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Another sub 500hp 7.3 bites the dust...

12K views 94 replies 38 participants last post by  bigrpowr 
#1 ·
Not sure where to go now... So many issues, so little money.

Block is fine, heads are fine...

Pistons are cracked, ALL the pistons are cracked...

Ate a main bearing, not sure what damage may or may not be there...

David may or may not help fix it due to the broken main bolt.

Very frustrated with the whole SUB 500hp cracked pistons with less then 30k on the motor. No high sustained EGT's, three dyno pulls, never made it to the pulls with it...

My stock block with 120k of water injection, stage 1's, stage 2's and hybrids... Pistons look great.

Discuss? There are a few things that changed on this motor from my stocker, lets see where this takes us.

BTW, This is NO BASH at Diesel Inovations or S.H.E... That part of this whole drama is behind me at this point.







BTW, the oil above, had less then 20 miles on it...









Cracks at 12 and 6



Cracks at 11:30, 12:30 and 6



Cracks at 11, 11:30, 12 and 6

 
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#2 ·
Hey Joe youre back.. Sorry to hear about the engine, been through that crappy feeling associated with a blown/broken engine more than once. All i can say is accept help where ever you can and move on from the past..

In that last pic, #4, and the spray pattern, that is some serious timing, who was doing the tuning?
 
#28 ·
Hey Joe youre back.. Sorry to hear about the engine, been through that crappy feeling associated with a blown/broken engine more than once. All i can say is accept help where ever you can and move on from the past..

In that last pic, #4, and the spray pattern, that is some serious timing, who was doing the tuning?
See post #2 Joe.
 
#3 ·
Could the cracks be from using meth?

I'm not criticizing, just asking.
 
#9 ·
My stock block had over 80k on it spraying anywhere from water to 60% meth... Not once crack in any piston. Other then the one I cooked...:pointlaugh:

For along time I was doing testing for a water injection company and ran alot of differant things thru those nozzles, and still not one crack in the old pistons.
 
#8 ·
Mike,

This is on the up and up with David, I am not trying to start anything.

Yes, this is. He may or may not help fix it. There is a problem for the main bolt to break, but if I would not have pulled it sooner or later these pistons would have crapped out.

If they do anything I will be buying pistons for sure, but thats not my reason for posting.

I am really frustrated with the cracking of the pistons... No reason for that at the HP level I was at.
 
#10 ·
From the other thread:

Powerstroke Racer said:
That said this last bout that kainers thread was about was a broken main cap bolt, after what this engine has been through I personally would lean toward the "too bad you abused it" scenario but my true deep down feelings are that since we have never seen bottom end fastner or oiling problems that Joe probably does have a leg to stand on or complain about, so in good faith I am willing to take care of the bottom end failure in this particular case as long as the pistons are not cracked.
 
#17 ·
So much to say.......

Have you sent it to David yet? Good thing is with new pistons you'll be gettin new rings, hopefully solving the blowby issue you had developed.

What did you run tunes wise?

Cowboy Steve
:popcorn:
 
#25 ·
Like I said earlier, I find it hard to point the finger at the meth, this motor never saw more then 40%, and just a few times...

My old block with 120k on it, had water meth from about 20k until the day it was pulled. Not one crack in any of those pistons.
 
#22 ·
Joe, in that last pic it looks like the 2nd piston back has a significantly different injector spray pattern on it than the rest of the pics you put up of your pistons.

Is that right or do all the pistons look like that one?

And what is the piece you are holding in your hand that looks like a horseshoe, a piston oil cooling jet?

Dave
 
#26 ·
That really sucks. I hope none of this happens to mine.

After looking at the picture of the cracked pistons and the spray pattern they look just like the cracked pistons I had on my blown motor. And I hate to say it but I had the same tuning you do at that time.

Good luck man I know how it is.
 
#49 ·
DP Tuner?

My last engine that threw a forged rod out of the block had Jodys tunes on it, BTS rebuild the new engine and they sent the old pistons out and had them looked over, (i cant remember off the top of my head where they were sent to) but if I am thinking right PSD should have around 17* of timming correct? I beleive he said by the spray patteren on my Pistons it had anywhere from 29-34* of timming...
 
#27 ·
We seem to never learn. Meth/nitros/hydrogen make a lot of power, but also a lot of carnage. I really think that Meth/water is kind of like the timing issue, lots of fun until we have to pay the bill.

This problem is not only prevelant for the 7.3, but also in the VW 1.9 TDI. Put the spray pattern out of the bowl, (read excessive timing) add a little accelerant, (nitros/meth/water) and you will have issues.

Look at the piston that has been cleaned off. It is very obvious that the spray patten was out of the bowl, leading to early light off, letting the accelerant hurry up the flame and wala, cracked pistions. To me that makes this a excessive timing issue. The meth/water, just broke the camels back. In effect, accelerants just add a bunch of degrees to the already too much timming issue.

I have popped more engines (circle track) than I can count. My hard and fast rule was, when I left the shop for a race, the whole car was written off. If it came home alive, I was a winner.
 
#29 ·
I looked at post #2 and the original posters 2nd post and I can't figure out who did the tuning.
 
#37 ·
Before you build that engine, I would check it for cracks in the main web area. It may be that you have a crack starting where the bolt broke. All the cracks that I remember were on the outer main bolt to the cam area.

JonFord :ford:
 
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