I recently bought a truck and have been seeing increased white smoke when cold. It ran ok but I put about 400-450 highway miles per week on it and I have definitely noticed a decrease in performance. I pulled and had the injectors tested and they were on average 30-40 bar low on pop pressure across the board. The shop wanted $110/ea to rebuild so I decided to order Bosch 190's from the hungry diesel.
Since the truck was down I decided to do some other PM's and upgrades which quickly morphed into a bit more work than I had originally intended. Long story short, after completing the IP reseal I have a couple quick questions for those that have done this previously.

1. What is the correct amount of "resistance" (if any) between the pump head, plunger springs / cam plate and pump body upon reassembly? I was only intending to replace the o-ring but the 2 small springs fell into the pump when pulling the head up to get to the o-ring. It reinstalled easily until about ¼" before seating on the pump body. It wasn't hung up but it felt like I was torquing against the springs when hand tightening the head bolts. I'm fairly certain the cam plate and plunger are correctly seated and the washer is definitely present between the cam plate and plunger. Should the pump head seat on the pump body with no spring resistance? I have a spare IP just in case but not sure of its condition internally and I'd prefer not to immediately grenade my current IP.

2. When indexing the throttle lever, how much "preload" (for lack of a better term) is needed before placing the bracket over the lever?
I installed a 366 Governor spring and after indexing the bracket I can now move the throttle lever from the low idle screw all the way to the pump top high idle screw mount without it stopping. I'm fairly certain that I need to re-index the lever and increase the preload on the governor spring prior to installing the throttle bracket but thought I would ask to make sure.

3. Any tricks to get a half smashed woodruff key off the pump shaft keyway?
I think part of my white smoke problem was the fact that the gear either spun on the shaft or the PO previously installed the gear incorrectly throwing off the timing. When I pulled the pump I saw that the woodruff key was mostly crushed smooth into its keyway and almost looked friction welded to the shaft. I can't get my snips enough bite to pull whats left of the key up and out and I was curious if anybody had any tips or tricks to avoid gouging up the pump shaft.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I can answer #3. You need to work the extra smashed material up off the shaft then gently tap down on one end of the key rolling it out of the key way. It's a pita. Been there

 

I used a center punch and chisel to get the key out of my 25 year old IP. Just Tapping lightly in the center at one end or the other.

 

I just went through a IP reseal and yes you do have to compress the springs a bit to get it together. 1/4" sounds about right.
I found the easiest way to assemble the head is to stick the rods, caps, and washers into the head with a bit of grease, as well as the small springs.
Put the big springs in the pump body.
Make sure the ball is engaged with collar, and make sure the plunger is keyed into the cam plate by trying to twist it.
Lower the head into the body making sure the rods go into the big springs without knocking them.
The head will go down until it hits the O-ring, and then you can push it a bit more and feel the springs. Use the bolts to close it up.


The woodruff key should be half moon shaped, so a small punch should drive it out.

 

I looked back at some pics & just realized what you meant by ball into the collar. I definitely recall the ball on the lever being on top of the collar when reassembling. I didn't know there was a hole in the collar.
Thanks a million for the heads up! I'm sure that little piece of information just saved me a ton of headaches.

 

Finally finished it up last night. It runs sooo much better. Real smooth and no more smoke. Its like a different truck entirely. It does seem to spool about 300rpm slower but once it lights it pulls noticeably harder. Im pretty happy with it. Hydroboost is next.

 

Good job...glad you did it yourself and got it back up and running with no problems. That's a great feeling!!

 

Thanks. I put about 100 miles on it so far and this morning I noticed a coolant leak at or near the thermostat housing. Looked in the FSM and realized I put the thermostat in backwards.
Hopefully that is the reason its leaking. Although it looks to be coming from the front of the block and not underneath the housing. If it's a head gasket, I'm going to throw myself down a flight of stairs.

 

It never ends with this POS. I almost got 2 days out of it this time.
Is it even worth attempting to re torque the head bolts around this? With my luck one will probably snap.
How much is a HG going to set me back in parts? Should I send it off to the machine shop while its off or just buy a reman? Any suggestions on head upgrades for a DD type weekend hauler?

I'm starting to wonder if I should just cut my losses on this one.

 

If you just developed the leak post thermostat replacement then chances are that's your problem. Did you use cummins parts or auto store parts ?? The reason I ask is there is a huge difference in quality between the two.

 

Seen several head gaskets blow in that area for some reason.

 

Cummins head gasket kit with new cummins head bolts will set you back about 500. I strongly recommend new head bolts and not to reuse your old ones.

 

What about machine work? Its a pretty big leak.

 

I would probably check to see what the costs would be to check the head surface for level and trueness. Also what the cost would be to have the valves checked.

If it's more then $500, then go with a re-man head off E-bay. Can't remember what member replaced his with one...but was very happy with it. Might have been Sharman? Do a search for head replacement and see if you can find the thread.

Here is the head I think he went with....Ebay auction # 160459008116

 

Don't get down on the repairs....These are 20+ year old trucks, and for the most part they were not intended to last this long. So you are going to have issues with major repairs for a while...until you get ahead of them.

I totally understand your frustration. I paid good money for my crewcab, then had to spend the next 6-9 months fixing all the things that were wrong with it. And to get it to a minimum level that I was comfortable to drive. Once I got it sorted out, and started driving it regularly...I forgot all that extra time, and money, I had to spend to get it sorted out.

Remember these trucks are starting to go up, up, up in value. That's because people are realizing that the newer cummins trucks have WAY MORE problems then these old reliable work horses. Yes the years and miles are taking there toll on them...but you can fix them relatively cheap and easy in your driveway....compared to the costs that the Stealerships are charging.