Vectra oil pan removal labor time

[lajuene]

Anyone ever had a piston cooling nozzle snap off? Found it in the oil when it was drained for an oil change. Supposed to able to replace it by just removing the oil pan. How much labor time do you think it will take to remove and replace the oil pan on a 2004 Vectra 40AD?

[Fastcar]

I think I'd be calling Cummins immediately.

I spent better than 35 years working in the railroad industry with diesels and never seen a cooling line. squirter or "P"pipe break. That imo is unusual to say the least.

[lajuene]

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1s...JiYzg3OGY1NDQz


http://tinyurl.com/7aoerjb


Here's a photo of the piece they found in the oil pan. It's going to Cummins in Albany, NY Monday. It's safe to drive according to 800-diesels call I made about it. Not sure if photo will show.

I'll post results next week

[Pelledan]

I worked with diesel engines (R&D) for 34 years and yes, there have been instances of piston cooler failures. The coolers are typically a 2 part affair in which the tube and seat are fused in a furnace brazing process. The tube of the cooler is bent at a specific angle and its oulet is pressed nearly closed to form a specifically shaped orifice that will deliver a certain rate of oil to the critical areas. Aside from the underside of the piston, that oil spray also targets the wrist pin/con rod bearings. The cooler is usually held in place by a 10mm bolt and there is an O-ring that seals the cooler's seat to oil gallery. The oil pan gasket may or may not be reusable which could contrible to the overall cost of repair. I would strongly suggest that you have it repaired ASAP and avoid driving in an area where the engine would experience a load heavier than flatland operation. Pistons are generally an aluminum composition and rely heavily on that oil jet to dissipate the heat of combustion. They will burn through easier than you may think.

Dan

[lajuene]

The drive to the Cummins place is flat and about 30 miles. How can something like this happen to a Cummins with only 13K miles on it? Must have been a manufacturing defect I think. I wonder if Cummins would agree. I have no warranty on the engine but....

[Pelledan]

I've seen this happen on engines with only a few hundred hours on them. This type of failure doesn't fall into the realm of "common" but it does ocassionally happen. I seriously doubt of Cummins made the part. Usually on something like this it is purchased from an outside vendor and Cummins buys them by the thousands. No doubt it was a manufacturing flaw that didn't manifest itself until now. Each time engine engine is started and heated up then turned off, the engine experiences a "thermal cycle". Everything was cool, then hot, then cool again and that's when something like this can happen. The thermal cycle affected a weakness most probably in the braze joint and caused it to fail. I would suggest that before the part is replaced, have them remove the injector from the affected cylinder and have the cylinder/piston bore-scoped. The scope is a fiberoptic instrument that allows one to enter the cylinder through the injector tip port to view the cylinder walls and top of the piston. It will add about an hours labor to the process but will bring peace of mind knowing that all is well inside, particularly with the top of the piston.
Dan

[lajuene]

sounds like a good idea. I'll pass it on to the Cummins tech. Thanks

[lajuene]

Well it's all done. Luckily it was not a piston cooling nozzle which it turns out would have meant dropping the engine, 70 hours labor, $6K!! Instead what was determined is that the piece of metal was the end of the oil dipstick sleeve. A new dip stick sleeve was installed for a total of $540, $35 parts the rest in labor and diagnostics. So it's a sorta happy ending. The dip stick was only being held in by 1/4" of the sleeve that was left. It would have eventually broken and who knows what the last piece would have done.