dgarner1988

I have a 98 12 valve and the guy I bought it from wrecked it, something hit the passenger side of the block about 2 inch above the oil pan and knock a hole in it about the size of a dime. What would be the best way to fix it or is it fixable?

dgarner1988

looked at it today, turned engine over by hand and the bottom of rod has a mark in it where it hit the side of block, truck runs good though, doesn't knock, so I am going to drop the pan and see what happened to it!

patdaly

Pictures!

As for fixing it, if you are sure it runs well, I would probably just put a plate over it after cleaning it well, drill and tap for 2 small screws, then JB weld the backside before I put in the screws.

Obviously you will need to make sure you are out of the water jacket ( you should be ) and you need to make sure your screws aren't protruding into the crankcase.

Robert Rausch

Definitely post some pictures, please.

dgarner1988

will post pics later today or tomorrow, its not in a water jacket, just got to figure out now what cause the hole from the inside after I pull the pan

dgarner1988

dgarner1988

top pic is side of #5 rod, the middle pic is pieces we found in the oil pan, the bottom pic is the hole in side of block, I cant find anything wrong with the bottom end other than the mark on the rod, I got to thinking about it. I bought this truck about 5 years ago from a guy and the kdp had fell out when he had it. they replaced the timing housing and cam gear, a couple of the pieces in the pan are from the old cam gear, and I found a dowel pin in the pan. I sold the truck 2 years ago to a friend and he has not drove it much, but he wrecked it a couple weeks ago, he jumped it across a driveway and hit a light pole. the only thing I can figure is during all the jumping a piece of the stuff in the oil pan got between the rod and block and knocked a hole in it. I see no possible way for the rod to actually contact the block unless it breaks and the rod is not broke.

gorms

Looks to me like the KDP bit twice! Must be lucky.

I wouldn't be afraid of putting a bandaid on it and running it. Granted it will be a weak spot in the block, but for close to stock power it should be fine IMHO.

patdaly

Yep, if you can ID all the parts ( the partially threaded pieces puzzled me ), I wouldn't have any problem plugging that hole and running her.

Since you have the pan off anyway, is there enough room to cut a small piece of say, 3/16" thick flat steel, countersink for say a 1/4" flathead screw, and put the plate inside with the screw out, then JB weld under the plate and the outside, holding it all together with a washer and 1/4" nut from the outside? ( not sure just how much clearance between the rod and the block )

Anyway, you officially have the only twice KDP bitten Cummins that I have ever heard of!

dgarner1988

The threaded pieces are parts of the old timing housing where the timing cover bolted to. I guess when the fixed the housing they never dropped the pan to clean it out!

dgarner1988

The stuff in the pan probably wouldn't have ever caused any problems if it didn't get wrecked! I still can't believe that the timing of the rod coming around and this stuff bouncing around in the pan just happen to line up at the same time and knock the hole in the block! That's what you call bad luck!

jughead

i have been running my 97 engine for almost ten years with a hole in the block caused by wreck that poked a hole the size of my fist with a plate bolted over it.

patdaly

Nah, bad luck is when it takes out the engine, which several have.

You just got a character dimple...... kind of like how mine punched the top of the timing cover out...... not fatal, and great conversation pieces...... kind of like old men comparing scars.

dgarner1988

yeah I am glad it didn't hurt anything else, The guy I bought it from the first time said nothing had ever been done to it, but I figured out that was not the case when it begin leaking oil out the timing cover the cam gear wore a hole in the cover. when I pulled the cover I figured out why, the cam gear had been beat back on with a hammer when they did the timing housing. It cracked the cam gear which was letting it move in and out on the end of the cam. But I got lucky and just had to get a new gear and install it on the cam. It had cracked so bad that I just reached down grabed the cam gear and it slid right off the end of the cam. And when I installed the new gear it solve my governor spring problem I was having, the truck with 4k springs would still defuel around 2900 rpms, but if you keep your foot in it, it would start fueling again around 3100 rpms, fix the cam gear and it now it keeps fuel like it is supposed to until I back off the pedal! not sure why the cam gear affected it like that, unless it was causing some weird vibration.

dgarner1988