Wear rates in duramax vs cummins vs powerstroke

Status
Not open for further replies.

gnr

Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
11
Location
Canada
Anyone know which of these engines has the best wear rates?

Perhaps there is no appreciable difference between the three.

May also be a difference between newer vs older models given the different emissions strategies employed.

Just curious.
 
I can tell you for sure the duramax wears very little,from our own UOA's and the ones posted here,they always show good numbers.

our '06 is currentlyty doing 15k OCI's and thinking of taking it out longer because the numbers come back great.
 
The Duramax and Cummins are probably pretty close in terms of wear numbers. They both have a reputation of being easy on the oil in the light duty truck environment. The Duramax may have an advantage because it has roller cam followers, and the Cummins has slider cam followers. There isn't enough data on the 6.7 Powerstroke yet to know much about how that engine is wearing in the field.
 
Originally Posted By: RISUPERCREWMAN
I believe that Cummins is the only one with a 300K mile warranty. That says alot!


I think you are referring to average life expectancy rather than warranty. I don't think I've ever seem comparable figures on life expectancy. I think the cummins' B50 is
350k miles (50% of engines make it top this point before needing internal work I think that means). I believe the duramax figures I have seen were 250k miles, but I think that was a B90 figure so not apples to apples. Not sure how scientific those figures are anyway. Not sure about the powerstroke.

I guess the answer is just to look at a Blackstone UOA for average wear rates quoted for each engine.

An irrelevant question anyway I suppose since the cummins and duramax are both known to run a lot of miles. Powerstroke 6.0/6.4 are more questionable I guess until bullet proofed.
 
I have wear rate data generated from thousands of UOAs on several light-duty diesels; 6.6L Dmax, 5.9 and 6.7 Cummins, Ford/IH 6.9, 7.3, 7.3PSD, 6.0PSD, 6.4PSD and a tiny bit on the 6.7PSD.
On a "per mile" basis, the 6.6L Dmax has the lowest wear rates as an overall engine family. However the 5.9 Cummins is a near-tie, and the 6.7L Cummins is not far behind. Much of it depends on use; you cannot look at Fe and not take into account service factors.

But ... I've not seen UOA wear data really be able to predict the end of life for an engine. Take, for example, the 7.3L PSD ... it sheds a fair amount of Fe and Al, and yet those engine (when not grossly modified) are very well respected for longevity, despite the metals they throw off.


Want to make an engine last? Pick an engine family of good pedigree; no sludge issues, no cracked heads, no cooling issues, etc. Then, just follow good routine maintenance practices. The diesel will last longer than you likely will drive it.
 
Thanks dnewton!

I have an engine like you describe ('06 Cummins 5.9), but I don't presently put enough miles on it to ever worry about wearing it out (assuming I never have an injector issue). I have done a couple of UOA's on it just to make sure there was no fuel in the oil.

I just find this stuff interesting.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top