interested in hearing about dowel pins exiting front of block and knocking holes in timing gear housings. We have had several in the last month come in. Wondering if there is a updated repair or recall, possibly a quick fix to stop addition units from failing.

 

in a 3rd gen??

 

I heard this can be a problem up to 2002 but after that, Cummins went to a blind hole in the cover preventing this from happening. I have not seen this in person though so it is just heresay.

 

I got an education about the problem when I started a thread wanting to figure out why the company truck I was driving now has a hole in the timing case.

It's my understanding that trucks after 99 have an updated cover that prevents the pin from backing out. There are several preventative repairs. One involves opening the front and installing a washer with a tab on the bolt nearest to the dowel pin hole, blocking it in. Another involves using a jig to drill and tap a hole in the side of the cover, so a threaded pin can be installed to block the pin w/o tearing the stuff off the front of the engine.

In trucks where the pin dropped and the case broke, usually the cam and crank gears are still useable, however the cam has to come out to replace the cover.

This thread has a lot of detail...

Dowel Pin

Jeff

 

No chance in a 3rd gen.
The dowels are now hollow and are retained with the bottom 2 gear cover bolts.

 

We had an injection seminar at Central Motive Power in Denver. They had some engines on display and the comment was made that the engines up to 2002 had been seen with pins moving forward. If I had one, I would want to check it when it was getting out of warranty and plan on fixing it before it broke.

 

The cam does not have to come out if your doing a gear housing , you can remove the cam gear and install it without removing the cam, I have done it many times, I do remove the oil pan most times and hold the cam in place when installing the heated cam gear , or remove fuel pump plate and holding the cam at that point , if not you can knock the cam plug out at the rear of the engine.