Just got the damages for the KDP repair..

$1000.

That includes labor and a GOOD deal on a front gearcase..

Seriously folks.. Just fix it.. Its worth a weekend or even a day off of work.

 

Excellent deal, replacing the case is a lot of work.
But as you well know a tab would have been cheaper.
Good time to bump your timing up.

 

Got charged for 8 hours labor. They bumped the timing up to 16º.

They didn't pull the cam to do the job.. Used a special Cummins part to pull the cam gear, then heated the gear to 350+º and shoved it back on.. after about 6 tries

 

kdp?

 

LMAO , six trys eh..... good reason to have a cam gear around and bore out the hole to slide right over the cam, then the gears will be set just right. then put that hot gear on.

 

http://www.piersdiesel.com/TechKDP.htm

 

Coulda done it yourself for $500... don't ask how I know.

 

i did it for less than 300 but i think the 8hrs labor was a real good deal.

 

I'd be a bit concerned about the six tries.
An important part of using the heat the gear method is to remove the lift pump and have another person hold the cam with a bar. Otherwise while pounding the gear on the cam will push the bushing out the back of the engine. Repair involves pulling the engine.
Just be on the lookout for an oil leak out the back of the engine and realize what may have caused it.

 

They took great care to not let that happen. The guy working on my truck was a Cummins tech for 15 years and a Cummins employee was also right there when they finally got the gear on.

 

Mine would have been in the $300 range, but dad cross-threaded the fuel line into the lift pump. There went another $150. But hey, free help is hard to find.

 

I just bought a totallly stock '97 Ram 3500. Got it from an estate and it only has 25000 miles (seriously.. did a car fax on it). Anyway, should I do the KDP fix now or will it last a few thousand more miles.

Thanks

 

do it as soon as possible. the fix is cheap and easy compared to doing it after it drops.

 

The dowel pin can cut lose at any mileage, do it ASAP or risk paying the high price.

 

I think I already know the answer to this, but is there any way to tell if the KDP fix has been done before pulling apart the cover? My truck has aprox. 230K on it and I just bought it used a couple months ago. I want to do the fix (been putting it off...time has been tight) but a little info I got on this truck shows that it had much of the maintenance done at the dealer. I know there probably isn't any way to tell until the cover is off, but a part of me is hoping that there might be an indicator that the cover has been off in the past.

Another question, for a competent mechanic, about how long does the fix usually take? It seems like it should only take a couple/few hours, but I know how even simple looking jobs can be time consuming.

Jim