Well, I finally got around to doing it, used the tab method.
A long while back, I had the dealer fix an oil leak on the front of the engine. They said it was a main seal and the oil pan gasket. This was done under warranty, just 50 or so miles before it ended. I asked them to check the KDP and do the CUmmins fix, they said all was OK, and said they didn't know of a fix (Cummins at the time was recommending wicking Loctite on the pin).
Well, I never really trusted that they did much about the KDP, and then, about 10K miles out of warranty I started leaking oil again. Now, at about 132K miles, the radiator developed a crack and needed replacing. While I had the radiator out, I figured it was prime time to fix the KDP once and for all.
Well, the pin was out about 1/16 inch. It took a lot of presuasion with a punch and a 3 lb hammer to get it to go back in flush, so I guess it was fairly tight. Anyway, I cleaned it and used Loctite 290 (green wicking) on the pin, installed the official Cummins tab washer and used Loctite 242 (blue) on the bolt. The bolt itself was nice and tight as was one of the ones under the cam gear. I put Loctite on that one too. The other one near the edge of the cam gear I couldn't really get to, so I used some green Loctite on it and hoped it would hold it. I couldn't find any more, I think there's supposed to be another somewhere. Anyway, the bolts seemed to have some sort of sealer or Loctite on them as there was an orangish-pink residue on the bolts (looks like the stuff that's on Loctite'd bolts when you remove them, only a different color than I'd seen before).
As for the main seal, I know why it didn't last more than 10K miles, the outer lip was dented badly in 3 places and it wasn't installed straight (doncha love those dealer mechanics?). I put the new one in with the supplied driver tool thingie, from the back side, and it didn't seem to end up straight either (with respect to the front rim of the cover) it was off by about . 090 inches. I tapped it with a punch until it was within about . 005 on all sides and then put some Loctite 609 retaining compound around the outside edge. Yeah, maybe I'm a bit anal retentive on getting the thing in straight, but I'm usually dealing with things in the . 0001 inch range...
I also decided to check the oil pan bolts. I'm not sure what the torque spec in for these, but I figured the 18 lb-ft used on the gear cover would be close. Just about every one of them was loose, some getting almost half a turn before hitting the torque value! There's only 2 you can't really get to, they have a frame cross member in the way. You need a universal joint and a fairly long extension for the job. Probably a good thing to check if you've got any oil leaks.
I used a tiny bead (maybe 1/16 wide) of Ultra black silicone to hold the new gasket onto the cover, left the engine side of the gasket dry. Putting the cover back on was real easy with the little plastic seal installer cup they give you. I couldn't get it to work right with the cup on the shaft nose, it wouldn't go into the seal nicely. So, I put the guide thing into the seal first and then put it over the shaft. That worked perfectly. I guess the seal lips expanded a bit with the installer thing out of the seal.
All in all, it was way easier than I expected. With the radiator out of the way, there's a lot of room to work, and, the radiator is so easy to get out, you might as well use this as an excuse to change your antifreeze and take it out for the extra working room.
As for the radiator replacement, I went with glorad.com, but I'm not entirely happy. The new one was not a Modine, as the website implied, it was a china built aftermarket by Silla. It looks to be built OK, and supposedly has a lifetime warranty. The thing I don't like is that it is thinner, so the little clips that hold the fan shroud to the radiator won't work. There's a 1/2 inch gap between the radiator and the shroud. It seems to work OK though, definitely better than the cracked original...
-cj
A long while back, I had the dealer fix an oil leak on the front of the engine. They said it was a main seal and the oil pan gasket. This was done under warranty, just 50 or so miles before it ended. I asked them to check the KDP and do the CUmmins fix, they said all was OK, and said they didn't know of a fix (Cummins at the time was recommending wicking Loctite on the pin).
Well, I never really trusted that they did much about the KDP, and then, about 10K miles out of warranty I started leaking oil again. Now, at about 132K miles, the radiator developed a crack and needed replacing. While I had the radiator out, I figured it was prime time to fix the KDP once and for all.
Well, the pin was out about 1/16 inch. It took a lot of presuasion with a punch and a 3 lb hammer to get it to go back in flush, so I guess it was fairly tight. Anyway, I cleaned it and used Loctite 290 (green wicking) on the pin, installed the official Cummins tab washer and used Loctite 242 (blue) on the bolt. The bolt itself was nice and tight as was one of the ones under the cam gear. I put Loctite on that one too. The other one near the edge of the cam gear I couldn't really get to, so I used some green Loctite on it and hoped it would hold it. I couldn't find any more, I think there's supposed to be another somewhere. Anyway, the bolts seemed to have some sort of sealer or Loctite on them as there was an orangish-pink residue on the bolts (looks like the stuff that's on Loctite'd bolts when you remove them, only a different color than I'd seen before).
As for the main seal, I know why it didn't last more than 10K miles, the outer lip was dented badly in 3 places and it wasn't installed straight (doncha love those dealer mechanics?). I put the new one in with the supplied driver tool thingie, from the back side, and it didn't seem to end up straight either (with respect to the front rim of the cover) it was off by about . 090 inches. I tapped it with a punch until it was within about . 005 on all sides and then put some Loctite 609 retaining compound around the outside edge. Yeah, maybe I'm a bit anal retentive on getting the thing in straight, but I'm usually dealing with things in the . 0001 inch range...
I also decided to check the oil pan bolts. I'm not sure what the torque spec in for these, but I figured the 18 lb-ft used on the gear cover would be close. Just about every one of them was loose, some getting almost half a turn before hitting the torque value! There's only 2 you can't really get to, they have a frame cross member in the way. You need a universal joint and a fairly long extension for the job. Probably a good thing to check if you've got any oil leaks.
I used a tiny bead (maybe 1/16 wide) of Ultra black silicone to hold the new gasket onto the cover, left the engine side of the gasket dry. Putting the cover back on was real easy with the little plastic seal installer cup they give you. I couldn't get it to work right with the cup on the shaft nose, it wouldn't go into the seal nicely. So, I put the guide thing into the seal first and then put it over the shaft. That worked perfectly. I guess the seal lips expanded a bit with the installer thing out of the seal.
All in all, it was way easier than I expected. With the radiator out of the way, there's a lot of room to work, and, the radiator is so easy to get out, you might as well use this as an excuse to change your antifreeze and take it out for the extra working room.
As for the radiator replacement, I went with glorad.com, but I'm not entirely happy. The new one was not a Modine, as the website implied, it was a china built aftermarket by Silla. It looks to be built OK, and supposedly has a lifetime warranty. The thing I don't like is that it is thinner, so the little clips that hold the fan shroud to the radiator won't work. There's a 1/2 inch gap between the radiator and the shroud. It seems to work OK though, definitely better than the cracked original...
-cj
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