Disappointed in Cummins Engine

Twomed wrote:
It's two posts because it's the same OP!! I think he got shafted too...BUT posting the same stuff every two weeks serves what purpose??? Sorry but this is just beating a dead horse. :(

Getting annoyed at people is not serving any purpose either. I don't blame the OP for lamenting. Just when YOU start getting annoyed, remember YOU could be the one with a bad engine. See how you would feel!! I know if I lost a head on one of my Detroits I couldn't afford to fix it and you know what with the lack of charity I see in this country I wouldn't hold my hand on my back side waiting for help. This kind of attitude reminds me how right I am with losing hope in humanity when help is truly needed. the repair shops have no mercy and they don't give a hit when you can't afford the repairs, they just go "cool more salvage we can sell" I know from experience. I do the best I can with maintenance knowing that no one gives a rat's A$$ whether I lose a vehicle or not. I am sure the OP took good care of his/her rig and it is an unfortunate stoke of bad luck and the last thing he/she wants is someone posting a non charitable post.

Twomed wrote:
It's two posts because it's the same OP!! I think he got shafted too...BUT posting the same stuff every two weeks serves what purpose??? Sorry but this is just beating a dead horse. :(

Maybe he's still PO'd. :M

Twomed wrote:
It's two posts because it's the same OP!! I think he got shafted too...BUT posting the same stuff every two weeks serves what purpose??? Sorry but this is just beating a dead horse. :(

Thanks for pointing that out.

It's two posts because it's the same OP!! I think he got shafted too...BUT posting the same stuff every two weeks serves what purpose??? Sorry but this is just beating a dead horse. :(

We were at Rocky Mountain Cummins in Denver once, in 2006. Never will go back. They were telling us so many things were wrong, that we wouldn't make it out of town, etc., while replacing the fuel filter (we had just purchased it), including the fact that the exhaust manifold was cracked all around. Drove on to the west coast and had another service facility look at the exhaust manifold - couldn't find a problem. Yes, years latter (2010) it did develop a crack, but the Coach Care in Phoenix technicians were very careful, only one bolt cracked, and they did the replacement in one day, not the two they had first estimated because of the problems with bolts cracking. We were #3 in line that day to have one replaced, we all stayed at the Camp Cummins overnight in the Phoenix area and were joking about all being there for the same thing. All had different makes, but about the same time frame on the engines (2001-2004) ISC350s.

Barb

03 RoadKing wrote:
Bottom line it's a machine and machines can and do fail. All we can do is care for it as best we can and hope for the best.

X2

That is two posts that I have read recently where the op went in for a exhaust manifold leak and ended up spending a bunch of money. These engines do tend to have problems with exhaust manifold leaks and broken exhaust bolts. Sometimes its hard to tell if they are trying to protect the customer from problems down the road or sell extra work that is not needed. Your case seems like a lot of work for an engine with fairly low miles on it.

My feeling is that dealers prefer to put a recon head on once the head is off. That usually protects them from problems that might occur with the head after it is reinstalled. And, the tech likes it because he has a clean, freshly milled head ... no cleanup ... no inspection, just bolt it on.

In our fleet shop we usually exchange the head. Our engines usually have more miles than you would see on a motorhome before we need to get into them. We build our own heads in house at a considerably lower cost than a recon head. Excessive valve guide clearance seems to be the issue that pushes us to exchange the head. Even if they aren't worn to the limit, we want to get new guides and valves in the head to get the maximum life out of it.

In our feet of over 100 of the 8.3/8.9 engines, I have yet to see a cracked head or anything that would cause one to fail a pressure test.(the term "would not pressure test to specs" makes no sense to me .. either it has a specific problem that you can detect or it passes a pressure test) I have also not seen a fuel pump that needed replaced due to leakage.

The best thing that I can recommend to protect yourself is to have them show you the problem with the part and explain why it needs to be replaced. Any honest shop should do this without hesitation especially when they are asking you to lay out thousands of dollars.

Doug

Instead of pointing fingers at the Cummins or the OP, I think the right target might be the mechanic(s). All it initially needed was an exhaust leak fixed. They probably broke the studs off removing the manifold and the easiest way to remedy that is to just sell the poor sucker a new head. I can't believe that the fuel pump and turbo could've been TU without the owner knowing there was another problem.
I think he got shafted big time.

Bottom line it's a machine and machines can and do fail. All we can do is care for it as best we can and hope for the best.

shaneperch wrote:

soren wrote:

shaneperch wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
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Most people that buys a motorhome with that kind of engine and can afford the repairs that he/she mentioned I would say that they took good care of it. I took good care of my Ford F250 6.0 and it blew a head gasket at 99,000 and I changed the oil I changed the filters and the air filters regularly. It wasn't my fault it was inherent to that engine.

I've done enough searching for a quality used motorhome to assure you that the price of a piece of equipment has nothing to do with how well it has been maintained. As for comparing a Cummins to one of the worst motors ever built..........seriously?

Seriously? what. What is so much better with a Cummins to anything else? Every company puts out a product that gets by quality control. Cummins isn't run by the divine and yes sometimes even they will let a faulty product get by. could be a Friday night and the QA is thinking about the weekend and didn't pay attention. but to say that the OP didn't take care of it is not a fair statement. Because I never met a person that had a motorhome of that quality, neglect maintenance. And I would MUCH rather have a John Deere or a Detroit or a Perkins or a DT series engine than a cumapart I mean cummins.

Two issues here. First, there is ZERO evidence that the price of a piece of equipment has ANYTHING to do with if, whether, or how well, the owner maintains it. Sorry, but that isn't something to debate. A neighbor just dropped $400 on a large, thirty year old, bottom of the line travel trailer that looks like a museum piece, literally a 9.99 on a scale of ten. OTOH, in my recent search for a nice used mtorhome I saw more than a few that were 5-8 years years old and trashed, in both appearance and mechanics. Second, it doesn't matter if you are talking about a Cummins or any other brand of motor, once you compare it to the 6.0 Ford disaster, you lose all credibility. The question you appear to be asking, and I quote......"What is so much better than a cummins to anything else?" isn't the issue. The question should be, " When it comes to smaller diesel engines, has there been a bigger disaster that the 6.0 in recent history?" When Ford and International sue each other for billions over a train wreck they both are responsible for, comparing it to a cummins is just a giggle.