Used Pistons and rods

[Mxer_99]

Well being the person i am i like to take on challenges and tear things apart. i just happened to come across an 08 f350 that i couldnt pass up blown motor and all...Well i got it home jacked the cab up about a foot and now after about a day and a half of work i have the motor out and completely torn down. It appears that my high pressure turbo vanes on the exhaust side wanted to take a tour of the motor and found their way to the number 4,6, and 8 cylinders. It wiped out both intake valves on the number 4 cylinder breaking them off and shoving them into the piston but somehow never touched the cylinder wall it looks perfect and the number 6 and 8 all have pieces of turbo vane stuck to the top but didnt touch the valves and did not hurt the cylinders either. I just bought a whole motor that all i have to do is drop in and hook back up (somehow getting a heck of a deal on that too, my luck has been great lately!) So im dropping that in and im planning on rebuilding this motor and leaving it on an engine stand just for a rainy day. My local desiel shop told me that being the motor had only 80,000 miles on it that he would just find three good used pistons and rods and put them in it. So is this a good idea or not? Also im assuming the turbo vanes melted being that the redneck that owned it had a huge tune on it pulling his big cattle trailer through the mountains everyday... Just needed a little input on the pistons and rods

[05_PSD_Erik]

If the used rods and pistons look good, I don;t see an issue but I would have them inpsected thoroughly before installation. I would definitely be suspect of the valves in 6 and 8 though. I would get new valves for all three suspected cylindrs if not the entire engine...

[F350 CC SB]

Since you are having such good luck I suggest you pick up a lottery ticket.
If you are sure that the turbo vanes did not make it into any other cylinders besides 4, 6and 8 cylinders.

I hope you are planning on working the cylinders heads.

If you take all measurements on the connecting rod both little and big ends, piston ring land clearances and diameters are all within specification. Make sure that the piston bore is not worn. I would replace all main/connecting rod bearings. You will also need to get a new set of injectors.

I don’t see you having any other problems

[Mxer_99]

It beat up the head pretty bad so i just got another one. I will be taking everything to my local shop tommorrow to have them check everything out to make sure i am good to go. Why would i need to replace the injectors?

[F350 CC SB]

When guys run big tunes it sends more of the fuel into the combustion chamber. This robs the injector of the lubrication that is needed. Fuel servers three proposes; first is for combustion the second is lubrication and the third is cooling the injector. If you lose any amount of lubrication, it can cause cavitation erosion at the plunger area. Seizing the injector either at full fuel (burning a piston/cracking a piston/fuel washing the cylinder walls) or no fuel.

We are running into this same problem on a marine engine I am working on right now. IMHO this is one of the biggest problems we are seeing with tuned engines.

[Mxer_99]

That makes alot of sense. So can i have these injectors tested to see if they are good or will that process not be able to tell for sure if the injector is suitable for use

[F350 CC SB]

To really figure out what you have you would need to take them apart. If you go that far you should just go ahead and overhaul them. Then you will know what you have. Good clean fuel that is correctly atomized is the only way to go.

[05_PSD_Erik]

I don't think you will need new injectors, MAYBE new tips, I would however have the tips inspected to make sure when the pieces of turbo got into the cylinder, they didn;t make contact with the injector tips possibly damaging them...

[05_PSD_Erik]

Originally Posted by F350 CC SB

When guys run big tunes it sends more of the fuel into the combustion chamber. This robs the injector of the lubrication that is needed. Fuel servers three proposes; first is for combustion the second is lubrication and the third is cooling the injector. If you lose any amount of lubrication, it can cause cavitation erosion at the plunger area. Seizing the injector either at full fuel (burning a piston/cracking a piston/fuel washing the cylinder walls) or no fuel.

We are running into this same problem on a marine engine I am working on right now. IMHO this is one of the biggest problems we are seeing with tuned engines.

I posted above before this came up. That is an awesome point, I would have never thought of...

[F350 CC SB]

No problem. I am a Diesel Engine Inspector in the Navy. So I deal with this sort of thing all the time.