I have not been on this site much and have never heard of this KDP thing that falls out and wreaks havoc on the engine until today. I have a '95 2500 truck we use as a service truck for my refrigeration business which has 370K miles and the only work ever done on the engine was a valve cover gasket and a water pump. I assume I need to do this pinning of the KDP job I am reading about? If so, could you please help with info on the job. On another subject, I came to this site today to look for info. on adding some power to the old beast. I read something before about grinding the slot in the torque plate in the pump, or replacing it with a different one. I don't want to go for mega power right now, just a little "pep in the step" without killing the trans. while it is still a work truck. When I finally retire the truck in a year or two, I am going to make it a project truck to show up one of my guys who is a Ford guy! Thanks in advance!

 

the KDP is a steel dowel pin that falls into your timing gear case. Sometimes nothing will happen, sometimes a whole lot of something will happen and totally wreck your engine. puredieselpower.com has a kit with the gaskets and everything you need. As for the fuel plate grinding.... you should be ok with a manual but autos are built to handle stock power and thats about it. If you have an auto, slide the stock plate to the front of the engine and you will have a little more kick. dont forget to turn up the star wheel for some smoke and slide the whole housing to the front of the engine.

 

Is the steel pin for locating the injector pump gear or cam gear or what? Any links with pictures around? What does KDP stand for? Also if there are any links for the pump mods (torque plate, star wheel, etc.), I would appreciate it. I assume the torque plate and star wheel are inside the top of injector pump? What are you referring to when you say slide the whole housing to the front of the engine? Sorry for so many questions and for seeming so stupid....just trying to learn. Thanks again! Oh, the truck does have an automatic trans. that is not beefed up yet.

 

Learning is half the fun.... don't worry about it. KDP stands for Killer Dowel Pin. Not really too sure what the point of it is though..... someone here does though....

 

<GRIN>
this site has a whopping amazing search engine - try it out! Up at the top, pull down the SEARCH menu, and type in KDP - look for threads, and be prepared to spend a few hours doing research.

FWIW - our '96 3500 C&C was bone stock when we got it (see the signature line for what has been done for her) and was sLOOOOwwww off the line, especially with a heavy loaded equipment trailer in tow. The fuel plate and 3000GSK made a heck of a difference, but then she ran a bit warmish.... uh-oh!

THEN we put on that gorgeous 4-inch stainless exhaust, and she runs out just great now. Haven't had spare change for gauges yet, but with moderate driving the truck stays in a sane mode of operation now that she can breath easier.

Whether it's hubby's equipment or our big five-horse gooseneck show trailer, the little one ton just runs off with it - and the GSK means nicer road speeds too.

 

Thanks again for all the help!!! Did you ever hear that these forums and hopping up diesels is addicting? It's not just me is it?!

 

Excellent rundown on the KDP and buy a kit here http://www.tstproducts.com/index.asp...PROD&ProdID=64

Don't put it off, doesn't matter how many miles you have the pin can come loose and bite your wallet very hard.

 

........addicting..... Oh yeah!

I'm getting well past the point of being physically able to do the kind of work I used to 20 years ago, when I did ALL the mechanical maintenance on our rigs. This truck is our first diesel, and it's been a steep learning curve for me. I was so very fortunate to find this list, and all the very helpful and knowledgeable people here who have given me sage advice and encouragement.

The KDP thing took me a good long day - I did a LOT of little extra cleaning and snooping while I had things tore apart, and having to build a fan clutch removal wrench slowed me down too..... but with my printed off instructions from the list, and nice weather the job went well - oh, and at 165,000 miles the pin had migrated out about 1/8 inch on ours. Still glad it's fixed for good now. New gasket for the timing cover from Cummins NW took care of that pesky oil seepage, too. Do watch out for the edges on that timing cover, it's cast aluminum, with a ground mounting surface - and is sharper than blazes - LOTS of nasty cuts from that bugger!

The fuel plate and GSK kit were a bigger project - proper tools helped a lot, and I could NOT have gotten it done without a few of them - listed on the instruction sheets for the parts. I wrote a long-winded commentary on the project, you can look for it if you pull up posts by me (that's a handy way to find stuff you know you saw, anyhow).

My son the diesel nut (though he's a Ford driver) was also helpful in advice on best shopping places for stuff, and saved our butt with a spare piece of 4" pipe to make the "system" we got fit our cab & chassis truck without custom fab work.

You are coming in about where I did a few months ago - if you like wrenching, and like your Cummins, you are in for a fun time!

KAte

 

I looked at TST's and puredieselpower.com's websites at both their kits. What would ya'll recommend for a kit? The TST kit is only $48 and the puredieselpower kit is $99. Only real difference I could see is puredieselpower's kit includes a replacement dowel pin (in case the original has already fallen, I presume).

 

The TST kit is a known factor to me, good kit and price.
Replacement pin is only $3 from Cummins.
Purediesel's kit may include the cover gasket which could account for the big price difference.

 

I too bought "just the parts, ma,am" from Cummins. The gasket was in the $38 neighborhhod, three buck pin, 95 cent tab and bolt (which bolt turned out to be too long - used the stock one), front crank seal (important) and a bunch of filters and unrelated stuff. Oh, and the engine barring tool - worth it's weight, if you ask me, for MANY projects.

I think a lot of places selling "KDP kits" are selling not much more than their instruction sheets - and all of that is available in MUCH greater detail right here on the DTR! If you get your timing cover gasket off in nice shape you "can" re-use it, though I'm of the opinion that once you have that much time and work into stripping the front of the engine, you may as well put ALL new gaskets back on when you do the reassembly. The Crank Seal is part of some of the kits, too - I've never seen a kit to include the timing cover gasket.

There's also the front crank seal..... a touchy little booger to get just right if you have not done it before. I took the opportunity while the shroud, fan, etc was out of the way to do all the front coolant hoses, as well. So, a bigger job than some may have had, but I kinda like things to be a lot closer to RIGHT when I shut the hood.

 

Amen, halfpint! I totally agree with everything you said, especially the barring tool.

While I was at it I also pulled the radiator to flush it inside and out, and was amazed at the gunk that was removed.

 

So Cummins sells the tab? Do you order this stuff through a Dodge dealer? Or do you go straight to Cummins?

Also, what is the engine barring tool?

Thanks for the help!

Ed

 

From Cummins p/n 3958017 @ 93¢
The barring tool is used with a socket wrench to turn the engine over via the flywheel.

Many people have found that buying a KDP tab kit from TST is cheaper than buying the parts from Cummins.

 

Aha. Thanks!

Ed