deuceandahalf

Hauling a loaded 4horse Circle J out of Ellensburg WA last month, while climbing a long grade, down 1 to 5th gear, 65mph @ 2800 rpm, noticed a subtle change in engine sound. Chked the gauges, 20psi / 920 pyro / 225 coolant / OP good, pulling good. When I got off in Yakima, I noticed I had a knock. Pressed on to Yuma, but eased off on the grades, had the oil &amp; filter changed in Winnemucca. Truck is a '99 Dodge R3500; big injectors and exhaust; hi-flow air filter; Edge 65hp module; ATS propane injection (Propane was off). The fellow that works with me in the horse business is a mechanic. He took the stethoscope and told me it was the piston in #6. I took it to two in the know guys in the area, and they said the same thing. We pulled the head and pan last Monday. #6 piston had material missing in the left/front rim, 1&quot; across at the widest point and 1/4&quot; deep (approx.); skirt badly scored all the way to the bottom. <br>rod bearings OK. No apparent damage to valves. Cylinder required minor honing. Replaced Piston/Rings, Wrist Pin, Rod Bearings.<br>Wha' hoppen? Why just #6 and the rest clean?<br>

Don M

Sounds to me you have or had a clogged piston cooling nozzle. Changed the oil filter to what type and brand? Many of the filters in the aftermarket will come apart and the pieces can clog one or more cooling nozzles. <br>Just a thought<br><br>Don~

PourinDiesel

I agree with Don's statement.<br>Use only Fleetguard or Mopar oil filters for your Cummins.<br>Or at least a filter on the approved list.<br>Give us some more details.<br><br>--Justin

deuceandahalf

Chkd piston; no signs of clogging. Filter was a FRAM and it was intact when removed.

deuceandahalf

By the way ~ any opinions on Racor Fuel and Oil Filters...

JR2

Is that egt reading of 925 pre or post turbo??<br><br>I know racor is highly respected in the marine industry. <br><br>I also know that Fram makes crap oil filters. Go to your local Cummins NW and buy a fleetguard stratapore (about $8) and install it right away.

John_P

This past year I saw two Cummins 5.9 24 valve engines<br>which also had the #6 piston/cylinder fail. In the first<br>engine, the owner was running a &quot;Purolator&quot; Oil Filter<br>and in the second engine, the owner was using a &quot;Fram&quot;<br>Oil Filter.<br><br>Cummins recommends ONLY Fleetguard oil and fuel filters.<br>Fleetguard also makes the oil and fuel filters for Cummins<br>and Mopar.<br><br>-------<br>John_P

BigBlue

I use Wick filters.

KatDiesel

#6 also gets the least amount of air.

doug

As for filter debris, the only thing I could add here, besides the excelent comments regarding approved fuel filters, relates to workmanship during the oil change procedure itself. It may be a long shot, but in this context its important to note a couple of ways that you can mess up your engine, and for which DC has specifically denied warranty coverage:<br><br>* when you open a new filter, make sure that the opening faces downward while you peel off the plastic. Otherwise, its possible that a piece might fall down into the filter -- where it gets sent directly to the engine.<br><br>* when you open a new oil bottle, peel off the seal and make sure that all the material is removed from the pour spout. otherwise, material can end up in the filter, as above, when you pour oil into it prior to install.<br><br>

deuceandahalf

JR2 ~<br>The Pyro probe is &quot;Post&quot; turbo...

deuceandahalf

Thank you all for your input ~ it has been helpful.<br><br>Got her back together this afternoon and she runs like a clock - a noisy clock - but a clock nonetheless. As soon as I get 500 miles on 'er, I'll hook up the 53 footer and haul a friends IH tractor to Winnemucca, then back to Fallon to pick up my friends Jimmy dually 6.5, then to Vegas to pick 2 tons of feed for the horses, and then home. But until I figure out what happened, I am going to lay off when I'm pulling grades; which hurts, 'cause before this happened the only thing that could keep up with me - or outrun me - was another Dodge. In fact, my days running 75 at over 30,000#'s GW are over till I get a definite handle on what happened.<br><br>Thanks again everybody ~<br>

KatDiesel

[quote author=deuceandahalf link=board=4;threadid=6982;start=0#66565 date=1037250396]
JR2 ~
The Pyro probe is &quot;Post&quot; turbo...
[/quote]

Change it to pre turbo and you might find it was 1400+ degrees. Thats my bet. I'm guessing you add 300 degrees to &quot;guess&quot; at your actual temp? It can be as much as 600 degrees difference.