Hi all



I'm sure this must be posted somewhere, but I did a search on KDP and got TONS of info. Just nothing on the years that were affected.

I just bought a 1991 W250. This truck only has 20,000 miles on it. Do I need to worry about the KDP?

 

I'm a newbie, what's a KDP?

 

The KDP is the "Killer Dowel Pin". It was given this name by the scores of Cummins owners who have had to spend the thousands of dollars needed to repair the damage this small pin can cause.

The KDP is located inside the gear housing on the front of the engine, and is used to locate the housing to the block. The problem is that over years of use, the KDP can work its way out of its bore, and fall into the timing gears. It will usually get spit out through the side of the gear housing, and in some cases it can even break the camshaft. The gear housing is an expensive part, and the job is very labor-intensive, as the camshaft must be removed. I have done several of these repairs, and it is still at least a fifteen hour job on a 2nd gen truck.

There are several good ways of preventing this failure, such as the jig fix or the tab fix. Do a search on those. I have tabbed many.

The KDP affects all engines up to 98 model year, when they began phasing in a revised gear housing, but it is reported that some engines after 98 were made with the old housing, and potentially have the problem. I would be suspect of any engine before the common rail injection engines. Any 12 valve engine is definitely a potential problem.
Hope this helps.

 

Emm.. why not just remove the KDP and be done with the whole deal?

 

The KDP (and the other dowel pins in the case) provide precise alignment of the timing case and the engine block so that the injection pump and accessory drive gears have proper mesh with the crank and cam gears. You can't locate something that precisely with bolts, you need dowels.

 

I'd have thought that if it was so loose it was fallng out, that it's not doing anything, whatever the design idea...

 

I will agree with that. A threaded bolt would be less apt to move.

 

Bikeboy i would do it for the piece of mind ,I was told that my 1990 did not have that issue so i drove and drove till one day it just got to me, so i did it and boy was i glad my pin had worked its way out and was ready to do what its name says. it was just hanging there. its about 2 hrs to cure and easy to do. yours might be fine and not moved but for around $80 for the parts i dont need to worry about it,

all I can say is "do you feel lucky"?

 

This whole issue is making me a bit curious. Where do you get the parts from... what are they... and what exactly is done when you say 'tabbing' or 'jigging' the pin?

Mike

 

KDP preventitive.........HMMMMM sounds like a good winter in the warm garage project. Guess the XYL will get her nose cooled off a little this year. She really hates cold weather.

Bikeboy, are you close to VA?

 

you need a front seal and a gear case gasket or RTV, you can get or make a tab or just use a ball peen hammer and roll the edge over the hole ..it doesnt take much all your doing is stopping the pin from coming out, and it can still be removed by taking the gear case off if the engine ever needs a rebuild.
while your there check all the bolts if any are lose take them out clean and lock tight them. good luck

if you need more info do a search on this ...kdp fix.. will bring up tons of info

 

Nope. Way out west in southern BC.
And I don't feel lucky. Guess I'll have to tab the KDP this winter sometime. I've got the truck parked indoors untill spring, so I'll have a little time to work on it.
Thanks for all of the info guys
Don