Last night I drove to work, then fired up the company's 94 Ram. It was unusually cold ouside (in the teens) but the garage is above freezing. It fired right up, oil pressure came up, and I let it idle for about a minute or two before heading out. It made a slight squak sound at idle, like a slightly slipping belt.

Anyway, I drove it under 2000, and the temp came up as normal. Runs good, sounds good, except that squack sound has me worried.

I pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood. Oil evereywhere Shut her down. Can't tell where it is coming from. Dipstick is a couple quarts down, so I limp her a couple blocks into the garage.

Looking closer, I noted a jagged edge of metal to the right of the water pump, which turns easily by hand.

Upon inspection, I noted some chips in what I assume is a drive gear for the oil pump (Don't have a manual for this model).

I'm not the greatest mechanic, but I know enough to be more alarmed by the fact that I can see that gear without dissasembly of the engine than I am about the chips on the gear!

It would appear some piece of metal got into the gearcase, and blew a chunk of the case out. What gives?

P.S. From the oil left where the truck had been parked, I think the thing blew on the previous driver.

Photos attached.

Any help with what caused the problem/what kind of damage to expect would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. Jeff

 

Damage caused by everyones favorite dowel pin?

 

Here's another pic, to better show the area in the first photo...

Fixing the truck is SEP (Someone Else's Problem), but I would sure like to tell the boss what could have caused this!

 

J Body,

I was uploading a second photo when you replied. I have heard of a dowl pin problem...

Can you tell me about it?

Thanks.

 

The dowel pin? The gear housing is held and centere in place with dowel pins and one of them has the capability to come out and do the damage you described. If it was and no gears were damaged then up to $800 to $1500 if a used housing is found, if gears and or crank damaged well into the $4000 range and up. These are dealer guestimates. Sorry to hear about that, I hope guys that are putting off securing their dowel pin take heed. Goodluck, Rick

 

Jeff-in-TD


do a search for KDP or Killer Dowel Pin....

You find a wealth of information.

 

That's a bummer. Just be glad it's not your truck! Anyway here are a couple links for you to look at. Hope this helps explain it. Don't want your boss to think it's your fault.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=KDP+what+is

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=KDP+what+is

 

It may never happen to some people, but the odds of it happening are better than winning the lotto.
I know it is a real relief having it done. I did the tab and spent about 4 hours, very worthwhile insurance.

 

Problem described here-
http://www.piersdiesel.com/TechKDP.htm

and repair of the damage here-
http://www.flex.net/~triplem/new/dowelpin.htm

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the helpful information! As I was leaving at the end of my graveyard shift, the wrecker was towing the thing away. Another department with my employer has a good mechanic, but he is tied up with other priority work, so it got dragged off to the Dodge dealer. My supervisor was commenting to his supervisor they had noticed a funny sound when they used the truck the other day...

Actually, I was astounded at how little noise the engine made for as badly damaged as it is. When I first popped the hood, I expected to look for a waterpump going out, or a glazed belt. I think a lot of people would have just kept driving (with predictable results).

This kind of sounds similar to the rear cam bearing issue that may be ticking like a time bomb in the air cooled motorcycle that's sitting in my garage, or the "Kaboom!" term that has come to be used to describe problems that can occur with a particular handgun (of which we have experienced two).

We only have three 4X4's and will really miss the truck right now. One of the other 4X4's (Durango) was damaged last week when they stopped to help a guy in a wheelchair put on chains, and someone slid through their flare pattern and hit it...

Anyway, I can't thank you guys enough, and yes, I am glad it is not my truck.

 

Wow, chains on a wheelchair. Now that's one determined wheelchair operator. jk

 

Good one Steve....

 

Steve,

Thanks! I needed a good laugh...

 

Maybe to ease your mind on your twin cam you can find thru the HD dealer if your bike is one of the unlucky ones that were assembled with bad cam bearings. I have a 99 and was afraid it would crater also. FYI ,HD will make good up 50k miles if the cam bearings let go, and all parts that go with it. This was done as a good faith gesture they claim. due to the amount of defective units. Its worth looking into for peice of mind at least.
Good luck.
Apache

 

As an update, in case anyone is interested, the dealer apparently gave an estimate of about $2,000 for repair. I was hoping that although you can see some notches on the gear in that photo, that they weren't damaged beyond cosmetics... Looks like we may have been lucky.

I miss that truck already. Don't get me wrong, I like my quiet new motor, but there is something satisfying about the sound of a 12 valve when it comes off idle. 5 speed is a slick shifter, too.

Apache, yes, my bike has the early style cam bearing. They sent me a little card, that if I recall correctly, says they extended the warranty for that bearing to 5/50,000. So far, 25K. Lately I'd been thinking of selling it and getting an old panhead chopper and an enduro, but if I keep it I may convert to S&S gear drive cams (and add a slight "rumpity rump" sound to the roadking ).