2009 Tiffin Phaeton Engine Rebuild

[deholdt]

Our 2009 Phaeton has a Cummins ISC 8.3 needs to have hte engine rebuilt. Cummins gave me an estimate of $66,000 and a reman engine is $78,000. Sounds ridiculous. Anyone have an experience with this?

[11178adm]

230 degrees is on the high side but not necessarily engine damaging
if there is engine damage it will usually be 1. scored piston and cylinder liners this will cause engine knock and increased blowby out of the breather tube 2. cracked cylinder head and possibly blown head gasket this would cause coolant loss from the overflow tube on the radiator under normal driving and engine temps and possible coolant in the oil.
regardless of the outcome the radiator should be cleaned as dirt,leaves and grass clippings go through the charge air cooler and plug the face of the coolant radiator. My 94 am eagle had all of the dirt and leaves plus 4 dirt Dawber nests

[diplomatdon]

Check Visone Rv for a price on a used engine from a wrecked Rv. much less than what you have been quoted for a rebuild/inframe. Good luck, Don.

[MrWizard]

In 2012 a inplace rebuild of a Cummins 5.9L for our Safari DP was approximately $12000, all 6 cylinders were honed and new oversized pistons installed,all other parts and work as necessary, the work was performed at Arizona Diesel in , Flagstaff, 5 years later it cost us $15000 when Cummins in Ventura Calif replaced the turbo and repaired less damage, Yes everything has gone up in price, but your quotes seem outrageous ,
Try an independent shop
DPs are great until the engine breaks, 7 years ago i switched , i went back to owning a Gasser

[Grit_dog]

Also, folks need some context. Either to help with the question as mentioned above, or out of curiosity to keep their interest….
When you post something strange or shocking (like a blown engine that should outlast every owner of the RV, forever), people are interested.
If you said you got a flat (unless it was on trailer tires, folks get all emotional about trailer tires here….) and asked how to the get it, no one would care about the back story. It’s not important or interesting, likely.
Hope this helps you with your communication so we can help you.

[Grit_dog]

deholdt wrote:
I can email the quote to anyone who is willing to help. I’m not a mechanic and have no problem paying people for their work. I just don’t want to be taken advantage of.

It would be very helpful if you shared what happened if you want meaningful input on whether you need a new engine or not. 2 simple statements “ I ran it a little hot” and “I can send the quote” tell virtually nothing. Not sure if you even read the responses to your first post, but here’s how forums should work….
Someone asks question, should try to provide as much context as possible (you didn’t).
Answers come in. Often times asking more questions. (This happened ). You provide more info based on those questions or observations to help the answers be more specific or correct. (You didn’t.)
In the game of Q&A, you’re up. It’s your turn.

[univmd]

How many miles are on the engine?

[Chum_lee]

IMO, there's so little information given here that it's impossible to even guess what happened.

Some general information. In a water cooled engine with a pressurized cooling system running the proper 50/50% water/coolant mix, 230F is not even boiling over. Yes, it's on the high side of normal, but a turbocharged properly maintained heavy duty diesel truck engine should be able to take that without spitting out parts. (if that happened)

So, . . . . what really happened? Was this engine properly maintained, or was it run low on oil/coolant, modified, or, . . . something else?

Chum lee

[Tyler0215]

So you are trusting a computer to tell you that you need a new engine?
230 degrees should not hurt the engine beyond repair.
Did it shut down by itself, or did you shut it off?
You might just have a bad temp sender.

[ferndaleflyer]

Friend here says if core motor can be rebuilt a reman motor would be between 30, 40 thousand in a motor home. Cheaper in a truck.

[deholdt]

I can email the quote to anyone who is willing to help. I’m not a mechanic and have no problem paying people for their work. I just don’t want to be taken advantage of.

[ferndaleflyer]

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.

[haste_maker]

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...

[Grit_dog]

^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.

[deholdt]

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.