hello fellow titan owners! the venerable vk56 is being replaced in my beast! getting a transplant! kind of bummed but i think sQuid or someone else mentioned that it was all downhill after hearing of all my engine woes! first, it started off with the SES light coming on, then finding out it triggered a code indicating a bad catalytic convertor which explained the rattling i had heard right around the same time the SES light had triggered. second, the oil pressure needle was dropping down to the 1/3 mark everytime i came to a stop and during startup i started to notice white smoke! then the next morning, i started her up and again out came a plume of white smoke, followed by a dragstrip car rumble like it had racing cams installed, or as if a cylinder wasn't firing right. shortly thereafter, the SES light was blinking like crazy, then it would stay on, then it would blink wildly again! brought her in the next day to the dealer to have them fix it. well turns out cylinder 7 was misfiring due to a fouled sparkplug (covered in oil) bad sign but the dumbass tech didn't see that. picked the truck up and drove her off and a few miles from the dealership the truck still did not drive right. the idle wasn't as bad as before but you could still hear misfiring in the exhaust. so i thought, well i'll just drive it a bit more maybe it'll clear up. several miles later, still the same and then i really noticed a serious lack of power when pegging the gas pedal. i knew then the problems were probably exacerbated by the failed catalytic convertor, especially reading some of you's guys comments on debris from the cat being sucked back in. SO, i drove her back to the dealership and said, what we have here is a problem that is much worse than a fouled sparkplug. i still had a layer of black soot in the exhaust tip, even when prior to leaving the dealership i had wiped it clean. i left her running in the service bay so everyone could hear the banks announce just how bad the idle was. another service writer came out (one that was actually very knowledgeable on engines) and said you've got a serious problem. he had the master tech come out and check it out and they both agreed. they asked that i leave it and they'd check it the next day and focus their attention on my truck.

got a call today from the service writer and turns out there was much more extensive damage from the cat then was initially realized. can't really get into too much detail as to what is being replaced cause i was too busy working throughout the day and i could barely hear the service writer over the sound of my work truck's roar, but what i did hear was...

"Hoolie, i've got bad news and good news!" which i replied, "WHAT?!!!" then the service writer said, "your engine is blown, that's the bad news, however we're ordering you a new one, long block and some other parts"

i couldn't believe my ears, i was depressed but somewhat happy at the same time, i dunno - gonna have to call tomorrow to get full detail from the master tech as to what exactly is going on and what is being ordered, but from what i heard, i'm supposedly getting a new motor!

should i be bummed...

or should i be happy...


first off, i'd like to know exactly what happened!

Hmmm......well that is kinda cool!! But you'll probly be without your truck for awhile. I too, would like to know how it happened. You should see if you can keep the old engine and whatever parts they replace. haha....

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2005 Smoke LE CC 4x4 w/ BT

Truxedo Lo-Pro
BFG All Terrain 285/65/18
Matching Front Tint
Active Tuning Grounding Kit


Inch by inch, to win or lose. Inch by inch, to live or die. "The inches we need are everywhere around us!"

it's all good dude, that's a $hitload of problems/headaches but hopefully you'll get an engine with ZERO miles on it! all you gotta do is ask for a better rental and you'll be alright in the meantime!

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'04 2wd with PRG stuff......



"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? ... That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." --George W. Bush, Feb. 28, 2008

Sounds like they are going to fix it properly. If all the problems that existed in your engine were in the block and exhaust, then a long block should cure the problem.

Seems I read another poster on CT had a similar problem and they replaced it with a long block assy too.

I'm still surprised they don't go with a crate motor and cut down on labor costs.

You just need to talk with the service guy and explain your concern about proper assembly and cleanliness while working on the engine. That's key to a long life repair.

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

well, nonetheless i am bummed over all that has transpired. my goal was to take that engine well over 200,000 as i've done with all my vehicles, kind of a feeling of getting the most out of the vehicle but looks like i'm gonna have to start from scratch again...

thanks Red! i agree on the crate motor, but i'm 100% positive she said Long Block assy! good thing she didn't say short block! one of my questions is should the existing cats be replaced as well, just to be on the safe side? Red, do you recall exactly what is replaced in a Long Block assy, parts?

How many miles did you get on the old one?

54,500 miles

I bet your glad that it has a longer warranty than GM

reason why i got the extended warranty since the first year is the guinea pig year. i was good for 7/100,000 or whatever came first...

i would have seriously been screwed if i hadn't gotten the extended warranty and had over 60k on the odometer... phew!