Robert92867

On 9/13/2023 at 6:14 AM, Ivan K said:

You can buy the seals separately if needed, even Amazon should have them, possibly the newer overlapping type.

My $100 Genuine Holset Rebuild Kit (made in China) arrived.  Install went well up until tapping the shaft back in with a rubber hammer.  d*** if I didn't bend the Piston Seal Ring.  I searched Amazon, and sure enough, individual seal rings are available and fairly inexpensive. I ordered 2 sets, just in case.  

$2599 +tax, +freight, +insurance... total 2800.  Does not include rocker arms or injectors. Does upgrade freeze plugs under the rocker cover to threaded and bumps up stock springs from 78 to 100#.

Thanks for all your input.  I decided to cut my losses and ordered a complete assembled head from Fleece.  Fleece checks all the right boxes:

Specialized in Dodge-Cummins, Duramax, & Powerstroke.

Modern CNC tooling.

Clean factory.

Also build Diesel racing engines.

Good looking shipping crate!

128,000 miles.  Cummins engines have a reputation for high mileage, but this is a relatively low power ISB 5.9 (260hp) pushing 26k lbs (with toad) so maybe working harder than a IS/C/L/X/M with a higher GVW. The reason I pulled the head was coolant leaking off the side of #1 cylinder.  The head was not warped (.002 max feeler gauge under a 3' straight edge) and none of the valves or pushrods are bent.

Cummins does not make valve guides for this motor. the guides are integral with the head casting and the Cummins shop manual simply says to replace the head if guides are out of spec.  Cummins no longer sells heads for this 22 y.o. engine either. Because of the millions of Dodge-Cummins trucks on the road, a thriving aftermarket does exist.  Cummins has authorized CDEC in China to manufacture parts for the ISB under their banner, and "Genuine Cummins" often means made in Guangdon China.

Finding a knowlegable shop to do the work does worry me.

I thought I was going to get away with surfacing the head, but after getting into lapping the valve, and finding excessive slop in the valve guides, it would appear that I need new valve guides drilled in and pressed, new valve seats, valve seats cut. I haven't tested the springs, but seeing how many valve guide bores are out of tolerance I wouldn't be surprised.  #4 Exhaust valve "B" looks heavily pitted, the rest may suffice to be reground, although replacing might be cheaper.  To the best of my knowledge, Cummins USA doesn't make drill-in interference fit valve guides for the 5.9 24 valve, the Cummins service manual says "replace the head".  But there are aftermarket valve guides made by reputable companies,  such as SBI and Goodson (and some not-so-reputable).  Goodson also makes the tooling (pilot drill and reamer and press tool) for their valve guides. I will get Caliber Diesel, in Ontario to look at it Monday.  Remanufactured head, with new head castings are also and option, but often put together with the cheapest of parts.

10 hours ago, cbr046 said:

How about a tie-wrap with the ratchet tab broken (sort of a mini strap wrench)?  Maybe hold the tie-wrap strap wrench in place with hemostats.  Once it's started where it won't decompress release the hemostat, pull the "strap wrench" out and push it (or tap it) the rest of the way in. 

Bottom line an automotive machine shop will make it look easy, but . . . . once it's in how does it come out?

- bob

 

I tried the micro tie wrap twice.  Even though the tie wrap portion is only 2mm wide, the head is 3mm.  There isn't enough clearance to push the 3mm head far enough away down the circlip to engage the circlip into the taper.  My hope is that the new circlip in the rebuild kit fits tighter.

I clocked it all with a punch

Finally got my cylinder head back, 3 thousands cut to clean it up.  My machinest had some difficulty setting up his mill to cut the exhaust surface.  $325 special Southern California price...  What's really funny is the name of the shop SAME DAY CYLINDER HEAD SERVICE.  Well, I guess it was same day... I put it in on a TUESDAY, 3 weeks later, got it out on a TUESDAY.

Luckily the Genuine Holset Rebuild Kit contains all the pieces I have been monkeying around with.  I get more chances to fix it at $100 / pop.

I can't seem to figure out how to compress the tiny circlip and push the part back in. 

Burning Man Festival? (not)

Not all radiators can withstand a Sunjoe 1700 psi pressure washer.  This particular radiator is a 2015 CGI aluminum 3-core model for a rear radiator Monaco.  The 4-core models are more $ and harder to clean.

From what I can see in your pics... you run a clean machine, which undoubtably assisted your mobile mechanic in pinpointing the problem. Nice work!

Not sure what the Concord system is, on my coach they power the switch that signals what the antenna is up.

From your pics, I believe it is a 36Z floorplan.

Spotted a rare $.99 Craftsmen (90's era) screwdriver in your work area.  I too would stock up whenever they went on sale.

The inside pass. side of my RV has a 8"x8" inspection cover just below the ceiling over that very same area.  I used it to chase added cables into the ceiling.

Remove the captains chair, only 4 bolts and easy under dash access

8 hours ago, Ivan K said:

Try energy suspension instead

Bingo!

1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

Got the PM on the dust boot, the part number is listed in the Parts Listing, Energy Solutions, ~$16 delivered.

Jim, I tried search engine on Energy Solutions... keeps coming up with Nuclear consulting firm.  Can you provide more detail, please?

Thanks Ivan.  Take a look at the attached video.  It's close to being like figure 8.2, but not quite there...

This stuff keeps me awake at night.  

Breaking down in a remote location. I like to travel to remote locations.

Repair bills exceeding (by several magnitude) the value of my RV.

Breaking down, but something I can fix, but it's 110 degrees or -20.

So I spend a month under the RV  every year now, looking for the next part that is going to fail.

The only time my RV left me stranded was when I was struck by Lightning in Texas.  The EMP even killed the electronics in the toad.  AAA handled it satisfactorily.

TSD here also.  Since you are in SoCal, you should be aware that Nevada and (I think) Washington require you to take your TSD card inside and wait in line to present it for approval.  This was a surprise to me, and frankly annoying to deal with in Las Vegas when it's 110 degrees.

Nice work on a difficult task.  I notice your AC compressor belt is mia.  Will that be your next project?

My rear brake rotors have become critical.  What I have found so far is possible match to Centric 120.83015 (a Workhorse W22 video) and another forum listing 54770P-65 ABS rotor that matches to a '03 34pdd Cayman that likely has a higher GVW rating, less likely to match.  Ultimately, I will have to pull the parts and match them but there is always hope someone has done this before.