I stopped by a local semi-truck servicing center here in town this morning, who is also an authorized Cummins engine service center.

A brief summary of why: ........ I had my truck into the dealership the first part of this week for what I am calling an out-of-the-ordinary tapping sound I can here while idling or accellerating. Never noticed it before until about 3k miles ago and the truck has 31k on it now. Dealership gave me what I expected, said it was good to go and that it was the common rail injection system. Can't understand why it's just started if that is what they are calling normal.

Anyhow, the Cummins engine center guy told me I should have the upper end serviced every 30k miles or so, and that this is done to check the tolerance of the valves or valve lash. Said it would have to done while the engine is cold and would be about a $100.00 service. Sounds cheap to me for preventative maintenace and peace of mind. He said this sound I am hearing is more than likely coming from these needing a bit of adjustment due to the mileage.

Would this sound logical to what I am hearing and if I should have them do this service, will that cause any problems to the existing warranty?

Thanks alot guys,

Rick

 

You can adjust your own valves. I can get the tolerances for you, but on a 2nd gen, there is a set-screw on the rocker arm with a nut holding it in it's place. Using a feeler gauge, check which ones have lash, put the feeler in, and adjust 'em. I'll get the specs for ya later on today. But if you're not comfortable doing your own work, 100 for a Cummin's tech to do it is better than warrenty work, IMO.

 

Thanks for your reply John_Rodriguez. The $100 charge for service in my case would be way cheaper than me not having a clue as to what I would be doing.

My #1 phobia is that my dealership is less than knowledgeable about this concern of mine and that the truck center who does these engines for a living more than likely knows what they are doing.

My other concern, is if the truck center performed this service, would this affect my warranty with DC ?

Thanks for the reply John.

 

I have had Dodge/Cummins trucks for work trucks from several different model years. First one was an '89. I have noticed that the recommended service interval for valve lash adjustment has changed dramatically over the years. I don't have the paperwork in front of me but if I remember correctly, the earlier 12-valve engines recomended adjustments at 12 to 15K mile intervals. That interval has gone up over the years. I think my daily driver 2003 recommends the service at 100K miles.

Has Cummins made a design change that has driven the changes to the service intervals, or have they changed for marketing reasons??????

Inquiring minds.........

 

Vote for Pedro, Up until a couple of weeks ago I wouldn't of known what that meant.

 

Nevada is right. The overhead is not supposed to be serviced. I'm surprised they didn't tell you every 15K miles so they can milk you twice as bad. Garaunteed it will still tick and you'll be out $100.

In fact, if they find it out of spec you had better get documentation, show your dealer, and have them pay the $100.

Remember the "D" truck days when everyone thought that the more noise the engine made the better it was? If it didn't clatter like a tractor then there was something wrong with it.

 

go over to the cummins eng site. they recommend 150,000 valve adjustment .
also 15,000 engine oil service using ,either CI-4 or CH-4 , oils , continue reading for valuable info. on the dodge engine.there is also talk on e brake on 48-RE ,
hope this is of some benefit
"SAVE YOUR MONEY"



grant

 

I have exactly the same situation as rico334 on my 03' with 13k miles. Same symptom & response from the dealer.

I'm definitely not a mechanic, but it seems odd that the intervals for valve adjustments would move from 12k to 150k even on the 3rd gen 24 valve engines.

At least I have a documented trip to the dealer now. To be continued, I'm sure.

 

Ist generations and 12 valve second gens valve adjust the first 24k then every 48k after.The 2nd gens 24 valves I think was at 135k UNLESS as part of diagnois of skipping,noise etc.3rd gens is at 150k unless as part of diagnois of skipping,noise etc.Nothing wrong with checking valve lash much sooner.If theres a internal noise I kinda think thats were I'd start to rule out adjustment or a lash/rocker/spring problem etc.bet shop manual/Star etc.will point,lead a tech in the same direction.

 

Lmao vote for pedro. Funny movie.

 

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