geordi wrote:
Jeff, if there is an accusation in your drivel, cut to the chase and make it.
I don't have the results on paper yet to be able to post them, and when I do, you and everyone else shall have them. The preliminary inspections by graduate students who are studying metal material failures - which seems perfectly suited to this problem - the preliminary results that I have been told are that it does NOT appear to be scour from the EGR soot, there is no evidence of progressive fractures or pitting that could indicate a failure over time from a manufacturing defect or a crack that propagates over time. There is also no evidence of wear from valve guides sticking or wearing that they mentioned. Lastly, there is no evidence that it is a heat-related failure either. It would appear that the metal just gets to a certain point and reaches a limit of how much flexing it will endure, and fails.
Their process seems to indicate that what we are looking at is cyclical failure that tracks with the failure mileages - somewhere around 200k miles / 300 billion cycles of the valve. (do not quote me on the number I am not 100% on that and am going from memory at the moment) As each valve opens only once during each revolution of the camshaft and the cams are running at 1/2 speed of the crankshaft, that suggests that for an individual valve it is effectively running at 1/8 engine rpm if my math is right. So that means that we can calculate the number of cycles on a given valve at 200k miles assuming an average speed of 60mph / 2000 rpm.
Now, about that whole "why hasn't anyone contacted VM" comment... Why not YOU? You have all the questions, be our guest, contact them and get them to answer you! Nobody is stopping you. The reality is that you want to make all the pronouncements and engineering claims about products, but never produce even the slightest bit of proof, only demand that everyone else go out and find "engineers" and ask them for free information - and then ostensibly provide it to you.
But you will not get an answer from VM for exactly the reason stated: It could open them to legal liability for releasing a sub-par product by cutting corners to cut costs, and they won't admit this at all. The truth of the situation is that Chrysler specified to VM that they would only certify the engine for 120k miles, and they didn't care about anything after that point - ergo, they weren't interested in paying for R&D costs to enhance the engine's longevity beyond 120k miles, so that it would outlast their planned warranty by 50k miles - a healthy margin of safety for them, so they wouldn't be on the hook for either severe engine damage OR potentially even changing the timing belt under warranty.
But you can go right ahead and call anyone you want to prove me wrong. I'll be right here waiting for you.
Getting answers from the VM engineers may not be as hard as you claim. The trick is on how you ask the question. I would simply ask questions as to why the engine is designed the way it is, not cross-examine then in an accusatory tone. If this does not work, there are always other engine designers and engineers to consult regarding the basic construction and architecture of the R425 and R428 series of engines. One question I would like to ask the larger CRD owning audience on this forum is why these valve-train component problems are not nearly as prevalent in vehicles outside of North America? Perhaps it is something that we are doing here that is having an adverse affect on the cylinder heads and the valve trains of these engines here that is NOT being done elsewhere?
Jim, YOU have proven nothing so far, and that is my point. You make all kinds of accusations regarding the quality of the valve train components on the R428 engine, yet YOU have proven nothing. No definitive answers from the testing that has taken place on the valves, and no definitive answers as to why there have been so many head gasket failures. That appears to matter little to you, this problem simply serves as a great way for you blame the TTY bolts for the head gasket failures, and allude to poor quality valves for the failures there as well. It serves your purpose very well to start threads, ostensibly under the guise of "valuable research", so you can sell your services...
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=84902viewtopic.php?f=5&t=79984Normally, I would let this kind of thing go, because there is a very small chance that there is truth to your claim that the components are at fault. Perhaps a significant portion of the engines produced for the North American market did have flawed valvetrain components and TTY bolts. But if that is the case, then why have these problems not manifested themselves in the much larger world market that uses these engines? There is likely 100X as many R425 and R428 engines elsewhere in the world; why haven't we heard of offshore CRD owners having these problems?
You accuse me of not providing any proof regarding the necessity of my product, the HDS Model 001 engine thermostat assembly. I have two problems with this...
1) You are being a hypocrite here, demanding proof from me about the necessity of my product, but providing no proof of your claims of poor quality valves and TTY bolts components. Your lack of proof to your claims was the major reason I have responded to this thread.
2) My response to your accusation regarding me and my product has always been clear, and has been backed up by real world on-the-road performance improvements of every Liberty CRD that has one installed. My reputation is spotless, and the quality of my product is peerless... not 1 customer of mine has EVER complained about the performance or the quality of the Model 001. On the other hand, YOUR reputation is most certainly NOT spotless, and your qualifications to make the claims you have on your two sticky "research" threads is more than a little suspect. You have provided no proof of an engineering degree or experience in engineering... you have not even provided any proof that you are a properly trained automotive technician or heavy duty diesel technician, for crying out loud.
Did you ever pay back the money highironcrd claims that you stole from him last November? You know, the Liberty CRD deal that went bad... you damaged the CRD you were delivering to him, and he refused to take it, but you had already spent the money he gave you for it... you know... THAT DEAL.
You have a lot of nerve questioning MY reputation when yours is in the toilet, Jim Hulse.