Lost compression on one cylinder, broken rocker arms?

[mdub707]

Ok, not sure what is going on here... Its my buddies 04. They've had a Bullydog on it forever, with no issues. Recently replaced with an SCT finally! We installed a vegistroke last year, been running great with it for quite some time. We recently did an EGR full delete as well, and the truck actually stopped puking for a short time. Not too long after it started losing a lot of coolant again, my guess was head gaskets as its still on factory bolts at 105K miles. The truck needs to be started and fully warmed up before it can even be drove. When first started and the gas is pressed down, it wont even move. He's also had a few instances while driving down the road of white smoke billowing out of it, then clearing up.

It is never ending issues with this truck, every week he emails me with new problems, new trouble codes, etc.

We went camping this past weekend and he brought this truck up (still driving it because WVO is far cheaper than diesel). The truck sounded HORRENDOUS. It had a miss and sounded like it was skipping. They dropped it off at the dealer and here is what they found...

Cylinder 3 only has 176 psi compression, it needs 425 to fire.
Rocker arms on cylinder 3 valves are in 4 pieces, not sure what the cause was but there are 3 other cylinders that show imbalance so they are now looking at those. He will be getting back to me with the total estimate once they know everything that is wrong


What on earth could have caused this? I have my speculations, but I want to see what others have to say. How does this happen?

[chuckles]

well having a bully dog on there won't help, but sounds like the motor was over-reved and it bent a valve or two...

[mdub707]

Originally Posted by chuckles

well having a bully dog on there won't help, but sounds like the motor was over-reved and it bent a valve or two...

They've only really used the towing tune. I HIGHLY doubt it was an over-rev problem.

The dealer just called them and told them they need to come in to look at it through the scope to see the damage done to the piston/cylinder in #3 location. This truck has run fine for a WHILE, and now this out of the blue!?

[mdub707]

This is some bad news... here are their options...

Well, piston #3 is definitely damaged, two good dings from the valves. Cylinder 1 is definitely taking on water, and cylinder 3 is rusted from water and scored from the dings on the piston.

Option A: Reman motor with 2 yr warranty for $10,000 plus $2200 installation. I consider that a STUPID option.

Option B: Remove heads, check valves, and all cylinders. Either fix or not fix cylinder 3, and do head studs with new gaskets and most likely will need heads. Cost is assumed to be RIDICULOUS. I consider this to be a dumbass decision since there is probably damage in the lower end of the motor that we are not seeing.

Option C: Used motor swap from online source with no warranty for $2750 plus $2200 installation.



Here's what irritates me the most, this is what their diesel mechanic told them... (this is a Ford certified tech...)


1. The mechanic told me to get rid of this truck.

2. He told me that buying another 6.0 is stupid.

3. He told me the only thing worse than a 6.0 in his opinion is the 6.4.

4. He said that he would love to blame this on our alternative fuel but he can't because it was obviously water and he had one in last week for head gaskets too. He showed me the gaskets and told me that the heads were bad on that one too. Fortunately it was under warranty.

5. He suggested we take anything we can get for it and forget about the headaches.


I would love to have been there to hear this jagoff say this stuff. What an idiot.

[Abrannan19]

destroke it

[chuckles]

so my question still is how did the valves get damaged? I would go with used motor, or have someone buildup one for a good price.

[mdub707]

Originally Posted by chuckles

so my question still is how did the valves get damaged? I would go with used motor, or have someone buildup one for a good price.

Best guess at this point is that so much water went into cylinder 3 that the valves actually rusted the guides and cause the valves to stick open. There is no other damage to any of the other valves. Cylinder 1 also got a broken rocker arm, but the cylinder and piston look excellent...

Just dumbfounded...

This could have been prevented with headstuds last year when I first recommended them...

[mdub707]

Originally Posted by Abrannan19

destroke it

We would love to, we have some research to do for this first, and figure costs.

Adam you sell some of the destroked stuff right?