Changing a Piston

Hey guys, i just changed all my pistons on my 12.7 Detroit. My timing was off and one of my pistons cracked. I was wondering if i could change just one piston or do i have to change all of them? Thank You!

 

Also, where could i get a remanufactered head?, because mine broke. Im in Charlotte, if that helps!

 

conventional wisdom is once you have the head off, drop the pan, etc... and get set up to press in a piston and sleeve you do all 6. I've never heard of someone doing 1.

sorry for your troubles, hope you get it resolved without too much hassle.

 

If they are all fairly new, there is no reason not to do just one.

 

Exactly. All that time and labor, might as well do them all.

 

Absolutley, no need to change all of them if everything else is good. What is broke on your head ? A good machine shop can fix alot of problems, but if it's too bad Detroit should fix you up with a rebuilt head, although a salvage yard can usually save you some money and will guarantee it not to be cracked, but always have a good machine shop check it before installing.

 

I have replaced only one piston several times, did OK. Prefer to do all at one time, but it will work fine. Warranty work will only replace one piston, if that is all that went bad in a new engine. If that is the best you can do right now, do it.Head will not be cheap, if no core to swap. Let machine shop look at head before writing it off.

 

I rebuilt my engine and changed the sleeves, pistons, rings, etc... It worked good, but one cylinder started to work bad. I thought it was the injector. I changed the injector and it didnt help it at all. When it was ideling, it worked for a bit and it made a hole in the cylinder head and water went inside. I took off the head and discovered 4 cap valves broken. The piston is in one piece but it is scratched on the top. I am worried that it cracked so i want to change it. Any suggestions? I have a cylinder head with a good core but i got it from a truck that sat for a while. i don't want to put it on because i don't know what is wrong with it.

 

Also, i was told that the all the pistons have to be the same weight, if they don't weigh the same, the engine will break. Is this true?

 

No. Stock engines are not balanced. If they are too far off, the engine will vibrate, but that is rare.