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Old 06-30-2017, 05:20 PM   #551
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Moving the starter over to the other side puts it right under the turbo, inaccessible and hot as all get out. Whatevs... there's a whole industry built around doing it that way. They must know something I don't.
They probably know how to get commissions on replacement starters.

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Old 08-15-2018, 02:34 PM   #552
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I bet most of you have forgotten about this build huh? Well...life, customer builds, shop space, etc... sometimes get in the way of personal projects. In this case, all of the above plus some.

Once the van was together last summer, we started getting really busy with customer builds and Transit development. I got to drive the van a bit and sort out some little things (like power steering leak, fuel leak, engine tuning, trans tuning...) but there was a concerning sound coming from inside the Allison trans that had me worried...that and there was a ton of friction material and metal shavings inside the pan and filter. With no extra time to play and no shop space, I decided to put the Cummins project on hold and took the van to a "storage facility" (thanks mom and dad's farm) to sit until I could find a break in the chaos around here.

We're not any less busy and I don't have any more shop space but you can't let a build like this sit unfinished. Brought the big beast back to the shop, I got it on the lift, pulled the trans and took it to some local Allison pros.

I was fearing that I had a bearing go bad and the planetary gears were shredding parts that get really expensive really quickly. The trans tech called me up and said that the insides looked great. In fact, he commented that it looked like a pro-built trans and he was impressed with my work. No smoking gun though... All the parts checked out under a thorough inspection. He asked about the torque converter and I thought, since I bought it new as a high performance, billet, triple disk, specifically designed for Cummins/Allison conversions unit...how could that be the problem?

There had to be something making all the extra material and metal so I gave authorization to cut open the torque converter and check it out.

I got the call.... "We have a smoking gun!".



It isn't often that discovering that a $1500 part is junk is a relief but I can tell you that I was pretty stoked to know that it wasn't something I did and that my transmission was going to be ok.

The failure looks to be splatter from the welding process that got into the disks and just shredded them. There were also some broken fins on the stator which explains seeing both tons of aluminum and steel in the pan. Thankfully the TC manufacturer agreed to refund my money but I'm still out a HEFTY sum to get the trans inspected and reassembled.

Trans is back in the van now and I'm just about roadworthy again. While it was out, I took the opportunity to reroute some of the wiring harness to get it out of a pinch zone and I made some new trans cooler lines to get up out of the way more. I also had to change out a couple sensors on the engine for the new gauges to work right and the last thing is to reroute the dipstick tube so I don't have a pull the doghouse to check/add oil.

I'll update again soon with a video.
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Old 08-15-2018, 03:37 PM   #553
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G'day,
Every time I drive my Ram 3500 drw 4x4 6.7 Cummins diesel, I think of your van project and wish I had a Cummins in my Sportsmibile. 6.0 is ok, but Cummins/Allison combo would be amazing. So smooth, powerful, quiet. My Truck Camper/Eagle Cap 1160 & Ram 3500 drw weighs 7.1 tons loaded, but pulls up hills effortlessly, even with trailer, here in Australia, overtakes just about anything, safely and quick, stock too, no tuner.
Great to hear your news.
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Old 08-15-2018, 04:19 PM   #554
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Fantastic news. It's always nice to learn that your own work was done correctly, and that the problem was caused by someone else, but it's still an expensive pain to have to rework something that you paid good money for. Looking forward to seeing the van on the road.
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Old 08-15-2018, 09:41 PM   #555
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Haa it's funny, just yesterday I was wondering how fun it will be to put in the cummins in my 6.0 and that reminded me of your build thread. Even checked expovans website to see any pricing info. I love it's reliability, quietness and the inline design.... should be easy to work under the hood.
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Old 08-16-2018, 01:59 PM   #556
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Haa it's funny, just yesterday I was wondering how fun it will be to put in the cummins in my 6.0 and that reminded me of your build thread. Even checked expovans website to see any pricing info. I love it's reliability, quietness and the inline design.... should be easy to work under the hood.
While there are some tight spots, the Cummins actually fits pretty well in the van. It might look packed in there but there is soooooo much more room to work on this engine than a 7.3 or 6.0.



The Allison is one big mamajamma of a transmission and I've had no issues getting it in and out for service. Part of this whole conversion was to simplify things as much as possible and make it easy to service.
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Old 09-02-2018, 03:35 PM   #557
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where did you get your cummins from? I am looking at sawpping in a 4bt but having a hard time sourcing one. found some used ones on here https://www.4btengines.com/used-engines/ but not sure if I would do better getting a remanufactured one instead?
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Old 09-02-2018, 03:43 PM   #558
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I purchased this engine on Ebay from a reputable salvage yard.

Gotta be honest...not a fan of the 4bt. Unless you simply don't have room, I'd go with 5.9L or 6.7L common rail. Tons of aftermarket support, quiet(er), smooth(er) and about the same costs compared to a 4bt conversion.
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Old 09-16-2018, 05:18 PM   #559
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The Cummins van got out today for some trans tuning/data logging. Here's a fly by my wife captured.

https://youtu.be/8JeeY12zdIY

Everything is working good. Needs some minor adjustments to the trans tuning and an updated calibration for the engine to account for the new intake and larger intercooler (vs. the stock parts in a RAM) but it's running good enough to put some more miles on it. The power is just plain silly. Definitely a unique experience.
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:34 PM   #560
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Very nice, I might have to stop out for a close up look.

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