In my travels online, I have come across a number of people who have taken their Ford trucks and done an aftermarket install of a B series Cummins engine.

I've considered doing such at some point if/when the 7.3 gives up the ghost in my F-350. I really like the 7.3s but the stuff built around them seems to be what kills them... turbos going bad, that kind of thing.

But in looking for a possible 5.9 Cummins to install, I keep running across engine after engine after engine that's been in/through a fire.

What's up with that? Anybody know what the source of many of these fires might be? It's someting I'd want to explore for sure as I wouldn't want to install an engine with a higher probablity of fire if there are certain years or builds that could be avoided to avoid the problem(s).

Does anybody know if they had a certain electrical problem? A fuel leak problem? An oil leak problem? I would think with as many fires as I've noted that there must be similarities that pop up and even fixes so that those things specifically don't pop up.

Curious,

Brian

Your post is the very first I've heard of this. Visit dodgeram.org to research on this subject.
I remember back about 2004/5 the maintence department at Cummins/Columbus,IN plant, had a few Fords with Cummins B 5.9 engines in them.
If you are shopping for a B 5.9, look through auto-rv.com magazine. There is a company in Terre Haute, IN selling Cummins test engines.
Matching a newer 24V engine would be a major task. The Cummins computer would likely argue with the Ford computer.

Hi Ray,

I never did find much online about fire and the B5.9. But there are numerous notations of fire damage on a website that I use when looking for parts. (Probably several hundred listings for the 5.9 engines and maybe around a dozen notations of fire.)

I thought maybe there was something in particular that was recalled or maybe noted when owning a Cummins. Guess not.

The 12V engines are pretty easy to install, less complicated. And some people are tuning them up to put out a comparable HP (reliably) to the 24V and the Common Rail engines. The 24V is a little more complicated as it does have it's own computer. And the Common Rail engines are even more complicated to install than the 24V.

I dunno which way I might be inclined towards. The 12V "tweaked" may be a pretty nice setup and would have all the power I'd need. I don't know if I'd gain in significant performance or economy by going to a 24V or a Common Rail engine.

Thanks for the input.

Brian

Don't forget a bucket to carry the Ford tranny parts...

Seriously, if you swap do the engine and transmission together both for reliability, compatibility and repair issues.

Brian, the 12V engines are very stout. Scheid Diesel of Effingham,IL runs an unlimited pulling truck. A 1997 Dodge K3500, with the 12V engine reliably producing over 1,000HP, and well over 2,000 lb/ft torque!

Hi Stan,

I'm not sure what Dodge is using for manual transmissions. My Ford has a ZF-6 (six speed manual) in it.

The mating process isn't all that difficult from the Cummins to the ZF-6. Just wondering if the Dodge would be different or better?

Thanks for the input.

Brian

Wow, Ray, I don't know what I'd do with 1000HP.



Actually, I had something more along the lines of maybe 325HP in mind, which is quite doable without much fuss or worry.

Not trying to win any races. Just wanna get there safely and with as little worries as possible.

Who knows, maybe the 7.3 will run for a while.



But just in case... thanks for the thoughts.

Brian

Brian,

You might want to do a cost evaluation to see
if this engine swap would really be any better
than a fresh 7.3 motor.

I have a 2004 F350 6.0/auto and at 81K it popped
a headgasket so I took it into the Ford dealer
under the 100K warranty.

They pulled the motor and pulled the heads
off and found damage to the cyclinder walls
on a number of cyclinders.....long story short
Ford paid to put a fresh 6.0 in my truck.
Cost to them was $12K, I paid my $100 plus had
the radiator redone and hoses/belts done.

Hi Phil,

For cost of replacement, going with a fresh rebuild of either a 7.3 or a 5.9, there's not a lot of difference. I did the fresh 7.3 a while back and it's still doing great. But I had wondered if I were faced with that again in the future whether I might try the 5.9 swap.

Hopefully, it'll be a long time!



Brian