Back during my rookie years in the door of a Ford dealer, I was doing tons of cylinder head and exhaust manifold replacements on 40' motorhomes equipped with the 460 cu. in. (7.5L) V8s. These engines were prone to suffering from excessive heat caused by being put under high load constantly. It was so bad that you could see very clear evidence of "bluing" on the exhaust manifolds from being subjected to enough heat that they were glowing almost cherry red. Consequently, the manifolds would warp and crack, and ditto the exhaust ports of the cylinder heads on these engines in as low as 6,000 miles. The point of this "story" is that I distinctly remember the gasket sets from Ford had the name "Mr. Gasket" embossed on the intake gaskets, obviously identifying the original manufacturer. Therefore, I am convinced this is a FACT.

Siemens, is also another major corporation that manufactures a lot of automotive components, as well as other non-automotive electrical components. Does that mean one can purchase components from the company directly as opposed to buying it over the counter of the dealer in the hopes of getting it for a lower price? Is it worth the hassle of researching this information to even locate a source that is willing to sell the part retail to a customer? And assuming one does successfully find a vendor who sells said part, how much less expensive is it, than just purchasing it from your local dealer parts department in the box with the vehicle manufacturer's name on it and part number?

Valeo, is also another company that manufactures the OEM radiators for our 6.0L trucks. Where can one obtain one from the manufacturer directly?

I could go on and on, and on. But the point of this post is that I am well aware that it is NOT the manufacturer (eg. Ford, GM, Chrysler) that manufactures all the components of these vehicles. I and many others are likely well aware that all materials and parts do orginate elsewhere.

 

I dont know if anyone is fimilair with the body armor bumpers, I have both the front and rear, I am not how it would stand up to a deer I don't really want to find out but they seem like good quality bumpers....

 

Mark that's very good point. Even if they do have the same stamping numbers on the two gaskets themselves, but have a different colour coating around the sealing surfaces that does NOT make them the SAME (SAME = IDENTICAL). I will go as far as saying they APPEAR SIMILAR, but what would I know? They may very well be indentical dimensionally. And if I understood you correctly, I think you're trying to convey the whole point that Anthony was informed that this engine was assembled with the OEM gaskets when in fact they weren't. And THAT, and just THAT alone is what I'm understanding to be the cause of why the engine was returned. Fair enough.

In defense of PMM, I understand that any company employs MANY people within. Therefore, many dealings often occur with more than one person in contact. More often than not, the person doing the dealing is just that. The person doing the dealing.

I do have to say though, it was very interesting to see this company step up to the plate to post the video that they did, even after losing a monumental sale. From watching it, it gave me the clear impression that they are experienced, just by the way they were able to disassemble that engine in the time they did, to put together that video. Even bigger kudos goes out to them for being willing to post up their own personal advice on Anthony's build, despite losing the sale.

THAT'S my 0.02 cents.

By the way, I was wondering when I was going to see you chiming in on this long thread Mark.

 

I just scored the crank seal install n removal tool kit. Sweet!!!! I will definitely post pics of those (u know me) lol.
Thanks to Sean,,,, very much appreciated.

 

And what does this prove? It still only amounts to hearsay. The engineers at VR/Mahle have a LOT to gain and very little to lose by making this statement. As you stated, you'll NEVER get someone from Ford to say it OR provide proof of who makes the gaskets for Navistar (or Ford) and that's the deal breaker for me. I'm not willing to pinch a few pennies in a very critical area of a very expensive engine build. PERIOD. It just doesn't make sense.

 

Umm, Run6.0run, it has been almost 24 hours with no post from you. I have been following this thread from the beginning, and it has become my afternoon fix......
Im jonesing for an update!
LOL
Know you are busy, just messing around to move post back to top so everyone can share in this great post

 

I'm almost ready to update. On my way now to get some pics.

 

K,,, here's my power plant, as it sits right now


I'm replacing all of this.


He showed me how much play was in the valve guides,,, they were sloppy.

Btw. Here's my front cover pics.





Yet another good save Mike. Good call thx.

 

I bet you guys would like better pics of how the valves n seats, n everything else looks,,,, close up huh????Crap. Maybe later. I'd have to go back there.

 

Hey Anthony, did you mark which rod cap goes with which conn rod?

 

I had each piston and connecting rod and rod caps still together and labeled in ziplock bags when I dropped them off. Bobs son told me he punches numbers on every part when they arrive. I'm hoping they labeled the caps also. That's a big deal huh???

 

Yup, the big end is machined as one piece. The hole and both faces are finished with the two pieces together and some modern big ends are "cracked" apart after machining. either way you cant mix them up without remachining them and sorting out which rod goes with which cap can be a long or even impossible task. Hopefully they marked them for you.

 

The 6.0's have cracked caps and if Anthony's are anything like mine then they won't be hard to match up at all. I wonder how many they throw in the recycle bin because they cracked "badly".

 

I did not know about the 6.0's have cracked caps
Can someone post some high resolution photos of the caps PLEASE.
I think that would be very interesting.

Thanks
Sean

 

Almost ALL modern engines have cracked cap's. The ones I have seen (at work) once bolted back together, you can barely see the crack's. (The rod's I see have never been in an engine yet, so no oil has been in the crack, which would highlight the crack more.)
I haven't seen/made a machined con rod in a few years. They are weird looking when made, as the crank hole is oval.
The bump's on the side of the crank are called clamp pads. That is where they get clamped in a fixture, hit with nitrogen, than a machine snaps the cap off.