I was at a nationaly known diesel shop recently and asked them about fixing up my KDP problem. According to them they have never seen a 99 that has needed to have the modification. I doubted this statement so he took me into their shop and showed me some leftover gear covers that they saved from 99's that had been corrected using the jig. All of these covers were already upgraded so people were just drilling through the factory fix. My question here is how many of you with 99's actually took the cover off to see if this modification was needed before you did it? I'm still inclined to do it but just can't decide.

 

I know two people personally who have had the pin come out and crack the gear case on '99s.
The improved case was introduced in '98 but apparently some of the old style were mixed in up to '00.
If it was mine I would take care of it, cheap insurance against a major bill and headache.

Don't see how the jig fix would drill though the improvement since all it is is lip on the pin hole in the case

 

I sent an email to Cummins a while back, regarding the KDP issue, and this was their response:

"There are no dowel pin issues with 24 valve engines. You can't always believe what you read on various websites. The old gear cases will not work on 24 valve engines. The VP44 injection pumps will not bolt up on them. Older engines would not work in trucks made for ISB engines for various reasons. The dowel pins can not physically come out of 24 valve engines."

I'm not trying to start an argument I'm just telling you what Cummins said ... take from it what you will!

 

That's always been the debate. I was hoping to get a variety of people with 99's to respond to this to see if we could finally come to some conclusion.
Piper, since you have that in writing from cummins I guess that means they should be liable for damages that do occur. I know I was kiddin here.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the KDP was a 12 valve issue.

 

Cummins also said that the pin was a very minor issue on 12 valves...

 

I'm in the dark too. I've tried to get clarification, but nobody seems to know the answer.

99 Cummins, have you researched any further with the diesel shop who gave you that info? Has anyone attempted to compare part numbers for the two gear casings (12 versus 24 valve)? Wouldn't that tell us something? I find it hard to believe that, knowing there was a problem with the 12 valve, Cummins disregarded the issue during retooling for the 24 valve case ... that wouldn't make sense!

 

I went in to check mine and i found i had the revised case but i still machined a custom washer just to make shure that little ***** doesnt come out on me. Just my 2 cents.

 

In my experience .. if you have a truck build date before 11/99 ..... consider getting the dowel pin addressed ...

 

kinda dumb here i guess...what is the kdp problem that you are talking about...need to know considering i have 3 cummins pre 98.5 and one after 98.5

 

How hard is it to check? I'd like to check mine soon.

 

The only way to be sure is to pull the gear cover off the front of your engine to look at the inside of it. To go along with the statement made by Piperca previously, I just wonder if there is a part number differance between the two covers. I know there is a data plate on the cover that I would assume has some inf on it.

 

99 cummins, I'm sure the diesel shop you were talking to would be able to clue you in on the part number question. Please let us know what you find out.

 

The shop was Scheids Diesel in Effingham, Illinois. A little off the beaten path for me, I was just passin through aways back and saw the sign so I stopped in. If anybody else is in that area or any other shops for that matter, give it a shot. Maybe this is something they haven't noticed themselves.