Cummins N14 stutters and rattles. I need a good shop near Chicago

Sorry for the essay but it gets complicated and I am absolutely lost. I haven't worked for 6 weeks and I have a broken truck. I need advice, and a good engine shop to redo the whole thing.

I have a 2002 Volvo with a Cummins N14. In January 2018 I had my old worn out engine swapped for a reman unit from a small engine building company. Almost everything under the hood is new. The overhaul includes new cylinder kits, new cam and crank bearings, new heads, and rebuilt jakes. I swapped over many parts from the old engine which had new parts from the previous year. The fuel pump, ecm, engine harness, injectors, turbo, starter, alternator were all new also. I had a new radiator, charge air cooler and a fass fuel pump installed. On the front of the engine I had them put a new crank dampener and Pittsburgh power balancer. It was built to the same spec as the old engine, CPL# 2592.

After the overhaul was completed it ran great. The first two weeks it ran very smooth, pulled strong, I couldn't have asked for a better engine.

About 5-6,000 miles in, I started hearing a faint rattling sound at light throttle only but the throttle response was still normal and sharp.

I went to the engine shop that did the overhaul but they said nothing was wrong and sent me away.

After about 20,000 miles it started running rough like it was having injector problems, or air in the fuel system. I took the truck to my local shop and had them check the fuel system for air leaks. I had them disconnect the fass pump and run straight from the main filter only temporarily, I had a new cam sensor and throttle sensor put in, new injector pass through connectors. Nothing worked. The truck continued to run worse and worse. It feels like injectors are sticking. You put your foot lightly on the throttle and it stutters and hesitates for a second then starts pulling, but when it starts pulling its not smooth.

Again, I took it back to the engine shop that did the overhaul. They said it runs perfect. It does not.

I took it to another local shop and they said injector 6 was bad. When they were changing injector 6 they found a bent push tube, they replaced the push tube and injector 6 and said it was done. It sounded and ran the same as before. No change. I question the integrity of this shop, because they didn't want to warranty labor for the injector and they sold me two push tubes, when only one was bent. Also they said my truck was already diagnosed and test driven one day when I called in, when the gps tracker I have installed in the truck indicated differently. I left there with a $1300 bill with no fix.

I then had injectors 1-5 replaced out of pocket at another shop, and sent the cores in to cummins for warranty. Cummins did cover them under warranty, only the cost of parts not labor, but the truck still ran the same after injectors 1-5 only now it ran worse. In 5th gear only (13 speed) it has a vibration at low rpms. I cannot explain that but it did not exist before these injectors were installed.

I kept driving the truck because the overhaul shop that did the work initially was claiming there was no issue. After about 50,000 miles of having the engine running rough and stuttering it began chattering and rattling more. I again went back to the engine shop and they said it sounds perfect.

After 60,000 miles of chattering and rattling, everything got really bad on my last trip. Now it runs far worse than it ever did before. It runs just like it did last year on my old engine when they found 4 bad injectors, only now at full throttle/full boost there is a terrible rattling sound. It sounds like a glass jar full of pennies that you are shaking. At light throttle it sounds like a set of keys on a washing machine, lightly rattling around. The chatter is more apparent at light throttle now. When I let off the throttle and coast, I hear ticking.

I had a valve adjustment done and no change after the adjustment. I went back to the engine shop that did the overhaul again and THEY TOLD ME IT SOUNDS PERFECT. I cannot believe this. This is the worst running engine I have ever felt. It sounds like a 2 stroke weed wacker at cold start, you can hear pulsing from the muffler.

I am stuck. The shop is screwing me. I took it to other engine shops and they hear the noise but don't want to mess with it.

What do I do? What is a good engine shop within a reasonable distance from the Chicago suburbs that will find my real issue, not just throw parts at it, and get this darn thing fixed? I have spent thousands trying to fix it with random parts, and I have been off work for 6 weeks now trying to get this resolved because I'm not driving a truck that's about to grenade.

I'm waiting to hear back about oil analysis, and then I will be removing the oil pan to check cam/lifters but I need a good shop first

 

The original engine shop said they will cover warranty for an outside shop, parts and labor, only up to $50/hour. Their only requirement is documentation, verbal permission for every step taken, and that the shop has cummins insight program.

I forgot to mention. It consumes only 1/2 gallon of oil per 10,000 miles. When I idle for 10 minutes at full operating temperature, the fuel tanks pressurize and a lot of fuel drips out of the vent tube. When I remove a fuel cap I can hear it hiss like its releasing pressure.

 

When my N 14 was running rough, I too thought I had an injector going out.

I took it to a well known engine guy here in Phoenix and he set the overhead and told me that it was way off.

So the guy who set it before that, didn’t know what he was doing.

Now the truck runs smooth as glass.

So I would find a good Cummins guy near you, and have him check the overhead.

 

I had the overhead done multiple times at different shops. It's not the overhead.
Here is a video of a 45 degree cold start. It never had this pulsing or knocking sound before, even while it was running rough. This is new for the last 4,000 miles.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qn2oUHsj3HWGgKmq8

Click link above for video

 

Cummins in indianapolis has always done me well.

 

Just asking here, you think maybe contacting a lawyer for a fraction of the cost of trying to fix something that should have been fixed when motor was done would have been a better idea? I know that if I dumped thousands of dollars into a rebuilt and it was under warranty and not running right I would have had Someone’s ### in the ringer. I would have been using my phone to video the truck acting up as well

 

Where or who did the reman?

 

I won't say who built the motor until I have a competent mechanic pull the oil pan and check around for damaged parts, because it could still be warrantied through an outside shop. I could still be dealing with a non warranty issue after all, I am not going to have people contacting the engine builders when it may not even be their fault however they have told me it sounds great when it sounds like a rattle trap and stutters so what does that tell you.

I did find a good shop today but I wont be going in there until later in the week.

 

Are you mechanically inclined? Sounds like an exhaust leak or an air leak somewhere my friend. Almost sounds like your muffler is completely plugged up. Take that muffler off and inspect it and toss it. Get a nice flow through off-road muffler. I’ll bet the one come baffle separates inside and is block the main exit. Seen it a few times on old mufflers.

 

It's a straight through muffler, and it actually has a decent exhaust tone when its warmed up. Still doesn't explain the chatter, tapping, rattle from behind the firewall while driving, and the fact that it has crap throttle response and runs like a turd