is best at. start stops are bad on every engine. same for highway being every engines happy place.
just like all those idle hours not counting into miles are equally an issue for anything. thats why i wont buy used anymore, you have no idea how hard it was or wasnt abuse until you have to start fixing it all the time
Loved the Black Sabbath water pump skit!!!! No more tears for me, 'cause I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!
that rock was sitting under inj #4 i saw it. WHEW that cam shows poor oil change interval. cheap oil filters and oil, possibly cheap air filter. the bore scratches is from cylinder washing from extended idling/leaky injectors (early CR cummins known to have leaky injectors) the broken rings could be caused by the leaky injectors as well.
Or running hard on cold engine.
Great video and explanation, Eric. Hilarious as always.
We ran the B5.9 and ISB's in class 7 Freightliner straight trucks. Really the only difference was higher capacity oil pans than what the pickup versions use. None of them needed to be rebuilt before 500K miles, and even though it was out of frame to rebuild them it was still fairly inexpensive to do.
The carbon build up on the 3 and 4 cylinder head is likely caused by (semi-)clogged injector spray nozzles. They will drip instead of mist, causing the fuel to tar up on the head. The wear looks like a cooling issue that is a design flaw of the 5.9. According to Dave from Daves auto Utah (he's big on youtube and does diesel engine rebuilds) "they all suffer from this" and it's always the 6 that will heat up so bad that it will score the piston and cylinder wall first. Dave might be interested in buying the entire core, he goes through dozens every month I believe and he's always looking for good cores. You may even want to collab with him somehow?
There is a kit for the cooling the number 6 cylinder to send coolant back to the front of the engine via a hose. It might have had a minor overheat event somewhere in its early life and amazing that it lasted 368000 miles with out blowing up.
Prolly toughest engine ever.
yea looks real tough LOL ..... I have gasoline engines with more miles
This was a EJ-1 failure. Subies break ringlands, cummins breaks rings. They are kindered spirits
Just keeps getting better
Looks like a combination of abuse and neglect. Probably quite a few instances of "I'll get an oil change next rain day" and every rain day for the next month or two the guy assigned to the truck is drunk before 10am and it doesn't happen. That wear especially on the cam looks like it's from broken down oil holding too much soot.
I've always heard on the 5.9s to not let them low idle, but to set it to high idle at ~1,000-1,100rpm otherwise the #6 cylinder will just beat itself into the grave. But either bore over those cylinders or drop new liners in, polish the crank, new cam pistons and waterpump. Maybe new oil pump for insurance, plus injectors and that engine is good to go for a very long time. Swap it into something else even.