engine failure @ 148000 miles.

[Mharrison]

Look who's back...glad to hear you got fixed up shawn...what are some details as to the corrections made?

 

[moparecodiesel]

All 4 cams re-machined and aligned. Permanently fixed and built the way it should have been from the start. I now know since we diddnt replace 1 thing, not even any gaskets that the engine getting louder at 60k was not normal. My mileage drop I couldn't explain was from the cams coming out of alignment. I thought the engine starting to sound like a diesel was from me removing all the foam on everything. And normal break in. Nope. Not a single foam anything anymore and my truck is as quiet as the first week I owned it. I slowly lost mileage from you to the end which started at 2mpg and ended at 4mpg loss. You can see in my video the hpfp gear where it slides into the cam has heat bluing and scrapes on the chain gear where there has been tremendous force being applied. It was bound to give up a little more eventually. This wasn't a sudden failure. It took its time. My hpfp and injectors were independently verified by Bosch. They knew how many hours I had on everything without me telling them. Thought that was cool. They told me never go over 3200 rpm ever and I'll see massive reliability. D&j diesel are a very awesome group of mechanics. I am very proud to mention them.

 

[moparecodiesel]

Sorry, one last thing. When an engine can no longer propel a vehicle forward or backward because of an internal failed part, internal parts smashing against each other, or adjustment. It failed.
Psssssssss

 

[Mharrison]

Never over 3200 rpm that's a tough one....and yep I'd say that's a failure! Well glad to have you back active on here you have definitely gone further into this engine than any of us hope to ever have to.

 

[GNR]

All 4 cams re-machined and aligned. Permanently fixed and built the way it should have been from the start. I now know since we diddnt replace 1 thing, not even any gaskets that the engine getting louder at 60k was not normal. My mileage drop I couldn't explain was from the cams coming out of alignment. I thought the engine starting to sound like a diesel was from me removing all the foam on everything. And normal break in. Nope. Not a single foam anything anymore and my truck is as quiet as the first week I owned it. I slowly lost mileage from you to the end which started at 2mpg and ended at 4mpg loss. You can see in my video the hpfp gear where it slides into the cam has heat bluing and scrapes on the chain gear where there has been tremendous force being applied. It was bound to give up a little more eventually. This wasn't a sudden failure. It took its time. My hpfp and injectors were independently verified by Bosch. They knew how many hours I had on everything without me telling them. Thought that was cool. They told me never go over 3200 rpm ever and I'll see massive reliability. D&j diesel are a very awesome group of mechanics. I am very proud to mention them.

Glad to hear your back on the road. Sounds like the engine is pretty stout other than this issue. I assume the "massive reliability" statement above is in relation to the injection system rather than the engine itself.

So do you know how they fixed it so that it won't happen again?

And was the problem just the gear slipping on the cam? I wonder why other engines with this style press-fit gear (sounds like it is a common design) don't have issues?

 

[moparecodiesel]

they do gnr, it was the biggest topic of failure when we first bought our trucks on the forums. it was the single decision for my second engine purchase. also all these other designs are not used in trucks. they are all used in cars and small suv's designed not to tow. not a fair comparison.

 

[GNR]

they do gnr, it was the biggest topic of failure when we first bought our trucks on the forums. it was the single decision for my second engine purchase. also all these other designs are not used in trucks. they are all used in cars and small suv's designed not to tow. not a fair comparison.

Thanks. So not a great design then for an engine that may have to put out close to max torque on a frequent basis.

That said, you say it was the most common failure on the trucks in the beginning. Do you think they updated the design on later model trucks or are failures also occurring on 2015's?

So did the diesel shop put in a keyway or something to hold the gear in place?

 

[moparecodiesel]

The problem is still happening of course since the design hasnt changed. I still se commenters who its happened to or their buddies truck.

 

[cevans]

All 4 cams re-machined and aligned. Permanently fixed and built the way it should have been from the start. I now know since we diddnt replace 1 thing, not even any gaskets that the engine getting louder at 60k was not normal. My mileage drop I couldn't explain was from the cams coming out of alignment. I thought the engine starting to sound like a diesel was from me removing all the foam on everything. And normal break in. Nope. Not a single foam anything anymore and my truck is as quiet as the first week I owned it. I slowly lost mileage from you to the end which started at 2mpg and ended at 4mpg loss. You can see in my video the hpfp gear where it slides into the cam has heat bluing and scrapes on the chain gear where there has been tremendous force being applied. It was bound to give up a little more eventually. This wasn't a sudden failure. It took its time. My hpfp and injectors were independently verified by Bosch. They knew how many hours I had on everything without me telling them. Thought that was cool. They told me never go over 3200 rpm ever and I'll see massive reliability. D&j diesel are a very awesome group of mechanics. I am very proud to mention them.

