Hi, first time poster,

Yeaterday I bought a 99, 2500, 4x4, edge ez chip, with 107,000 miles. Clean looking truck but last night I ran across the warnings about the 53 Block. I looked this morning and yes I have the Dreaded 53 Block but I can not see any cracks or leaking yet. I would like to know if I should dump the truck, keep it. If you have had experience with the 53 block I would like to hear from you, good or bad. I added a poll to keep tabs on the results.

Thanks for you replys,
John..

 

I would keep it. not all 53 blocks crack. if you do some research you'll see what conditions were (thru posts on forums) when they did crack. maybe you'll never create those conditions with your truck and it'll never crack.

 

just as steve said. . .keep it. it is still a good engine. however I have heard different reason as to when and how the crack happens. some on stock trucks, some on massive mods. there is no rhyme or reason to why they crack.

 

yeah and even if it does, get it fixed and you should be good to go. I never heard of a block cracking a 2nd time. doesnt mean it cant happen, I just havent heard of it.

a couple of questions come to mind... is it possible it's too much heat under load? could an aux fan be used to help cool it to the point that it never gets hot enough to crack? maybe the key is to drop the t-stat temp 5~10 deg to give it the extra headroom.

 

the problem is the outer water jacket on the exhaust side of the engine is only 5.5mm thick instead of the required 11mm thick. this was a casting snafu in Brazil where these blocks were made. the crack usualy goes horizontaly with the manifold allowing water to pour out of the crack.

I personaly believe it boils down to a casting defect in that area. 5.5mm of wall thickness can handle the torque and heat the engine produces, however the smallest imperfection in the metal and the vibrations of the engine cause the crack to occur.

 

have you ever heard of any re-cracking?

 

I have search the Internet pretty good but have not found how prevalent this problem is. I think turbodieselregister.com has several good fourm on the topic but I am not a member. The issue for me is value and not love of the truck. I would like an understanding of risk with this Block. Does that happen to 1 in a 1000 or 1 in 50? If it does happen what are the cost assoicated with it? I have read it cost $7000 to $10,000 to replace the block. I don't see that as a good option. I have found two other options, see the sites below. I don't know the cost of these but I am sure it is less than a new block. I also do not have any feedback on if these methods work. As far as a new block re-cracking, I have not found any problems with any new blocks that were not 53's. I did read about one poor guy that replaced his cracked block with a junk yard block only to find out later it was another 53 and yes it cracked again.

http://www.locknstitch.com/5.9_cummi...cked_block.htm

http://www.muggyweld.com/53block.html

 

Hey Rock, I hate to sound like a tool here, but if your already THIS worried about your block cracking, perhaps you SHOULD sell your truck. If it's going to get you THIS sick and worried, perhaps you should just give yourself piece of mind and rid yourself of it.

I am the proud and happy owner of a 98.5 Ram, and I have no clue if I have a 53, 52, 59 or 77 block. I honestly don't care. I love my truck, so whatever happens to it, I'll fix. No worries.

 

Hey Mayfair, point well taken. I am only trying to assessing my risk. If there is good chance of the block cracking and an exceptable fix costing more than several thousand dollars, I will sale the truck and buy a non-53 block truck. I see a truck as a depreciating commodity.

I also want to open this topic up and see how big this problem is, not only for myself but for others who have the 53 block or are looking to buy a used truck. Maybe the poll will give some insite

 

Ok Rock, for you I'll take a look and see what block I have.

Where do I look to see it stamped or printed?