Hello everybody,
My 1999 F-350 one day started making a very loud noise, like a stuck lifter, but much, much louder.
Because the noise did not change when we pressed the clutch, we (dealer and me) decided it was not the clutch. One mechanic at the dealer said it was probably a wrist pin. Disconnecting all the injectors on the drivers side, the noise was much less, it increased a lot when we swapped and disconnected the injectors on the passenger side.
I took the engine out of the truck, the cluth plate was broken:
http://people.tamu.edu/~a0l7674/ebay/clutch1.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~a0l7674/ebay/clutch2.jpg

But since the decision was that it was an internal problem in the engine, I kept slowly pulling it appart.
This is what the front piston on the driver's side looks like:
http://people.tamu.edu/~a0l7674/ebay...iston-bad1.jpg
http://people.tamu.edu/~a0l7674/ebay...iston-bad2.jpg
Basically, it is missing all the skirt on the side where the oil squirter is, I could find no scratches on the oil squirter to signal that it was hit by the piston and that caused it to break.
Could this make all the noise? all the piston pieces were in the oil pan. What could cause a piston to break this way?
Also, I noticed there is almost a milimiter of play on all the rods where the connect to the crankshaft, basically back and forth, is this normal? Or they should be very tight?
The engine has almost 300,000 miles, I am debating rebuilding it since I have it in pieces, but that would cost almost $1300 with the kit from the Navistar dealer (ford dealers don't even have a kit).
I really appreciate all the help I have received from y'all, the idea of the cherrypicker to pull out the heads was great.
If anybody has any hints to give me, comments, etc. I'd be very happy to receive them. Hopefully they will be more constructive than those of my friends that just tell me I'm crazy for pulling my diesel engine apart
I need all the help I can get,
Sincerely,
Alejandro

 

a mm on the rods is way too much mostlikely from the rods having that much play it wasnt pushing behind the piston centered, it was off to the side and side loading the pistons. i bet that side load it what broke the skirt off, that side of the cyl is probably pretty scored. if theres enough meat to bore it out and clean up the bores id just get the IH kit and rebuild it. possibly the amount of bearing play on the mains was allowing the crank to move back and forth and broke the clutch plate.

 

Hello, thank you very much for your fast and informative reply.
I am going to pull everything out of the block and take it to the machine shop.
I will also take the heads to get them cleaned, and the crankshaft checked.
Do you know who makes the IH kit? My local Navistar dealer doesn't want to sell me one, and the Ford Dealer doesn't have a kit.
Autozone has a kit by Hi-Tech, I don't know anything about it. I'm kind of scared about putting something that's not of very good quality.
Sincerely,
Al

 

i belive the IH kit is genuine IH

the high tech kit im not familiar with. i used a IH kit rebuilding the motor for my 94.5 bored it, mains got bored, ground and polished crank. everything is going good on that rebuild

 

Thank you for all your information Mr. Jake.
I have a couple more questions, what did the kit include?
And also, if you don't mine telling me, how much did it cost?
Thank you,
Alejandro

 

i had bought it about a year ago i belive it was around $1500 had pistons, rings, rod and main bearings, plasticgauge kit, gasket kit including head gaskets,

i relplaced lube oil pump, front cover and oil pan ontop of that and did the valves also.

you could piece a kit togethor i would reccomend clevite bearings and mahle pistons if you looked at other kits. at the time i had a buddy working for IH and got me a better price than i could get going with piecing togethor a kit.

i would definately reccomend replacing the oil pan while you have it out, front cover is a good idea also.

 

Thank you very much

 

alalor I noticed that you are in College Station. I am located about one hour south of you. I know someone that can help you with a kit for your engine. If you are still interested let me know

 

Hello, I sure would, I sent you a private message, please let me know how I can get in touch with you.
Sincerely,
Al