M2 MBE 900 carbon packing -- Is a new engine the only solution?

That's what I figured. However, the service report states that only 3 of the cylinders have low compression, so I'd think the others would at least try to fire, especially when the glow plugs were hot.

What's a ball-park cost to pull the pistons and inspect the rings and the cylinder walls?

THANK YOU to all who've weighed in on this topic -- the information that people have provided has been enormously helpful.

 

Well guess what?!?!?!



That clunking sound is the universal joint going around slowly -- the drive shaft is still disconnected after the vehicle was towed back to our parking lot from the dealer after a new engine install was rejected as too costly...

 

That's one of the big mysteries that nobody can understand, and also one of the reasons why I started the thread to ask for input.

However, as shown in the video linked above in #23 the vehicle now starts and runs. To get it running, we took the following steps:

• Put the truck on a battery charger that was not computer controlled, so that the batteries would get a charge even if they were completely dead (which might have been the case).
• Used a jump starter to make sure there were enough CCAs and voltage available to spin the starter with high enough RPMs.
• Used a small amount of starting fluid.
• Cranked the engine around 50 times over a span of 4 days. During those starting attempts, the engine kept sounding closer and closer to sounding like it was going to start.

My personal theory is that there were two problems:

• The batteries were low and were not spinning the starter with enough RPMs (I've learned that starter RPMs are very important when trying to start a diesel).
• Something (condensation?) caused contamination in the fuel between the fuel filter and water separator and the pistons. Or, possibly the injectors got gummed up from sitting, and the repeated attempts to start the engine cleared out whatever was clogging them.

In any case, I have gone back to the truck several times over the past few days since it first started running again, and on each occasion, the truck has started immediately just as it always has.

 

Don't know about how hungry the shop is for work -- it's a large Freightliner dealer in Maryland that also does a lot of diesel engine work generally, so they ought to know what they're talking about.

BTW Freightliner corporate never did respond to my request that someone contact me about the situation, so I'm unimpressed with their customer service.

 

Update... Freighliner contacted me today, but they said that after reviewing the situation that they were not in a position to offer assistance because of the age of the vehicle involved.