2005 Cummins 400 ISL connecting rod failure

Wednesday afternoon we were leaving out of Socorro, New Mexico while accelerating from 45 to 55mph we experienced a loud explosion and looked in the rear mirror to see a huge amount of smoke and as my husband always travels with the Aladdin system displayed in the main engine page he looked down and saw there was only 3psi of oil pressure after noticing that and pulling over it was then that the alarms went off. Please note the alarms did not go off prior to the loud explosion. It was after he said wow we only have 3psi of oil pressure and made his move to pull off to the side of the road immediately. Went to the back of the coach and found a huge oil puddle. Looked under the engine to find a large hole in the side of the oil pan. We were towed to Statkus Engine Service in Albuquerque New Mexico. They downloaded the computer and the code was Oil Pressure low and it was recorded for 14 seconds. No alerts or alarms prior to event. This is a 2005 Holiday Rambler Scepter it only has 23057 miles on it and it was running exceptional until that moment. We checked the Cummins recall and this s/n on this engine falls just outside the range of s/n that Cummins calls out. According to the owner of the shop that checked all of his resources no one will touch this engine - why I do not know???  The owner also seems perplexed that no one will touch it. The owner also told us that in his 41 years of business he has only seen this happen 3 or 4 times. He also wants to cut the rear fiberglass fascia apart and cut the rear cross member and hitch out of the coach to get the engine out - is this how you remove the engine out of this coach??? We would really appreciate anyone and everyone help and advice on this. Thank you so much in advance

Time to find a new shop.  This guy only wants to do what's easiest to get the motor out. Your should never take a cutting torch to structure members of the chassis to get a motor out

You need to call Cummins and get the coach to one of their recommended shops. As said above, cutting frame and chassis parts is not the way to get the engine out.

Wow thanks for the information that has really opened our eyes to definitely do some additional research and try to find a reputable dealer in the area

Also did YOU check the S/N or did the SHOP? For what it will cost to replace that engine, I wouldn't take their word for it. I'm with the others here, time for a new shop. Is there a pressure sensor on the valve cover? Supposedly, Cummins fitted the recalled engines with this sensor (if the owner took it in) so it would light a light on the dash if the crankcase pressure got too high. That's not definitive though. Maybe your Alladdin system has the means to check crankcase pressure and you can look at that. I wouldn't just be looking at the oil pressure, as that probably wasn't the root cause of the failure. Did you happen to go back and pick up the pieces off the road?

Don't be fooled by what they tell you. My 2007 Itasca Horizon is at a Freightliner Service Center right now for the same thing. My serial number is barely outside their recall numbers also. Cummins won't accept any responsibility for their defective engine because I am outside the warranty period. I have 52,000 miles on my rig and all maintenance was done according to Freightliner 's recommendations. I am the original owner. I took the Freightliner class. I expected more out of a Cummins engine. Now Cummins and Freightliner want to profit more from their defective product. We have gone to at least 3 different Cummins shops and they all have several coaches that are in need of new engines from this defective engine. It's time for Cummins to adjust that recall list and replace these engines that are defective. $315,000 coach that only got 52000 miles is not the serviceability I expected.

Any chance you could post a link to the recall serial numbers?
Thanks in advance

Here is what I found.  Defect Summary: CERTAIN ISL CUMMINS CM850 DIESEL ENGINES PRODUCED FOR RECREATIONAL VEHICLE APPLICATIONS BETWEEN OCTOBER 17, 2005, AND APRIL 18, 2006, WITH ENGINE SERIAL NUMBER RANGE FROM 46543077 TO 46603939. THE CONNECTING ROD CONTAINS A MACHINING DEFECT IN THE WRIST PIN BUSHING OF THE ROD THAT COULD CAUSE SEIZURE OF THE PISTON PIN.

Consequence Summary: IF ALLOWED TO PROGRESS, THIS COULD LEAD TO ENGINE FAILURE WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF THE ROD RUPTURING THE BLOCK CAVITY. OIL AND DEBRIS ON THE ROADWAY COULD RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.

Details on the recall: NHTSA Recall

Keep in mind, we think Cummins needs to extend those serials numbers or do a new recall. My engine number is barely outside those listed.

Thank you for the info.
My engine s/n first 4 digits are 4676...., so I am outside of those numbers but I have no idea if I am far enough out.

Thanks again

Keep in touch. Mine is a 466 number.  No engine they put in these RVs should need to be replaced with such low mileage. Cummins response was you should have had an extended warranty. Really? It's a defective engine, and Cummins wants me or anyone to pay them to purchase another one? If they don't trust their engines enough to replace bad ones with a new one, why should I? 

Just an update on our situation. Our process has been long and arduous. We did move our coach to a Cummins dealer in Albuquerque New Mexico. Their definition for our motor blowing is the #2 piston broke resulting in a catastrophic failure. We asked them what caused the #2 piston to break again this motor only has 23,000 miles on it and has been well maintained. After weeks on end they were unable to give us an answer (wouldn't give us an answer) and told us that in order for them to determine the root cause the motor would have to be analyzed and that would be on our dime. We elevated the situation up to Cummins Corporate and we were assigned an "executive problem solver" from Cummins--he was useless! We then spoke to one of their attorneys and again useless. We hired an attorney whom sent them a demand letter, again they didn't care. Our attorney told us unless we can generate enough proof from others that have had this experience that this is an ongoing problem we would stand to have additional expenses then may still end up paying for another motor. He said with enough participation there could be a case for a class action. And Cummins knows that most people don't have enough money in their bank account to risk taking them on so they just bury you in paper work and added expenses to prove your case. Very sad, eventually someone will get hurt or seriously injured and then someone might get heard. That seems to be what it takes. We filed a complaint with the NHTSB but have gotten no where with that since no one was hurt. They seem to focus more again if someone got hurt or killed. We just asked them to require Cummins to expand their recall range before it's too late and someone does get hurt.

Mine is a Holiday Rambler Endevor 400 Cummins ISL with 61k miles with the same issue. My engine number is also just out of range of the recall. My first quote was 47k to replace the engine. My second one came in at 41k. At these cost it almost totals the RV.  Both quotes came from Cummins shops. Both places told me that these engines should rum 1/2 million miles, but they have to be ran. That sitting is the worst thing for them. I believe Cummins sets these RV's up to fail from the get go. They know the average RV is driven 3000 miles a year, but the install engines that need to run to stay in condition. They said these should be started and ran at minimum an hour a week. Where has anyone printed that in any owners manual?  Where?  To the person asking about the class action law suit. There should be some accountability, if these engines need to be ran to get the expected 1/2 million miles out of them then someone needs to tell us to run them. 

I believe Cummins sets these RV's up to fail from the get go. They know the average RV is driven 3000 miles a year, but the install engines that need to run to stay in condition

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Maybe somebody set them up, but it's not Cummins. They just make engines and sell them to people who build vehicle chassis.  If you want to sue somebody, it would have to be the chassis builder (Roadmaster for the Endeavor) and Monaco Coach (who spec'ed the chassis as well as being the parent of Roadmaster). The owner manual comes from them, not Cummins.

I also suspect that the person who gave the advice about running an hour a week was a shop tech rather than an official spokesman for Cummins Engines. It's not consistent with advice I've encountered from other sources. Diesel engines sit around just fine. Certainly wrist pins, blocks and cylinder heads don't fail from lack of use. Heck, heavy construction equipment often sits for months at a time without use, yet they fire up the engines and go when needed.

I have talked with Cummins Corp. They stated that time is worst on these engines than miles. That it's harder on these engines to sit than it is to run. So yes. That came from Cummins