Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Oh No!!!!!

[PZicha]

Drawson . . any time you use epoxy steel ,or devcon and this is a must. . USE AS MUCH HEAT AS YOU CAN MUSTER TO CURE IT... I use this stuff all the time , what heat does is turn it to almost liquid enabeling it to seep into the pore's of what ever metal you are glueing to ... . I once did a demo for a friend and glue'd a ball bearing to a piece of aluminum normal temp and aluminum is a tough metal to glue , next I glue'd another ball bearing but baked it in the oven at 200 degree's for a half hour . I took a screw driver and with very little effort dislodged the first ball bearing ,The baked one broke the end of the screw driver off ,needless to say it went into the garbage still stuck to the plate... I hope this helps anyone in the future... ... Pete

 

[Hammer]

Drawson,,Checked with my man who did my second KDP explosion and the mechanic who USED to work for dealer(guy who did the first fix) and both concurred that the bolt that came loose below had nothing to do with the KDP problem,,The both agreed that design flaws in the cover are causing the failures and ALL the bolts holding the cover to the motor NEED to be checked periodically for tightness(both claim even if lock-tite is used they will worm loose),,I now have 20,000 miles on the second failure and am going to pull mine down next weekend to look her over and see whats happening(preventive maintenence),,I was also told that the newer cover are different designs than the first one(which went at 37,000 miles on a stock motor,ya reading this Don M. ),,When I get it apart(I have the old cover from the second breakage) I'll look to see what the difference,if any, is and let you know,,Cummins and DC will NEVER admit to this problem due to the number of trucks that are using this power plant,,I mean why do it when they can gamble and HOPE we make it to the warranty limit and we eat the bill,,Seems like a company(Cummins)who has been and still is having front cover problems would want to rectify it so they can save their own company's reputation,,Thats where things get interesting,see,they Cummins,are having boatloads of front cover failures in other engine models(M-11 and N-14)leading to the same results we are having(oil leaks and cams being wiped out,can not tell you how many of my companies trucks have been fixed and some more than once)and other than doing the work to fix them,has anyone seen a recall on them,NOPE,,Guess they like the gunfighter role and will hope no one is a better shot so they can out gun the milage warranty and not repair it like they should,,In a letter I sent to them(which went unanswered) I asked that they only make owners aware of the problem and allow us to have them checked and some kind repair or replacement one,and like I said NO REPLY,PERIOD!!,,It DOES NOT MATTER if your stock or modified or what oil you use(please read Don M. ) when these(KDP's) will fail and it is not milage specfic,,All we ask is they allow them to be looked at and something done,its really a simple answer that they(DC or Cummins) do not want to explore(think of it this way,how busy will they be,dealers,checking all the trucks out there and with this possibly a warranty deal they will get not a cent from the public-Labor hours+warranty work+shops/mechanics tied up=no money in their pockets),,Oh and last thing here,after my chat with my ex-dealer mechanic buddy,you improperly valved guys(24 valvers) may not be as safe as you think in this problem..... Just my . 02 worth

 

[amsoilman]

The School District in which I work driving "Bluebird" School buses with the Cummins 5. 9L engines are having this same problem with the gear case covers, resulting in oil leaks. Cummins is replacing them with "newly" designed covers as long as the engines have less than 100,000 miles and are less than two years old! The bus I drive, was one that had to have this done.



Wayne

amsoilman

 

[Jim Fulmer]

The way I see it!

I knew when I bought this truck that it was going to cost me more to keep it up verses my 4. 3 gasser, I can live with that cause it is so much more fun driving, running and pulling. The I found the TDR and the great folks here and that made it that much better, with the TDR I would be wondering why the transmission is piece and what can I do to fix it..... answer DTT. I never knew about the KDP till the last few months but with the help of TDR and it's members I have fixed it(tab method) What I'm getting at is if I have to pull the cover once a year to check the bolts and the tab to make sure there fine then so be it, kinda like running the valves neither are a hard job. I posted in another KDP topic my E-mail address on the tab fix and have had non-members E-mail me wanting the info and I'll gladly give it to them so we can all get this fixed, Sorry for the rant Thanks to all of you for your info, it is much appriciated.



Jim



-- email address removed --

 

[Don M]

Jim, will you have your trans ready in the middle of March?

The Ford guys are wanting to do another dyno event on the 16th if you wanna come down.



Don~

 

[Jim Fulmer]

DTT

Don, If all goes well after the 1st I'll send James the money for the parts then get it done cause it needs it, If so I'll come down to the Dyno session for a base run and see what it will do. I may still be running the #8 plate though, well just have to see. I'm going for 325 HP for the final, I figure it will be fun and won't hurt everthing at that level nor will it be exspensive to get there. One thing I would like to do is bump the timing to 15. 5 but I don't have the tools so I may try to employ(pay) someone to do it for me in the future.



Jim

 

[Don M]

Jim,



My timing kit showed up yesterday. Maybe we can do it before you dyno.



Don~

 

[moparguy]

So drawson and 956Wheel, what about the bolts under the cover, all tight, or did you find other potential gernades waiting to go off?

 

[drawson]

I took all the bolts out that i could get to, cleaned them and lock tited them. The one right under the KDP was loose, it would have been out before long. :--)

 

[Don M]

Mine were all loose too.

I could not get to them all. The cam gear was in the way.

The bolts were very loose.



Glad you got that housing fixed like you did.



Don~

 

[Cummins Corvette]

Hey fellas, when I took the kdp on in my truck, it was still all the way in, and no bolts where loose. I took them all out and cleaned them and their holes out with carb cleaner, then compressed air. I put them back with red lock tite on them, and tabbed the kdp. I wonder if some of the covers are all right?

 

[grtescpa]

KDP

Drawson what was the milage on the truck went the pin fell out?

 

[drawson]

118K. All is still well!!!!! She is still dry as a bone

 

[TMorgan1]

Well, I have got to ask this question. I have a 2001 HO and wonder every time I get in it whether the KDP is going to raise its ugly head. What do you all think is the percentage of having problems with the KDP for a stock engine. Are we talking about 20% or 80% probability of having problems. You generally hear of the people having problems and I am wondering if I need to make this possible repair or take my chances.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

In my experience, a minority of dowel pins never move, and a minority of them come out at relatively low mileage (below something like 80,000 miles). The rest slowly move out and will eventually fall out unless you have the updated gear case with a restricted hole in it to retain the dowel pin in case it moves. Movement is faster with the greater vibrations of the P7100 injection pump used from 1994 to 1998. 0 in twelve-valve engines. I have heard of a few instances of late 24-valve engines losing the dowel pin and having the early gear case design. The factory started using sealer/loctite type stuff on the gear case bolts around 1996 so your bolts aren't prone to falling out like the earlier engines. That situation is even worse than the dowel pin falling out, because the flange head bolt can jam in the gear teeth and cause major breakage, not just gear case breakage. [Third Generation engines have sealer on the bolts and do not have a dowel pin. ]

 

[LVJUNIOR]

If you have any doubt at all I would just put the KDP repair tab in it. I waited to do mine for 8 months because I was intimidated by how much of a pain people said it was. I finally bought the TST KDP repair kit and it was very easy. They even tell you what tools you will need to do the entire job. I was done in 2 hours without pushing myself very hard.



In my opinion it is well worth the effort to not worry every time you drive it weather or not this is going to be the day it fails.