Good evening gents ... I've read a lot about the killer dowel pin in CTD engines ... As I have said in my other posts I'm not much of a mechanic and I'm totally new to diesels. So the question is.... 1).How do I determine if my truck needs this modification. (1992 w250, automatic transmission and apx.160,000 miles)... 2). How big of a job is it... And 3).will peening the dowel hole with a punch do just as good for a fix

Thanks again for any rivers of knowledge that pour this way

 

When i jumped a tooth on my injection pump i had to pull the radiator, harmonic balancer, fan, fan shroud but I'm sure you could jump a tooth without all of this. I wanted to kill my dowel pin and change the timing cover gasket for peace of mind so that's why i went the long route. My rig had roughly 100k when i did this and my dowel pin was so far in that i could hardly see it. Nevertheless i left it alone, i should have tabbed it while i was in there but there were no signs of movement so i just left it. Not sure of any other way to check other than pulling the oil fill tube and fighting a bore scope in to look at it. Probably no help but figured I'd throw my in

 

I'm pretty sure I have read several places that the problem was with "B" series engines and started around 93-94????

How can I tell what series my engine is? Are 92s effected by KDP?

 

To the best of my knowledge the "B" series cummins goes from 1984-1998.5. There are alot of ways to tab it on the web if you don't want to buy the kit. As far as more ways to check it I'm unsure but it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and kill it. I regret not doing mine while i had everything apart.

 

Do it...peace of mind is priceless. You don't have to pull the radiator off, but if you feel you have two left feet in wrenching at least cover the radiator with cardboard. Do a search and look up NJTMans KDP fix- probably the most detailed I've seen. He lists part numbers for gaskets and seals and peened the KDP bore like you're wanting to do. Also, depending on your mileage and history of your truck, this is an opportune time to do a maintenance remove n replace on items such as the water pump, fan clutch bearing, belt, etc. Also, do a search on google on Cummins 12 valve timing cover bolt pattern. There are I believe 4 bolts that are longer than the rest and it is critical they go back where you pulled them off. Also, a belt retainer bushing, that has to go exactly where it was installed at the factory. I just did mine, and took me around 4 hours. Fun job, really

 

It's easier and safer with the radiator out. At 160K might as well send the rad off for a good flushing anyway. The hardest part is the crankshaft seal on the timing cover IMOP. Like bigragu said, time to do all that maintenance anyway.

Somewhere I remember seeing a KDP retainer made from a coat hanger.

 

All good advice, but what I also did was glue on a little label to note that the KDP has been killed. I used one of those dog id tags that you get out of the vending machine at Petsmart. This obviously lets future owners know, because these rigs are probably gonna outlive us. See here: https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...-fixed-283971/ ...Mark

 

Do the KDP. That is not the only issues inside the timing cover. I have done 4 KDP repairs over the years. Every engine had loose timing case bolts. Every engine had loose camshaft retainer bolts. The retainer bolts on my engine were loose enough to turn out with no wrenches.

You loose a KDP about all it does is crack the timing case. You loose a camshaft retainer bolt. It will take out the camshaft and injection pump drive gear most of the time. If one of the timing cover bolts that is higher up in the case comes out. It is the same as a camshaft retainer bolt.

 

Tab the killer tab and and also address the five front bolts that hold the inner case to the block. I've seen the damage that can be done if you do not address them. Cam shaft broken in two and at least 2 push rods. That guy was lucky the engine did not grenade itself.

Bob

 

Bob that engine also had some bent valves. I did a valve job on a broken cam engine. 11 out of 12 valves were bent.

 

I use this site very rarely but really appreciate the information. At 23 years of age but with less than 150k on the odo. I am finally getting around to doing the kdp. I was feeling guilty and I am recently retired so I have the time. Retired from Ford, drive a Dodge Cummins. Yeah, I get some grief about that.

From what I've read, I DO need to do this on my 1993 D350 dually, right?

I printed out the instructions and it appears the instructions are for later trucks. My coolant bottle and windshield bottle don't attach to the fan shroud, so I just cross those off, right?

I bought a factory service manual almost as soon as I bought my truck. I assume I should check torque on the front cover bolts and cam bolts. Anything special to do? Loctite, etc?

My truck lives in Michigan but only sees snow through the shop windows. She's a summer, haul the racecar to the track princess. No rust. The paint finally failed on the roof, hood and fender flares, but I'm getting that touched-up.

Appreciate any help or suggestions.

 

When I killed my KDP I checked the case bolts (barred the engine over to access all of them) and three of them were finger tight. I removed the bolts, sprayed BraKleen in the holes and on the bolts, let it dry, applied red Loctite and torqued to spec. I did them one at a time. I was able to do it with out removing the radiator. I put a piece of double cardboard over the fins to protect them. Usually the instructions in a KDP kit are for a 2nd gen. Look in the sticky on here for a write up on how to do it.

 

Yes, peening the KDP bore works just as well :-)

As others have said, retorque/loctite the case bolts, don't be surprised if a few of them are barely finger tight.

You'll have to get creative with a torch to heat & bend yourself a custom wrench on a couple of those bolts.

 

Thanks, guys. When you say "case" you're talking about what the shop manual calls the "gear housing". 18 ft.lbf. (24 N-m)

From the picture in the manual looks like you have to bar it over to get to the three bolts behind the fuel pump gear? Fig. 5 on page 9-123

And figure 8 on page 9-127 shows lining the cam gear up to get at the cam thrust plate bolts I think. Not clear if there is also a housing bolt back there, but I bet there is.

I'll move slowly, stop, inspect and then move slowly again. I ain't getting paid to beat the standard hours, I want to get it right.

 

Yes, "case" and "gear housing" are talking about the same part.
Yes, you need to barr over the motor to access more of the case bolts.