5.9 Build Up Thread!

For us, forums are interesting places. There is a wealth of great information and good people out there. There are, also, a ton of questionable people out there, that are “online experts” because they have lots of posts and read what others do.

So, we always are looking for interesting topics and decisions to see what you guys are doing and saying. But when it comes to build threads, when we find a good one, we try and share it! We feel that everyone can benefit from not only seeing start to finish what someone is doing, but, also, what happens when they run into an issue.

This was certainly the case on the CumminsForum.com with BigHornyEdition’s engine build thread. Unfortunately, he got some bad fuel, which caused some issues with number 1,3 and 6 cylinders. He replaced the injectors, but after a few months the damage was too great and the engine needed to be torn down.

With the engine out and head off, it was apparent what had happened. “Unfortunately the block ovaled number 6 and scored number 3 and 1,” said Travis. “The machine shop wanted about $800-$1000 for the work and sleeving. Luckily, I found an ‘05 block with a fresh .020” over bore and picked that up for $400 after some haggling,” he explained.

With the fresh block, he began to rebuild the engine upgrading in key areas. Instead of going back together with a stock profile camshaft, he opted to upgrade to a Hamilton Cam 188-220 to help him spool the larger charger. Travis knew he was going to build his engine, so he already had a set of 60% over injectors, but he did opt to upgrade to a modified CP3 pump to feed them. To help the air flow, a Glacier Diesel Performance (GDP) 6.7 intake plenum, rail and fuel canister delete were installed. “It cleans up so much mess and really makes the motor a showpiece,” explained Travis.

The single turbo kit is a 2^nd gen kit from Stainless Diesel using an Industrial Injection Silver 66 for the charger. “I cannot speak highly enough about these guys. I received my kit by my deadline with every single nut and bolt needed. All piping, flanges, maifold and studs bolted up perfectly and the quality was top notch! Thanks Stainless,” said Travis

With everything together, Travis painted the engine and got it looking perfect before he stuffed it back in. Once it was installed, he bolted everything back up and it started beautifully! That is until he tried to move the truck. “After a few minutes of idle, one injector dropped,” mentioned Travis.

That great deal on injectors that he picked up last year turned into an expensive deal after he sent them to Exergy Performance to have them re-worked. Exergy flowed the injectors for a baseline and they were quite a bit off from one another not to mention the one not working. So, after they got done with them, they are all spot on and went back into the truck.

Things still weren’t good though. As with most of us, Travis detailed his issues and all of the things he had to go through to get the truck back up and running; from re-flashing the truck, to pulling the head, swapping a couple valves, changing head gasket sizes and more.

If you dig build threads and like seeing how people rally behind one of their own, check out this thread! There are lots of images and even a couple of videos.