3 years ago to the month I had an N frame rebuilt done on my detroit 60series. That cost me $12,000. Now I'm broke down in Iowa with a blown head gasket. The shop where it's at says"one of the counter bores is higher than the other ones". The head has to be replaced now too because of it being hit. I've contacted the freightliner dealer that did the rebuild.I was told that if the counter bore was off then the headgasket would have blown sooner. I'm not a mechanic. I'm not sure who to believe,or what to do in a legal way. My truck is in a detroit diesel professional shop,I will receive a report of there findings. It's gonna cost me around $7000. To get my motor fixed. That doesn't leave me much for a lawyer. So my ? is, is it possible for a motor to run 3 years with a higher counter bore before the head gasket blows? And what can I do about getting some of my money back on poor workmanship?
No usually if one of the liners is high or low the head gasket will not go 10000 miles before it blows and how high are all of the liners and 3 years is what 400 thousand miles that's going to be out of any overhaul warranty
3 year on a rebuild of the lower end your not going to win that one. So you've put around 400K on the bottom end. If were bad enough to be the only reason for the head-gasket to go, yeah you would have had a problem early more than likely. 400k is also a contributing factor. Your block cannot be diagnosed now as to what it need nearly a half a million miles ago. If I was a betting man Id go with detriot version of what it need over freight-liner. You know where freight-liner sends it when they can not figure it out. Hmmm... Well that's where it is now. Good Luck
The head was hit by what? I have seen liners to low and rock a little and wear the head over time. Depending on how many miles you have run has more to do with it than years. It is possible that they were in specs then, but not now. It seems unbelievable for a liner to move any with as much clamping force that the head applies when its bolted down. Truth is they do that is what wears the counter bores in an engine, very few are sent from the factory at the wrong height. That is why the counter bore must be checked every time the head comes off. If new liners are installed you set the new ones in the already clean hole with no sealing o-rings yet and put force on it with bolts and washers at 4 points and check height if its good number it and make sure it goes in that hole. If not add shims or try another liner. They need bored when one side of the liner is .004 higher than the other, and all need to be within .003 of each other. I have seen some with shims under the liners from the factory, so even a new block isn't perfect. If an over haul isn't right you will know in 50,000 miles. Contrary to belief an over haul isn't as good as a new engine there are still a lot of parts reused that do wear so some don't last another million miles. While some do, it may be little things like using new head bolts that are not heat stressed and stretched. Even thou the manufacturer doesn't recommend it I put new head bolts in any high millage engine. If they are in spec but I can see they are on the edge I tell the customer its there decision. Finally just because its at a Detroit Diesel certified shop means nothing. The new guy or jack leg could be working on it. The dealers whether truck or engine manufacture have trouble finding good help too. All the training in the world don't sink in to some, others excel with very little. Add to that hands on experience only comes with time. Every body has to start some where, just not on your truck I understand and agree with you. While most shops do usually have a couple top hands that you hope draw your truck it isn't a guarantee. Yes they are suppose to watch the others but they have work to do as well so they can't see every thing.
To answer your question - no. Forget the idea of getting money back, I would question the reason for the replacement head. Did they show you the original head? Did they scrap it or keep it for a core (I would get it back just to see if it needed replacing).
if all he did was the lower end, to which his price was cheap. and then added a few hundred thousand more miles on that same head. it's probably time for a new or reman head. but i wouldn't brand a new head on worn out rings. i'd do the whole overhaul. doing half a motor at a time isn't worth it.
