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No... not really, the title just fits the topic here.
Stinky is fickle. He always has been, and I imagine he will stay that way until something gets bad enough to make Adam Savage growl "Well there's your problem." The first half of the title means I've decide to just roll with it. If it blows on the road - I have AAA, cell phones, snacks, beverages, a deck of cards, and an EPIRB. I can't say I'll replace the motor if this were to happen - I just might jump ship and get a Duramax LBZ with the wrapper it comes in.
As a peace offering for the turmoil I just stirred up, I have pictures of #7 through the oil return port. This is the "block party" part:
The truck may continue to roll on down the road for quite a while to come. I wish you the best of luck in your travels and don't let it eat you up worrying about it. Just drive it, and if $**t happens, then call AAA like you said.
Just drive the thing Rich, im doing the same thing with my truck, but mines opposite of what yours is doing no abnormal noises but a crap of blow by. I have an e99 long block in the machine shop as i speak. Maybe yoy should do the same Rich.
Did you have time to check anything that the oil analysis wouldn't have eliminated? I don't want to sound like a know it all expert because I'm not, but if it was anything related to what you just looked at there would have been significant readings on the oil analysis in my opinion. (don't take this the wrong way)
I don't know why I'm so into this 7.3, as I've never had a wrench on one yet but I have worked on diesels my whole life, guess maybe its just I don't want to see an engine die because a failed lifter beat itself apart on the camshaft..... If that is actually what it is....
I understand your frustration and lack of time, I can't number the times I've wanted to give up on a machine because of a cheap part that takes weeks or months to find and fix.
Last edited by twigsV10; 03-07-2016 at 04:45 PM.
Reason: Changed "should" to wouldn't, miss type.
you dont say block party unless you are invitin everybody to a block party!it just aint right,if you say block party i think beer food beer people beer music beer and beer,damn i got all excited
you dont say block party unless you are invitin everybody to a block party!it just aint right,if you say block party i think beer food beer people beer music beer and beer,damn i got all excited
Yeah... guilty as charged.
I didn't say I had completed all my tests yet... but the harmonic balancer and flexplate are not loose, the pictures didn't show a busted skirt, the oil bypass filter and oil showed no real symptoms in analysis, and the problem up and disappeared when I turned the key on Stinky yesterday. I still have to make an injector breakout box - I have most of the parts now. Once I've isolated the noisy injector, I'll be popping the VC yet again - and I'll have a real good look at that lifter.
A reman engine will run me close to $12,000 to do everything proper - and there's the looming question as to whether it can hold up for the duration. My history with this truck says no. I can buy a 2006 3500HD with low miles on a Duramax LBZ for about $15-$18K, get what I can out of a perfect-rolling 2000 F250 Superduty, and be done with the curse that has parked in my driveway for 5 years.
Would that option rip the heart out of my wife and I? Yes... we love everything about Stinky except his sickliness, the GM products are homely, and the interiors are dated. The current situation is frustrating the both of us and ripping the heart out of my savings. I bought Stinky to pull a bigger boat. The smaller boat is gone, the boat money is gone, and I haven't been on the water in three years - I've been under the hood. I'll go as far as a valve job if the bottom end is good, but that's it - I'm reducing the caliber on the the Buck$Zooka.
Speaking of lower end - this picture bothers me:
That is the piston rod riding on the crank. Am I outta my mind, or has the rod been moving for and aft on the crank?
I have looked at this picture for a bit Rich. You're looking at it 90 degrees from where you SHOULD be looking. The shiny part you're concerned about is simply the area between the two connecting rod bolts (studs) that is commonly machined for balancing purposes. If the rod was able to move fore and aft that much, one, the companion connecting rod isn't there (bigger issues and a definite miss) and two, the angularity perpendicular to what's supposed to be happening would have snapped that rod long ago.
I didn't know for sure what I was seeing at the time, so I just kept clicking. I went back to my "camera roll" to extract more photos of that crankshaft:
I'm not feeling all warm and fuzzy here.
I had a good look all around four of the cams by bumping the engine, this is all the wear I could see:
I don't know about you but without some input there I couldn't figure out what I was looking at. That shiny streak at first looked like a crack letting in daylight to me.
"Cody digs in to the batter's box. The pitcher winds and fires....Cody swings and it a WELL hit ball to deep, deep centerfield, way back.....It's outta here! A homerun for Cody!"
Rich...buddy...you have attained paralysis through analysis. To quote Joe..."Just drive the damn thing."
Rich...buddy...you have attained paralysis through analysis. To quote Joe..."Just drive the damn thing."
That's the call I've made, but twigsV10 also makes a very good point about the collapsed lifter thing. If I really have one, the call would be to minimize the use of the truck until a valve job can be done, to prevent damage to the cam lobe. I'll compromise and inspect that lifter as soon as I can, but I'm still going to drive it in the hopes of figuring out the pattern. For all I know - that last batch of fuel could have been bad. I changed the oil and the fuel filter, and the fuel filter smelled a little weird. Saying that, I changed my fuel additive this winter to the Motorcraft brand - that might be what I smell.
03-06-2016, 08:55 PM
