Owning a car comes with unknowns. Problems will arise, things will break, and difficult decisions will have to be made. Many major problems in modern vehicles occur well past the 100,000-mile mark, but one 2018 Nissan Titan XD owner is facing a big repair with just over 40,000 miles on the odometer. It’s bad enough that the truck needs a new engine block.
This unwanted 5.0-liter Cummins V8 diesel engine turns up during a dissection at Dave’s Auto Center in Utah, which posted a video documenting the engine’s disassembly on YouTube. A short test reveals that there is a large amount of oil leaking from the rear with a potentially blown rear main seal.
According to the owner, the Titan’s engine became louder before shutting off on the side of the road, but there were no other signs of distress beforehand. It did not display a check engine light, oil pressure light, or high engine temperature.
Despite this, something went terribly wrong. Particles in the oil filter, oil, and oil pan indicate catastrophic failure, and further destruction of the engine reveals several spun main bearings and extensive damage throughout. The crank journals are scratched and the engine will need new plugs.
Spun bearings are one of the worst types of failure, capable of killing a motor in seconds. They don’t appear out of nowhere. The phenomenon typically occurs through a drop in oil pressure, causing metal-to-metal contact between the bearings and journals, increasing friction and heat that leads to engine damage and failure.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Titan’s engine block is scrap metal. Fixing it is possible, but a new block is probably the best place to start. Neither will be cheap, with a new block from Nissan costing $23,000. This also doesn’t include the cost of labor to put it back in the pickup.
