Cummins engine problem!

Cracked exhaust manifolds comes from the heating and cooling cycles they go thru.
That in turn also caused the cast iron to shrink and with the manifold bolted tight, something has to give. On mine, two outer bolts broke from manifold shrinkage.
I got them out and put on a after market manifold that a slip joint so it would slip to allow for shrinking and expanding, also it was better material than stock.

Cracked exhaust manifolds are common on those engines but turbos and heads aren't. I am very suspicious of their findings.
FWIW, even high EGT's will not damage a turbo, head or manifold. It takes out the pistons first and besides, a stock engine will not build that high of EGT's anyway.

I had my C8.3L manifold removed and trued and reinstalled with a new gasket by a reliable independent shop.

I soaked the bolts for several days with PB Blaster before taking it in.

Cost was $1,400 because two bolts broke.

They are masters at running up the price of a repair.

Why did they then pressure test the head?

Do you have an EGT gauge on your instrument panel? All of the repairs you had done point to over heated EGT causing warping of the manifold, and Turbo failure.

BuckBarker wrote:
I learned LONG ago to never, ever try to remove engine bolts before at least a couple days of soaking fasteners with PB Blaster and never use a cheater bar. A soft blow of a hammer on the end of the wrench will shock the bolt enough to get it to move.

^^This.

I had an exhaust manifold leak on my ISL400 about four years ago. I soaked the fasteners overnight with Kroil. The next day prior to putting the wrench on the first bolt, I smacked the head of each fastener with a brass hammer to try to "shock" the bolt threads and release whatever corrosion was present.

I put a wrench on the bolt and applied constant pressure while I hit the wrench firmly with a mallet. Each bolt broke loose and almost, I repeat almost, threaded the bolts out by hand. By this time the penetrant had creeped in enough that all the thread were wet/coated with Kroil.

I trued up the exhaust manifold, as it was warped by about .015", prepped the surface of the head and reinstalled using new gaskets and ALL new fasteners from Cummins. My local dealer had the bolts/studs in stock. I applied anti-seize on the fasteners and torqued them to factory specs.

Glad I didn't run into the issues that the OP had. Sorry to hear of this.

Mike.

You did not mention pre-soaking the rusted bolts. This is a common issue on older machinery. Did you use a penetrating oil for days ahead of your appointment??? Pre-soaking any rusted bolt/nut is just absolutely essential to prevent breakage. If the tech just took the rig in and twisted on dry rusted bolts without warning you then they ripped you off. No way can you just take apart 10 year plus rusted machinery dry.

This has been discussed many times here. For non-mechanical folks who don't read engine stuff here is what can happen.

I feel you pain, but it was somewhat preventable...sorry.

It seems to me that a lot of these truck business are in business to make business.

I learned LONG ago to never, ever try to remove engine bolts before at least a couple days of soaking fasteners with PB Blaster and never use a cheater bar. A soft blow of a hammer on the end of the wrench will shock the bolt enough to get it to move.

I have a '02 ISB 5.9 - exhust leak 2 summers back - I was very fortunate - they were able to replace manifold w/out any further complications. I currently have 95k miles - I am a fulltimer. Sorry for your problem and expense - ouch.

Who broke the bolts? Was it Cummins? Did they cover the cost of what they broke? What Roadside Assistance do you have? Did they tow you in? Did Cummins offer you any kind of deal on a new motor? What about the warranty? Do you have an extended warranty? I would think Cummins would repair it for free, rust is everywhere.