I cannot see how this is possible. If there was slippage at the gear there would be damage to the mating surface. Machining that surface would take away material, leaving a surface that is smaller than the diameter for the sprocket. Unless a new sprocket was created, I don't understand how the cams could have been machined.

How was the design fixed? Did they add a keyway to the cam? Did you put in a new engine or fix the original one?

Please do not take any of my questioning as hostile. I want to know *accurately* what happened, if something needs to be done, and what can be done. I'm trying to push better information into this thread. I just can't square the circle of information that is being put forward here.

 

[bigredmf]

Cevans

Cams have been ground/machined for years.

Red

 

[moparecodiesel]

You can see in my video about it under the hpfp gear on the camshaft itself where it was heat bluing. Also you can see thr metal shear in the gear itself. I can't make it up. It's there.

 

[cevans]

Cevans

Cams have been ground/machined for years.

Red

Yes, this is true, but not like this. Reground cams modify the base circle for performance games or repair a damaged cam lobe, the part that hits the rocker arm lifter assembly. Repairing a tapered end is a whole different story.

:::EDIT:::

Based on the videos the camshafts do not appear to have a taper. However, repairing them via grinding would still require some very precise equipment.

 

[cevans]

You can see in my video about it under the hpfp gear on the camshaft itself where it was heat bluing. Also you can see thr metal shear in the gear itself. I can't make it up. It's there.

This is an answer to a question that wasn't asked. I don't disagree that the sprocket slipped.

How did they repair the camshafts? Did you put in a new engine or not?

:::EDIT:::

Engine was not replaced. Shawn answered the engine question on his you YouTube video:

Lots of questions remain. What other items needed to be replaced to get the motor back together. You mention "bulletproofing" the motor but offer no specifics.

 

[moparecodiesel]

i do not work for, or have any affiliation with the shop who repaired and created the bulletproof. youll have to contact them, but its their intellectual design they came up with and im going to respectfully not ruin their technique and privilege by blasting the internet how they did it. want it done, take your truck in and get it done. but i will promise, if it ever comes up i need a new truck, i will not purchase another ecodiesel new or used unless d&j diesel is open and can do what they did to this engine of mine.

 

[cevans]

I'm sorry but I find that disappointing a disservice to this community. You do not "owe" us anything, but if you are going to spend hours using this forum as your soap box, posting and promoting your videos about how your engine failed, how you need to replace it, how all these things are doomed etc. it might be expected that you would offer this community some sort of knowledge about how to avoid all this. Forums like these are about helping people. When it came time to offer some help, you say, "no you're on your own."

I'll say this: if this is a real problem, which I'm not sure it is, and I find a fix then I *WILL* post it to communities such as these so that others can benefit and potentially save themselves lots of time, money and inconvenience. I've been in many, many forums through the years - community forums thrive on useful information shared among everyone. They fail when some few crown themselves the "elites" and claim to hold onto some "secret sauce that fixes everything" but continue to withhold it from everyone else.

 

[dartboy]

Hi and this has been an interesting read. As I see others asking...what exactly is the fix?


2015 longhorn and loving it!

 

[moparecodiesel]

When it's my information I came up with and my designs I've shared more secrets than any other person ever about this ecodiesel. From the beginning. With no intent for profit. This part I am also helping by sharing how everyone else can benefit greatly. By using my engine as the tester it was a $30,000 gamble at my expense. I am pretty sure nobody else has done what I have.

 

[jdn112011]

But what you were gambling was whether or not you had to have your $5,000 eBay drivetrain painted cat yellow installed into your truck vs saving the one that is in it. Regardless of any shop or dealer quote to drop in a new 30k engine that's far from taking a 30k gamble... I mean anyone in your shoes could push for a shop to find the actual issue before installing a backup engine you've got sitting in the shop.

You just happened to be the one to experience this out of warranty. As poor of a situation that is, anyone could've been there and made the choice to seek out a shop just as I recommended seeking out schools etc that were actually willing to open up the engine to diagnose it before writing it off to replacement.

 

[moparecodiesel]

My cat engine was not 5k. It was twice that thank you. And I did seek out 10 shops total. 7 have the same response. 2 quotes $34000 complete engine assembly plus $120 hr. 18hrs r&r. 5 quoted $24000 crate engine complete install for a long block assembly out the door. 1 shop replaced the flywheel after some investigating common sounds for the flywheel noise in the ducatu. Cis diesel has this theory the first day but diddnt quote prices because he never could get me in. The 10th shop d&J diesel was the only different one.
The reason why it is a 30k gamble is this backup engine will do the same thing at an unkown mileage and from all the posts from all the forums it is ultra rare that the engine is salvagable. It normally knocks the keepers loose on the valve stem and drops the valve into the piston or destroys the piston. My rant, complaint, scare, and story are valid. Verifiable. And scary.

 

[John]

New guy here. First post.

moparecodiesel, was your engine replaced or was it repaired? Thanks in advance.