6.0 Liter Quitter

This is my current non jeep project, swapping out my Ford 6.0 diesel with a 98 Cummins 24. Already have the Cummins and adapter kit. These past few days after work, I’ve been taking parts off and this is how far I’ve gotten. Sad to say, this is what it takes to work on most diesels now a days. I’ll be glad when this is over and I can actually work on something without being a contortionist.

 

yep it looks packed in there
will the dodge motor give you more room

 

Wow.

 

Well the Cummins is about 200lbs heavier and 5" longer but other than that a smaller engines as far as height and width.

 

It will definitely be narrower. I’m curious on the length because in the conversion manual, they want the transmission moved back a few inches so the Cummins clutch fan will work. I’m hoping I can leave it and fab up a custom fan shroud.

 

More progress made tonight. Got the AC compressor out which wasn't fun, and the engine wiring out so I can send that out with the dodge harness and the can get reworked.

 

Ditching the 6.0...smart move. Cummins 24v...smart move. I like the Ford trucks but that 6.0 really has issues eh?

 

Yep. My old work truck was an 05 F550 and we had everything done to it and it still kept giving us issues. Once mine gave me trouble I said the heck with it. The swap was cheaper than "fixing" the 6.0 and will never give me issues. I LOVE this chassis, it's the last year of the leaf spring front end, the torqueshift 5r110 transmission is a great transmission, and this truck is super clean. I bought it in Georgia several years ago and never drive it in the salt. It was a super candidate for this swap.

The issue I was having was that it would die when hot, which means the high pressure oil system that runs the injectors has a leak. The engine never had head studs put in and the only upgrade was the egr delete. To do everything to "fix" it would be 8-10K at a dealer. My swap runs in around $6500 including buying a Cummins. Now I will have a truck that will be way more reliable and will be very easy to work on. One thing that will be nice will be not having the feeling of dread. Every time I hooked up to the trailer, I always thought to myself, "Will this be the time it blows?" Luckily, I had bought another diesel in the spring to fix and resell. Now that mine broke, I just swapped plates and made that fix real easy and I can take my time on this one.

 

I was looking at how much it would be moved back and its not very much, 2" at most? Really hope to make it work that way so I can share it with the company I got the kit from.

 

This whole tread relates to my renter and his 06 King stubble farm F350. He put a bigger turbo on it to start with. Three sets of heads, studs, and who knows what else, the engine was toast. Then the oxymoron if ever there was one: the professional built BULLET PROOF 6.0 was next. 12k $ later, that engine was returned after removing it's aftermarket heads and finding imprints of all 4 valves in the tops of each piston. A couple weeks back, he finally got a completely stock 6.0 back in it. About 20k in that mess, more than the truck was worth. And IMO, still probably not going to hit another 100k miles.

Somewhat ironic that I see a parallel in this with people trying to pull any significant power gain out of our 134's.

Oh, and the thread does a big disservice to that other 6.0 L which is actually a very good engine with no blue ooze.

 

Nate, your a better man than me. That's a lot of freaking work. If you need beers, let me know.

 

More progress made, pulled the oil filter/fuel filter housing, intake, and power steering pump. Also ordered the upgraded crankcase breather kit and a fuel pressure regulator. The stock Ford lift pump makes 45 psi and the the cummins injection pump requires 10 psi. At least the stock carter diaphragm pump will be going away on the cummins.

 

Got the boat anchor of a 6.0 pulled out today!



And started prepping the Cummins for install. I pulled the front cover off and found the killer dowl pin. I’ll make up a sheet metal tab to hold that in place. I put a new water pump on, the ford alternator and brackets, ford sensor adapter and sensor and the new engine mounts.

 

Did my killer dowel pin fix tonight and bolted the new exhaust manifold on and the ford tachometer kit.

 

learned something new

 

There’s a kit to do what I did in 5 min with a pair of tin snips. And it costs $15 plus shipping

 

Went to bolt the stock turbo on last night annndddd.... The wastegate hits the side of the block. So, I guess I'll be buying a new turbo, some bigger injectors and head studs. $$$$

 

Is there not anyway to clock the turbo so it will clear?

 

As it turns out, the company I got my swap kit from sells a new wastegate actuator that is smaller and solves the problem. So the engine will stay stock for now.