6.0 powerstroke rebuild.

[mbryson]

Here you go mbryson !

https://boise.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-ford-cummins/6323769248.html

Not mine, just saw it on craigslist the other day.

That'd be pretty close to what I'm after if it were a long bed and a model year newer. I'd want to do a 605 Cummins from 2004-2007ish

 

[glockman]

Scoped it last night. This is the top of the piston left side of the photo it looks beat up and looks like the glow plug tip sitting on the piston at about 7 o'clock. I'm going to pull the motor, then pull the head. If all is well and I'm misreading this picture I'll just do head studs and a new injector. If it's trashed I'm leaning towards a short block from Ashville Engine. +20 short block with Mahle pistons and a stage 2 cam is $4k. That will put me in the $5k range with studs and a head job done locally.
I'll try to post pictures as I pulled the motor and tear it down.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[jmaxj]

I'll sell Ya a good running 6.0 with a 6spd connected to it. And it can even come with an entire truck as well haha


But in all seriousness I loved my 6.0 for the last 5 yrs before the truck decide to crash itself. Solve all the typical problems from the beginning and you'll have no issues. Some bad luck you had that's for sure.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

I think I still get 6.0 anxiety. I told my neighbor not to buy one. What does he do, buys one. I have washed my hands of him now. I’m not going to be working on it for him.

I hope you get it fixed. I liked mine but it just became a nightmare every time I had to fix something.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UNSTUCK]

Hard to tell from the picture. Can you not pull the head with the engine still in the truck? I'd try to go that route then in-frame that one piston if you decide it's needed. Not a bad job, I would suspect.

 

[ID Bronco]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HMnSLUQS7I

 

[glockman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HMnSLUQS7I

I've seen that it's pretty funny, or it was before this. Lol.

Pulling the head in cab is possible but difficult. I got about 8 hours into it so far and the motor is unbolted and ready to be picked in the picture below. Should have it out tonight. Then I can get a good look at the cylinder with the head off.

 

[SLC97SR5]

Good luck man, I feel for you. Give it hell!

 

[sawtooth4x4]

Or burn it to the ground.

I can't tell you how many times I wanted to do that by the end of my ownership

Good luck man, I feel for you. Give it hell!

 

[glockman]

Got the head off and the piston is toast but the cylinder is fine. Below is a step by step pictorial of getting it out. All in all not too bad of a job with proper tools. It took me about 10 hours to get to the last picture with the motor out and heads off and stripped.

My dilemma now is the route forward.

Route A.
Pull the one melted piston out, ball hone the cylinder and slap a new piston in with new rings and bearing's. New shorter pushrods (the original ones were 0.050 too long from the factory) and new lifters. Have the heads decked and checked and put them back on with oem head gaskets and ARP studs.

Route B.
Order a reman short block with new +20 pistons, new lifters and updated pushrods. Then repeat the heads and studs listed above.

Route C
Buy a built long block with all new bottom end same as option b but bored+30, coated pistons/crank, larger valves and O-ringed heads and a stage 2 cam.

These options are in order of price ranging from $2k to $8k.
My main concern is that I have shit luck. If I ever skimp on anything it always comes back to bite me. So I'll be unhappy if I go the first route and have more issues in the next year or so.
When I removed the turbo it was full of diesel, as was the whole exhaust and possibly the crank case. I was at the end of my oil change interval which is usually a quart or two below the full line, it was at the full line when I drained it. So my main bearings could have been lubed with diluted oil but only for 50 mile or so. I may be over thinking this but I would feel a lot better with all new bottom end parts.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Greg]

Get it running again as cheap as possible, then sell it ASAP!

 

[sawtooth4x4]

I agree with the above statement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[glockman]

Get it running again as cheap as possible, then sell it ASAP!

I have decided to go the cheap route. Not because of cost but because the bottom end on these motors rarely fail. Mine still has deep cross hatches. So I'll fix the lifter/pushrod issue and fix the head/head gasket issues.
If anything this experience has solidified my opinion of 6.0's. There are design and manufacturing flaws in these motors but they are not difficult to correct. I have been amazed at how many shops told me you don't need to resurface the heads. Several dealers told me they would just drop a new piston in and new head gaskets, no machine work at all. Then you have the opposite, people who will drop $2k on 8 new injectors to save the labor of installation. It literally took me 30 minutes to get mine out. It's all fear and irresponsible shops pushing people to spend big money for the equivalent of changing spark plugs.
I'm confident this truck will last me past 200k miles with just maintenance. This problem was simply a bad glow plug which is not a 6.0 issue. I'm sure I did most of the damage by driving it smoking like a train, but I had a race to get to, lol.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Gravy]

Well flip it over aND plastiguage the mains. It's not that hard.

 

[glockman]

Well flip it over aND plastiguage the mains. It's not that hard.

I pulled the piston tonight bearings look great. I probably could have thrown an injector in and ran it for quite a while. The rings are unscathed. I found the glow plug tip too(side of the piston crown).

A few parts started to arrive today too.

A little more detail on my parts. As I've mentioned the top end of the 6.0 is its weak point. The factory heads are very prone to cracking in the valve seats. The seats are just heat treated casting. Also the valve guides are machined from the casting with no pressed in guides.

I had decided on UCF machine to do the headwork. They press in valve guides and sterilite seats as well as deck and O-ring the mating surface. After talking to a few local and national machine shops I heard that about 9 of 10 heads are cracked badly and should not be reused. The UCF heads are factory castings. They run $1900 ± shipping and $700 cores that are likely too cracked to use, that's a big gamble.

The alternative is overseas castings which can also be a gamble.
I decided to go with Kill Diesel heads. They are overseas virgin castings sold by Promax and reworked by Jared at Kill Diesel. They have all new valves, seals, springs, guides and retainers. He also presses in hardened seats and O-rings. They have a thicker deck and cast supports in the injector bolt tower. I picked them up with no cores for $2100 shipped. They have a good reputation and seem to be working in several high horse builds.

I'll be installing ARP studs, Ford factory spec piston, rings bearings, all new pushrods and lifters as well. I am going to pick up a 4" turbo back exhaust to finish it out. Probably MRBP. I recently replaced the oil cooler so I will likely reuse that. Hopefully it all turns out

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Gravy]

I pulled the piston tonight bearings look great. I probably could have thrown an injector in and ran it for quite a while. The rings are unscathed. I found the glow plug tip too(side of the piston crown).

So what was the bearing clearance? Did you check? This one above looks wiped.

How good are the OEM pistons? I know nothing about them.

Those new heads sound rad.

 

[glockman]

So what was the bearing clearance? Did you check? This one above looks wiped.

How good are the OEM pistons? I know nothing about them.

Those new heads sound rad.

Didn't check clearance. I have to figure out how to get this beast rotated upside down with my current stand/hoist setup. I will before I put it back together.
I had to pull this piston so I figured I would check the bearing there for wear first.
That bearing has very slight wear. The picture looks like metal smear/wear but it is just a slight glaze catching the light. This should be the worst one since it was way over fueling. The bottom bearing looks brand new except for a small wear mark on one edge.

Oem pistons are Mahle. They should be pretty good.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[glockman]

Took another look at the first bearing after some sleep and better light. It isn't terrible but spiked my curiosity. I pulled cylinder 8 and that bearing is worn through to the brass and has a large scratch. At this stage and this deep, I'm just going to pull the trigger on a remand short block.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[glockman]

Ready to go to the shop for rebuild. I'm having Twisted Piston in West Valley perform the rebuild. They are the only slc area shop that answered my questions and were on the same page as me with how to put it back together.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[jeeper]

I REALLY hope they do a good job for you.