Ford Power Stroke Nation banner

Mahle Forged Diesel Racing Pistons

19K views 35 replies 19 participants last post by  Diesel Tech 
#1 ·
See less See more
1
#3 ·
Seems like I remember reading somewhere that forged pistons aren't meant for daily driving. Not sure though. Doesn't Ross make a set also? I'm thinking that's where I saw it.

.
 
#4 ·
Seems like I remember reading somewhere that forged pistons aren't meant for daily driving. Not sure though. Doesn't Ross make a set also? I'm thinking that's where I saw it.

.
I have seen too many stock Mahle pictons cracked thru or with holes burnt thru them. One of the few items remaining I need for my final build is pistons/rings. Whatever I get will be coated too. These are looking good, but want to know if anyone has tried them yet.
 
#7 ·
Sounds like they need to spend some time on developing some rings that will live in a forged piston.


This is somthing I found in a article that adds to what Wacker was saying.

Hard anodizing the upper ring land helps, as does using a steel rectangular shaped top ring. But these forged diesel pistons are intended primarily for “short run” racing, not your average daily driver pickup truck that may also be used for towing.
 
#13 ·
Well let me give just a little information for you all. I have been involved with Mahle from day one on the development of this piston in the Duramax engine. The original design goal was for the piston to last 25,000 miles. It's done that and more. As for a 60,000 mile motor I will not believe it until I've seen it. We know of none that are over about 42,000 so far as testing is ongoing. The concern is not for the piston design itself but over the fact that we cannot use a Keystone ring for the top ring. A diesel by nature puts a lot of soot in the cylinder, this gets in between the top ring and the piston. A Keystone ring scrubs itself clean each time the motor warms up but it needs to be run on a steel surface so it cannot be used on a forged piston. To date no one has found a way to get an insert into the forging and for it to stay put over time.

So what has been done in the forged piston was to hard anodize the top ring groove and go back to a normal top ring. The hope is the hard anodize and the ring will hold up but for now we just tell everyone we do not know for sure. We can get these made in just about any compression ratio that you want, with or without valve reliefs, pin height changes and so on can all be handled. So far we've had 7.3L Ford, Duramax and 5.9 Cummins pistons made.
 
#15 ·
Well let me give just a little information for you all. I have been involved with Mahle from day one on the development of this piston in the Duramax engine. The original design goal was for the piston to last 25,000 miles. It's done that and more. As for a 60,000 mile motor I will not believe it until I've seen it. We know of none that are over about 42,000 so far as testing is ongoing. The concern is not for the piston design itself but over the fact that we cannot use a Keystone ring for the top ring. A diesel by nature puts a lot of soot in the cylinder, this gets in between the top ring and the piston. A Keystone ring scrubs itself clean each time the motor warms up but it needs to be run on a steel surface so it cannot be used on a forged piston. To date no one has found a way to get an insert into the forging and for it to stay put over time.

So what has been done in the forged piston was to hard anodize the top ring groove and go back to a normal top ring. The hope is the hard anodize and the ring will hold up but for now we just tell everyone we do not know for sure. We can get these made in just about any compression ratio that you want, with or without valve reliefs, pin height changes and so on can all be handled. So far we've had 7.3L Ford, Duramax and 5.9 Cummins pistons made.
Steve,

Would this in any way compromise combustion pressure testing data from that cylinder?


Diane
 
#18 ·
We are hoping for a 50,000 mile pistons life but the design goal was set lower. We did not want to over promise on something we were not sure of. The idea was to build a racing piston not a daily driver street piston. It's very rare that you can get both out of one.

Gas porting works well for a short time limit as the gas ports puts a lot of pressure on the ring. Not sure but my guess is we would really kill the overall life of the piston and ring doing it. Also this would put more soot into the top ring area. I do not think they would plug right away but they may over time, anyone want to try it on there dime?
 
#21 ·
after seeing the stock pistons in my motor that blew i dont mind goin back w/ stockers. as much heat as the saw over the years and there was only one 1/4" crack on one piston on the lip of the bowl. but anyway, those pistons do look sweet, if only i was rich lol.
 
#22 ·
Your looking around $2500 for a set of forged Mahle. These can be built to whatever spec. you want. You dream up what compression ratio and what valve clearance you need and it takes 4 - 6 weeks to have them shipped off. The pistons come with rings, wrist pins, wrist pin clips and coated skirts.
 
#24 ·
WTF? 25,000 Mile life of a diesel motor. Why the heck does it not last over 25,000 miles????
 
#28 ·
I have had a set of arias pistons with totsl seal rings in my motor for three full seasons of pulling, with no problems at all, The pistons still looked great when the motor was pulled down

Travis
 
#29 ·
Where are you guys getting the idea that forged pistons are not good for daily drivers? Other than a bit of noise at start up, they are no worse than a regular piston over time. Or are you speaking purely about DIESEL daily drivers?
 
#31 ·
This is a Diesel issue with the keystone ring in a forged piston. Like I said before if you only use it for racing and it only is going to run at the track there is no issue as they are now. A race truck most likely only see's about 15 minutes run time at an event so they will last plenty long enough for several seasons of use.
 
#32 ·
Not quite a derail as the op seems to want performance pistons.
But seems like a few month back there was a company making
some kind of new dmax piston. Looked all black from what I recall.
Anyone else catch that one or know if they have them for psd
 
#33 ·
That's us! The all Black piston is something we are testing. We call it "Black Magic". It is a plating process we have found that rejects heat and is good for 2000 degrees for short burst. Worked great for record runs at Bonneville this year! We still do not know how it will hold up in the ring groove area but it is being tested at this time. We have tore down motors that have many passes at 1900 EGT's by the end of the run and they look the same as the day they were put in.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top