Cummins ISX Overhaul

Ummm, I don't know if I would drop a reman motor in over a ticking sound. The ticking sound could be a rocker on the overhead cam, something that worked loose on the top end of the motor.

But if it is on the bottom; your looking at bearings, or the the crank might be out of spec. I think a good start to this problem is to pull the oil pan, start pulling the main bearings down; inspect those. You defenitly don't want to "throw a rod" and ruining your block.

But at 1.4 million, we don't know the motors history, if it's been rebuilt etc...

It almost sounds like the source of the problem was/ is a bad oil pump or a faulty oil pressure sensor / or a grounding out harness

 

If you drove with no oil you can look for another engine

 

I had this same problem with my '01 Volvo with an N14, after replacing rods & mains it was just a loose wire going to the gauge in the dash.

 

I am hopeful a 'simple' fix is in store.But given the complexity of the engine we are dealing with, and what they find when they pull the bottom and top off, I guess we'll cross fingers and see.

 

The owner of this truck before me was USA. I've had this truck for 8 yrs and 2 mos. I have personally witnessed every repair in my years with her. She got her oil changed on a very regular basis to help prevent things like this from happening. The 1 and only time my low oil light came on was that morning, but it was dark and I had not noticed that the oil pressure was fluctuating, as I didn't have my ScanGauge set for monitoring oil pressure like I do now. I'm guessing that in that time that it was fluctuating my oil pump must have been sucking up air,or sent the pressure regulator out of whack. The weird part that I don't understand is why she would have perfect oil pressure in the morning, but after I shut her off, after driving for sometimes 150 miles, for loading/unloading,and then drive for 30-40 miles she would start fluctuating again. As I said, she would go up as high as 92 psi, then all the way down to 0 psi, dance around under 15 psi then go down to 0, back up to 36 psi,stabilize and stay there. That had me really baffled.
Well, I guess I'll find out the prognosis in a few days.

 

I have looked into this option, but you can't get a quote on a reman until I call cummins. And I'm not sure I'm ready to pull that trigger.

 

So the 'ticking noise' ended up being a broken wrist pin on the #3 cylinder.
Their not sure if it was a no/low oil cause or just timing. I had put a bit of a stress on the engine just prior to the noise when I was trying to back a heavily-loaded 20' container box on a split-axle chassis up a hill at an angle to reach an outside dock. After getting unloaded,and going up the road a couple of miles,did I notice the noise. I made it another 27 miles before the ticking turned into knocking. Don't know if this was the smartest option,but I did get closer to hometown-therefore saving me 30 miles of having to be towed.
It was still $920.00 for a 218 mile turn around.
Anyways, finding out now that the place I had it towed to will not rebuild an engine where pieces/parts 'may' be floating through the oil system. And unless I got a Reman from Cummins, at a starting price of about $25,000, they were done!
So.... Thank God for Vander Haags, as they have an ISX at one of their facilities with around 644,000 miles on it. My quoted price for engine $11,000, about $6,500 to pull old engine, thoroughly inspect the 'new' engine, swap my engine parts that don't have oil flow, and put it in. And this also including changing out front/rear seals, motor mounts,flywheel turned, fluids changed,clutch install kit etc.
I'm getting her moved on Tues. to Vander Haags in KC. Maybe by next weekend I can get her back.
Happy New Year to me !!!

 

You probably needed a tax write off for the year anyway, LOL!

 

It certainly doesn't suck. Get the tax credit this year and pay for it next year. You always have to look for the Silver Lining someplace.

 

Well, unfortunately I did not get her back before the end of the year. Infact, I should be getting her back today. After waiting for the engine to get down here from South Dakota and having to swap some of the parts from my engine to this 'new' one I am anticipating going up there pretty soon to test drive her and see how she runs. Wish me luck...