Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Engine Problems

[DThibault]

A friend has an 01, 3500, six speed, that was idling in the yard waiting to go to work and suddenly stopped. According to his mechanic the timing somehow slipped and bent all the push rods. I couldn't help thinking it was the dreaded dowel pin. I took a quick look and all the gears look intact. They thought the cam gear had slipped on it's shaft. Never heard of that! They advised him the engine was probably junk and the truck is for sale. I'm thinking of another project and need a little advice. Should I look for another VP 44 engine or should I put a P pumped engine in it? Would there be a lot of work matching wiring, throttle linkage, or exhaust if I were to look for a P pump engine? I am fairly familiar with the first gens and drive a second but have not done much work on it except for suspension so I need a little help here, Thanks.

 

[cerberusiam]

At an idle like that, if all it did was eyebrow the pistons the engine might be fine. Pull the head and have a valve job done, replace the pushrods, and figure out if the gear really did turn on the cam and why.



Its possible the KDP cause it to jam and slip. These engines are pretty tough and you may just get lucky.

 

[DThibault]

You got me excited now. I don[t know what I can buy the truck for yet as the owner is out of town. I found a 24 valve engine on craigslist that's not too much money if this one is junk. I can't wait to tear into it if I can get it reasonable. What do you think a 3500 with a dump is worth. Its got about 100000 miles on it and needs a little front end work. but all in all its not bad after I fix the engine and replace a fender.

 

[cerberusiam]

Its worth however muc somebody will pay for the need. Considering th eprice and economy of the new ones, they hold value for the right person.

 

[DThibault]

I got the truck home and still haven't identified the problem. When I was talking to the guy with the replacement engines he mentioned he had several 12 valve P pumped engines also. Would you consider one of those or still go with the stock replacement or repair? The neighbor kid has one in a 96 and has turned it into an animal with pump work and water meth and all. Fairly impressive.

 

[dresslered]

Its possible the KDP cause it to jam and slip.

The '01s don't have the KDP problem. I'll be curious what you find because I drive one of these.

 

[DThibault]

I finally got the truck home got the head off. No damage at all, 9 of the push rods are bent in the lazy "S" shape but the carbon on the top of the piston is barely marked. Al the valves look OK but I don't know if any are bent. I think I'll take the head to the machine shop for a tune up when I figure what caused all this. I can see the pin that holds the gear to the crank and that looks to be stable. None of the gears show any marks at all on them. Where do I go from here? This truck does not have a timing pin like my first gen so I really am not clear how to rotate it to TDC. I'm thinking the old pin would plug into the back of the cam drive gear and a quick look at #1 piston would give me an idea if it was still close in time. Ideas?

 

[Bob4x4]

The timing mark is on the vp44 gear

 

[DThibault]

I lined up all the timing marks from the Vp44 gear through the cam gear all the way to the crank shaft. I'm assuming that is TDC and sure enough the No1 piston is at the top. BUT when I stuck the pushrods in their respective holes they were not the same height and therefore both valves would not be closed which means to me that the cam has somehow slipped its time. Is my theory correct?