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Lifter Failure? Report it here!

It’s being worked from the Cummins side, and has been for quite some time. (Since 2019 actually)

Between supplier quality issues and some issues with operating characteristics, the lifters have been under steady scrutiny and revision, and that continues even today.

It sounds like, for the most part, the issue is luck of the draw at this point. Some will fail prematurely, some will fail after an amount of run time, and some won’t fail at all. Shoddy maintenance, incorrect oil viscosity in cold climates, and poor operator habits play a part in some of the failures but not all. I’m told there are some concerns / issues with some of the operating characteristics that is under review right now. No eta on any conclusions as of yet.

As far as the prevalence of the issue? It’s more common than you would think, (or care to admit), but not so much that it warrants a CSN campaign (yet). It’s big enough that it has the attention of Cummins, and is being routinely looked at. That says enough. Keep in mind that, just because there are “a lot of trucks out there” with higher miles, doesn’t necessarily mean those trucks are all 100% functional or not demonstrating some level of accelerated valvetrain wear. These trucks will endure some ridiculously lousy conditions and still function.
 
It looks like I may be joining you all. Based on what I was just told at Ram service my noise problem is not the AC clutch like they thought or fuel knock, I saw the other part of my paperwork where tech said video he heard that I gave them was like a type writer with no know fix at this time, my paperwork has less verbiage. Sure wish I could upload my original iPhone video I took when it first happened yesterday while I was out of town, sad part is once the iPhone video is converted and compressed to MP4 you can not here what I was sure at the time may have been lifter noise that is now all most gone. Oh my oil was changed about 250 miles before the noise was heard, I used AMSOIL's best 10w30, the noise was heard on restart in drive through line on semi warmed up engine, had drove it about 4 miles after overnight low of 42. Attached below is the work order report I received on what they tried to do to reduce noise but they admit its still there just faint.


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I just watched the video. Dude didn't say anything we don't already know, and provided no new ideas or theories. "Could be the oil but probably not, or maybe a bad batch of lifters" is what I got out of it. Duh. Not very helpful.
 
So this is what 10k miles looks like on manton pushrods upgraded trunnions and new rockers. I think there is an oiling issue with these new Cummins blocks.
 

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301cummins said:
So this is what 10k miles looks like on manton pushrods upgraded trunnions and new rockers. I think there is an oiling issue with these new Cummins blocks.
Click to expand...
What engine oil have you been using since the conversion?

What are your idle and drive hours?

There’s some discussion happening about aeration issues in certain parts of the engine. Lifter assemblies and potentially the oil rifle causing increased aeration in the oil. Exacerbated further depending on which engine brand of oil is used. Some are worse at fending off aeration due to cheaper / poor formulation. Higher idle time at base idle is also suspect due to lower oil pressure.
 
Stock hydraulic lifters, upgraded DLC coated Trunnions, Brand new Cummins rockers, Manton 7/16 push rods
 
301cummins said:
Stock hydraulic lifters, upgraded DLC coated Trunnions, Brand new Cummins rockers, Manton 7/16 push rods
Click to expand...
If you’re operating on the stock lifter assemblies, I would suspect those are the culprit. The HLA’s in some trucks, especially older model years, may have issues with hydraulic portion of the lifter assemblies as well as QC issues with the rollers seizing intermittently.
 
I agree but that doesn’t explain the lack of oiling at the rocker assembly. Also note shot roles down hill. If the rockers are struggling to get oil wouldn’t the lifters as well. Hydraulic lifter without the hydraulics.
 
301cummins said:
I agree but that doesn’t explain the lack of oiling at the rocker assembly. Also note shot roles down hill. If the rockers are struggling to get oil wouldn’t the lifters as well. Hydraulic lifter without the hydraulics.
Click to expand...
Yeah as I said above there’s some discussion happening concerning oiling issues, but it’s not hard fact yet. And it isn’t every truck. Only some. The suspect is the HLA and oil rifles causing increased aeration in the engine oil and then subsequently causing oiling issues elsewhere. Again…hypothetically at this point but it is under review. This is one of the reasons I’m not a fan of the 5w40 oil. The wider the spread in viscosity, the more unstable the oil is and the more prone it is to fight off certain issues. Volatility and aeration are two of them. I still think the 10w30 is a better spec oil for this application at the given time, unless the 10w represents a climate incompatibility.
 
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