Killer dowel pin...IS IT a REAL PROBLEM??

[Hyper]

I have raed about 5 different stories about the dowel pin coming out of the 5. 9 engine. I know that they are millions of the 5. 9's out there. We have 75 units at work with some over 300,000 miles on them with not even a valve adjustment done to them. They just did not need it! We have had some air compressor failures that has caused a craked timing cover and when we replaced these I have never seen a dowel pin problem. Could it be that only . 05% of the 5. 9 have this problem... Or is it like the fifth gear nut and only 1% has that problem. I have another truck (95) that has 179,000 on it and no fifth gear nut problem. So what I am trying to say is it really a major problem or just a very small % that it invovles.

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1993 Dodge Prostock Daytona 7:70@172, 1987 Grand National 11:77@115, 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 Dually. Stock with a 5 speed, Home page http://www.home.earthlink.net/~whra3

 

[mikepvg]

Thats a 60,000 dollar question.
I for one would be very interested in the %'s for the 5th & the dowl problem.
I bet NVG & Cummins know the #'s & if they are not recalling them, the #'s are low.


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94 2500HD 5sp 4. 10LSD 4X4 RWAL w/GearVendor OD, K&N Oval w/ Pre-Filter, Straight Exhaust, Geno's Fumotovalve, AW-Direct Idle Controller, DiPricol Boost/Pyro/Fuel w/ Kevlar BSS line, Mag-Hytec Rear, 126K miles. Halon Protected, NRA Member. V1.

 

[illflem]

Preventing the dowel pin damage is much like insurance, you hope you will never need it, but...
This is especially true since Cummins doesn't seem to have a clue to which engines are prone to the problem, but you can be sure the problem does exist. I for one don't want my pin falling in the gears during a snow storm in Nevada. With the jig designed by CPFF the problem can be prevented with a fairly easy fix that doesn't require major disassembly. The jigs should be ready to pass around this week for those interested, will keep posted on this. - Bill

 

[Dieselnerd]

I agree, it may be a small percent that fail but if it does, you may destroy your engine. At the very least it would be very expensive unless you are still under warranty. You can fix it by drilling and putting in a setscrew or add a tab to cover the pin like some of us did. I think that once you get all the stuff off the engine that needs to be removed to drill your hole you might as well open the cover and add a tab. You also avoid the chance of metal chips in the gearcase. As Rebel posted, his pin was out 1/4", I doubt very much that it came that way. They aren't sitting in there loose, they slowly vibrate out over many thousands of miles. I had to buy a new seal and cover gasket plus a hard day of dirty work but I feel it was worth the trouble, parts expense was minor.

 

[illflem]

To use the jig you only need to remove the fan mount and the alternator. Entire job will take about an hour. You should have compressed air available to pressurize the engine to blow the chips out while drilling and tapping. The job will be relatively greaseless.