CAT C15 blown headgasket on fresh inframe.

[smorgan87]

So as the subject says i recently had a c15 acert inframed by a friend of a friend (yeah yeah, i know) hes got 20 years of exp building big diesels of all sorts. New {AFTERMARKET} Head, complete {AFTERMARKET} 16:1 kit, ivas removed, new spacer plate, block cut, the whole 9 yards. Bobtail back home 500ish miles, cpl days later go grab a loaded wagon and 2 miles later BOOM. Coolant reservoir explodes from what we determined to be more combustion gas than what we were getting prior to inframe. So we finally got it back down to the shop and get the head off. EVERY SINGLE CYLINDER was blown out on the head gasket and the areas of the gasket around each cylinder were eat up. Any ideas what would cause such a thing? Our only working theory is horribly stretched head bolts that allowed the head to dance. We have since replaced the head gasket with a cat oe as well as new OE head bolts. Just an idea of how little the engine was ran before it blew the gasket. The sacrificial orings on the injector tips were still whole and intact. UNILEVERS custom tune so im not thinking a tune problem.

[tree98]

Aftermarket head could be horribly warped right out of the box? Maybe the mechanic didn't fully torque the head down?

[Rawze]

Removing the IVA's was the single biggest mistake that someone can make with it. - That engine was not designed to run with the higher compression active beyond idle. - It is one of the biggest mistakes people make with that engine... and then wonder why it blows head gaskets repeatedly.

I have no comment about aftermarket internals for CAT.. but you likely already know what I think about using them for the red engines... which is not good.

here is some related posts on this:
http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...0#pid41350

http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...2#pid45062

http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...6#pid53456

[smorgan87]

(03-18-2022 )Rawze Wrote:  Removing the IVA's was the single biggest mistake that someone can make with it. - That engine was not designed to run with the higher compression active beyond idle. - It is one of the biggest mistakes people make with that engine... and then wonder why it blows head gaskets repeatedly.

I have no comment about aftermarket internals for CAT.. but you likely already know what I think about using them for the red engines... which is not good.

here is some related posts on this:
http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...0#pid41350

http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...2#pid45062

http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...6#pid53456

Compression was reduced from the acerts 18:1 to 16:1 same as 6nz. alot of folks say the aftermarket internals are actually better than CAT. We did learn afterwards that many buildiers advise against the {AFTERMARKET} gaskets. But all 6 cylinders... less than 5 loaded miles and less than 1k bobtail miles.

[Signature620]

Did you measure the protrusion before you put the head back on?

[Hermjeji]

Perhaps a more general question, not trying to hijack this thread. Parts being a pain, I have an mxs 475hp that runs the higher compression pistons. The only kit available at the moment from {an aftermarket company} is the 625hp version, which has lower compression pistons.

If nothing is changed ecm wise, keep the twins, etc., what's the outcome I get running the lower comp pistons?

[Rawze]

(03-20-2022 )Hermjeji Wrote:  Perhaps a more general question, not trying to hijack this thread. Parts being a pain, I have an mxs 475hp that runs the higher compression pistons. The only kit available at the moment from {an aftermarket company} is the 625hp version, which has lower compression pistons.

If nothing is changed ecm wise, keep the twins, etc., what's the outcome I get running the lower comp pistons?

I would heavily suspect that .. just like with a cummins engine ... that ecm does not have any magic fairy dust inside it to know that is what you did to it. It sounds like you would be creating a hodge-podge, innefficient mess to me.

Last i checked, most commercial enignes were upwards of $35,000 - $40,000 dollars. --- It is not your grandma's station wagon!!!... it is not a tonka-toy.. it is a godd#amm commercial engine.. do things right .. so the outcome is known.. and stop doing garbage to people's engines.. because I WILL KICK PEOPLE OFF HERE REAL FAST FOR EVEN SUGGESTING CRAP LIKE THIS!!!.

{This thread is closed... GO DISCUSS THAT KIND OF GARBAGE OVER ON SOCIAL MEDAI WHERE TRASH LIKE THAT BELONGS!}