Official Cummins 6cta 450C thread

If you check post #946, I requested same info. I ended up pulling the whole thing out but here is a pic from that post. I circled the fuse.

 

I know what you mean about the voltage drops. Had the same thing on my 420. I left my grid heaters on. When I would go to start the engines, I'd let the grid heaters cycle twice and then I'd hit the engine starter when the voltage recovered. The mechanical 6CTAs, in my view, don't like when the water temperature is 60 degrees or lower. They tend to smoke a bit more at the cooler temperatures. I always felt that the grid heater helped to put some temperature in the combustion air to help minimize the smoke. More theory than practice in the statement, to be honest.

Jaybeaux

 

Thank you very much!

 

Thank you. But wouldn't oil pan heaters like the Wolverine's accomplish the same thing without all the extra load on the alternators, etc?

 

When I lost the one engine grid heater I left the other one intact on purpose so I could compare….. I really didn’t see any obvious difference…. It came out late October…. and there were some cold mornings

 

Agreed, I had just the starboard heater working for a few season's and couldn't tell the difference. Same for the oil pan heaters. It aids with the cold cranking but not any noticeable difference with smoke at startup.

 

I'm not concerned about smoke at startup with regards to the oil pan heaters... more on "cold start" type scenearios to help with that.

 

Hi all,

Found a freeze plug in bad shape. It must have gotten some saltwater in it and had it just sit there for a awhile as it is crispy, but I couldn't see until I got all the brackets off for the intercooler and such off.

Any good techniques for replacing besides knocking it in on one side and wiggling it out?

Thx in advance!

 

The plugs are glued and pressed in. Cummins will have the glue and plug. To get it out you will need a slide hammer…. Drill and tap the plug…. You need fine threads….. or hook it

 

Oh boy, the good news is I have the coolant out already and access for what you describe. The bad news is I don't think there is enough material due to the corrosion. It is bad enough I can flex the plug with my fingers.

 

You can get a hook for a slide hammer… drill a hole in plug

 

Any pics? And where are the freeze plugs located? I need to ck mine. TIA.

 

Didn't take a pic, can later this week as I am traveling for work.

It is behind the charge air tube coming from the aftercooler to the intake manifold and behind the coolant filter/fuel filter bracket. I had never seen it until I had pulled all of that off, but if you are looking you should be able to get eyes on it with pulling anything.

 

@keithmo as promised here are the pics. Odd the freeze plug is set so that water doesn't drain out, but you aren't supposed to have a raw water leak either. This is on the port side (as you know, vdrives, so left side of engine if viewed from the bell housing to the gear case). You can see the tip of the water and fuel filter bracket and then the slightly more zoomed out image showing the top of the water filter head.

Sadly, the more I dig on this port engine, the more I realized that the previous owner and broker paid someone to really detail and pain the engines and pass on known issues. Everything I take off the paint just crumbles away and there is nothing but corrosion. Oh well, inspections only find so much. The port engine still runs great, just have to keep it from rusting away which is just time and effort.

 

That doesn’t look good at all. You need a good machined bore for the cup plug to work

 

@Blueone tell me about...ughh.

Have you seen the after market aluminum plugs? These are for 5.9s, but I'd bet I can get something like it.

https://www.michiganmotorsports.com...24v/?msclkid=d8ed58d7586e174f4a0a3cc43b7e4c91

 

The problem you have is machining the bore…… you have to get that solved first. Then my guess is making a custom plug because of the new bore size….. that oring design will work….. not clear on how they are sealing the bolt. But the o-ring needs a good machined surface to seal.

you might get away with a magnetic drill with a boring head….. problem is getting it perpendicular and centered on the hole

 

Was thinking that having the oring would make it so I could just clean up the bore with a Dremel. The plugs need the perfect hole, but with the oring, you buy some ability to have some imperfection and still get a seal.

I am less OCD than most...lol. Which is strange as I came out of aviation.

 

You can try but the oring still needs a good surface….. and round… and with the right compression for the pressure….. easily custom made if you can get the right oring size

 

Don't grind on that block - you'll never get anything to seal again. After getting the plug out wire brush it to bare metal then either set a new plug in with Aviation Form-A-Gasket or install an expanding plug. Most likely you will find the engine block to be in good shape where the plug is.