A failed cylinder head in your Caterpillar C15 can be the source of headaches and costly repairs.
If your cylinder head is failing, though, you might not realize that it could be some of the individual components inside the cylinder head that are causing your issues.
Because a large number of critical components are inside a cylinder head, they can fail over time, leading to symptoms that mimic a failing cylinder head.
In this post, we’re bringing you the key indicators you should watch out for if you think your cylinder head is failing. We want to help you keep your cylinder head running great!
Symptoms of Failing Cylinder Head Components in a Caterpillar C15
The cylinder head allows for combustion to happen, which powers your engine. Your cylinder head houses several different components including:
- Intake valves
- Exhaust valves
- Fuel injectors
The cylinder head allows for combustion to happen, which powers your engine.
What to Watch For
When you’re checking the health of your C15 cylinder head and components, you should keep an eye out for four main things:
- High oil consumption
- Bad fuel mileage
- Engine overheating
- White smoke
These symptoms can all point to issues with your cylinder head components as opposed to the head itself.
How Cylinder Head Components Can Fail
As we mentioned, several components housed in your cylinder head can impact the overall performance of your engine. Your valves, though, are what you’ll likely see causing combustion issues, both the intake and exhaust.
Valves can fail in a lot of different ways. Having them function properly is essential to combustion and the overall performance of your diesel engine, and diagnosis is key to keeping your valves working at their best.
Diesel engine valves can fail in several ways, including:
Wear From External Conditions
Several factors can lead to this kind of wear, including improper adjustment, carbon cutting, and carbon buildup. All these can lead to premature valve wear and further cylinder head issues.
Poor Maintenance
Bad adjustments might be behind the wear on your valve guides and seats. This kind of wear affects the valve timing, as well as creating other combustion cycle issues.
Bending Fatigue
Misalignment can cause your valves to bend or break. This can damage your cylinder head.
Impact Loading
With some types of valve damage, it’s clear that the problems could only have been caused by impact. Often this is the case when you don’t see other types of damage or failure in other components.
Highway & Heavy Parts is Here To Help
Highway & Heavy Parts is dedicated to bringing you the best information about diesel engines to help you make the right decision for your engine.
If you’re having trouble with the cylinder head on your Caterpillar C15, give us a call! We have a wide selection of cylinder heads and components to help you get your engine running great again.
Not sure exactly what’s going wrong? Our ASE Certified Technicians can answer your questions and help you diagnose your diesel engine problems.
From diagnosis through delivery, we’re Highway & Heavy Parts!
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