Thinking of doing a rebuild on a DD15? DONT!

Hello I have a friend that needs help with his Detroit. <phone # removed> I'm John

 

Tell him to get rid of it and buy a C15 cat.. no emissions..

 

I have a Dd15 engine that needs to be rebuilt. Can anyone refer me to a place that has a reputation for doing a good job?

 

I have to question too, if these so called engine builders even get the main and rod caps back where they belong.

 

Most techs doing in frame overhauls on engines literally take parts straight from the box and fit them. Nothing gets checked or measured. If the tech doing the overhaul doesn’t measure anything prior to assembly then he is not an engine builder, but simply a parts fitter. If they measure nothing they are really rolling the dice and they will not see tell tale signs that can lead to premature failure.
When an engine has Rods out and is smashed to pieces it’s hard to work out exactly what failed. But if for example the big end oil clearance is measured correctly with the right Tooling it might show the rod is out of round and provides no bearing crush on the big end. No crush will guanrantee a spun bearing which can result in rods out.... but if it’s not measured it can’t be identified as an issue. Most OEMs that in frame measure nothing. They slap the parts in as fast as possible and hope for the best

 

I understand what your saying, my big question is do these parts replacers even check to insure the main caps go back where they came from?? Putting #4 cap on #5 main is not a good thing. I wonder how many have had a rod bearing just fall out, and not realize there is a problem.

 

Well they should, yes. A couple of reasons. In frame they should only be removing one main cal at a time to ensure main seal integrity. One of, bearing rolled and cap back on.

To mix them up they must have haas 2 or more off at once.

It’s important they go in their correct spot as that’s how the tunnel is machined. Mixing the caps up makes the tunnel not true and can potentially have catastrophic consequences.

Generally speaking 99.9% of the time they get away with measuring nothing and slapping them together. OEM parts and mass production means they’re pretty robust.

The one in a thousand chance that it bites them and there’s a premature failure OEM warranty covers the cost.

As an independent repairer I measure everything. If I miss something that causes a failure I don’t have OEM warranty to cover costs, it’s on me.

I measure everything, that was I can wholeheartedly say I am confident that engine will meet its service life without failure

 

That's what scares me the most. I'm working on building a 40 year old 3406 and I'm kind of nervous about taking it to a shop to get the bottom end done. It needs the counterbores cut and likely the block decked. I'm quite tempted to just get the block cleaned, have the machining done and re-assemble it myself. I just can't justify a few thousand dollars for the tooling to just do the one engine.

 

Get the machine shop to acid bath, install counter bore inserts and deck the block.

Borrow the liner hold down bolts or buy enough to bolt down one liner. Borrow any sled gauge to measure protrusion. It doesn’t have to be the cat one.

Borrow a dial bore gauge and outside micrometer from and machine shop or engine assembly shop, even hire them.

Liner installation can be done with a h bar and one bolt. The early 3400s often push in by hand.

That’s all you need. Measure the block yourself after the machining, measure the rods and all oil clearances and assemble it.

If you measure everything you can’t go wrong

 

If you believe everything they proclaim on the radio, call Pittsburgh Power.