2009 Tiffin Phaeton Engine Rebuild

I’ll put more in here later as my friend owns a shop that does this work all the time. But for now another friend 2 years ago cut a hole in his oil pan and ran it till it locked up. 1000+miles from home. Towing, reman engine, etc was $32,000. I’ll see what my friend here is charging these days tomorrow. Hope this helps.

deholdt wrote:
Apparently I ran it for 30 minutes above 230 degrees. I watch the gauge and never saw it. And I stopped as soon as the stop engine light came on. But it’s hard to argue with the computer.

The running for 30 minute's over 230 degrees is not a big deal, Cummins operating temp is 180 to 210, but will go more in a long mountain pull, if this engine is running good & not using oil...sounds to me like you have a shop that wants to sell you something you don't need...

^Ok, so it overheated.
What happened and what’s wrong with it?
Assuming it seized up and got brought in behind a wrecker? No, you said YOU shut it down when the light came on. That’s a good thing.
Did it dump the coolant?
Be an advocate for yourself here and understand your issue at least in basic terms or you’ll be even more at the mercy of every place you take it.

Apparently I ran it for 30 minutes above 230 degrees. I watch the gauge and never saw it. And I stopped as soon as the stop engine light came on. But it’s hard to argue with the computer.

Go somewhere else.

eHoefler wrote:
A long block is not the same as a complete engine, it is the block, crank, rods, pistons, and cam. That is it. You still have to reman the heads, turbo, pump, injectors, valve train, gaskets, etc.. Then you have to flush cooling system and after cooler. Not to mention all the other parts that need replaced, coolant hoses, charged air boots, fuel lines, filters, oil, coolant, etc.. The access is nothing but a pain in the ass and removal of the engine/transmission assembly is the only option to even try to work on it. It has to be dropped from the bottom or slid out the back. That takes a lot of man power and equipment. Sound's steep, but that is what you get in a pusher motor home

You are wrong about a long block. It includes the head. There is no internal/machine work required w/a long block. Any engine.

Regardless, at least the OP recognized someone trying to rip him off.
Now to find an honest shop that will first diagnose it correctly since the OP was very vague about what went wrong with the motor.
Leakin injector burned up a hole? Sleeve and piston
Lifted the head? = top end work only generally.
Rod knock? Yeah now maybe in the short or long block scenario.
Not enough info to even begin to guess, other than the prices he was quoted are about 300% greater than they should be “if” he actually needs and engine.
At that cost, it’s better to just write off the Moho and have it hauled away…

I would find another shop. That's the "we don't want to do it price."
What makes you think the engine needs replaced?
How many miles are on the engine?
Unless it's been mistreated a Cummins should last a million miles.

The average in frame rebuild cost for an 18 wheeler Cummins is about $40,000, your price quote is much more than that, that engine may have to be removed to rebuild.

A long block is not the same as a complete engine, it is the block, crank, rods, pistons, and cam. That is it. You still have to reman the heads, turbo, pump, injectors, valve train, gaskets, etc.. Then you have to flush cooling system and after cooler. Not to mention all the other parts that need replaced, coolant hoses, charged air boots, fuel lines, filters, oil, coolant, etc.. The access is nothing but a pain in the ass and removal of the engine/transmission assembly is the only option to even try to work on it. It has to be dropped from the bottom or slid out the back. That takes a lot of man power and equipment. Sound's steep, but that is what you get in a pusher motor home

I just rebuilt a 6.7l out of my Ram 3500. Just parts and machine work were close to $11,000. That cost doesn't count removal of the engine, tear down, diagnosis, reassembly, and reinstallation. That was all courtesy of myself and was easily 40 - 50 manhours of my labor. Some shops are charging $180/hour nowadays in the Midwest, and seeing you are on the East Coast it is probably much higher. While that is not 100% relevant, it just goes to show that things have gotten very expensive (as we all know). Close to $80k seems like a lot for that job though, but I'd bet at least half is labor, leaving the rest to bigger and perhaps more expensive parts. Good luck!

I am curious, what went wrong with the engine? I am "slightly" partial to Cummins, but even with that aside, they are normally rock solid for 100s of thousands miles under pretty intense duty cycles (*exception the 6.7l above :) )