Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Truck in coma! Help!!!!! New guy needs the TDR resources here!!!

[EGaskamp]

Truck in coma! Help!!!!!

Today i found out that i had a cracked timing cover. I noticed it when i got out of the truck this morning after idling around town. It was spewing oil all over the place. The guy said about $3,000 to fix and it would be in the shop for 2 weeks. Help!!!! What to do? I have 205,000 on the clock.

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Your problem is the KDP (Killer Dowel Pin) it is a common cause of the symptoms you have.

There is a dowel used for "locating" the cover/gear case. That dowel can work it's way out and drop down onto the gears below. Because of the rotation, the dowel gets jammed in between the gear(s) and just ruptures the gear cover.

I really don't believe it is a $3000. 00 fix.

It is a major repair to be sure.

A good shop can do it in alot less time than that.

Normally the front comes off the truck so the insides can be checked and any gear damage assessed. If there is no other damage then, the cracked case/cover is replaced with a new one and a new gasket installed along with a crank seal and you're good to go.

Make some calls to a couple shops that the guys here can recommend in your area. I'm sure you'll get i squared away with less pain than you might think. .

Jump in here guys, lets help a brother out on this one... .



Pastor Bob...

 

[MLee]

OR, you could tear it down your self and see how bad the damage really is. you may be able to hammer down the broken piece, carefully, to not break it off, and repair it with JB weld. it has been done, and the guys that have done it, says theirs is still holding, no leakage. but DO replace the pin, and tab it.

there has been some repairs being done by shops for under $2,ooo

sorry to hear the pin got ya.

Marv.

 

[Joe G.]

Look here for what is involved in fixing a failure: http://www.flex.net/~triplem/new/dowelpin.htm



I believe that Joe Donnelly has posted that some repairs with JB Weld have resulted in the gear case breaking in two pieces. Major damage and very expensive to fix if that happens.



I know one guy who paid $2700 to get a KDP failure fixed. I have also heard of $700 for the repair. Can't confirm the latter. The parts are not too expensive. It's the labor that runs up the bill.

 

[EGaskamp]

Hey thanks for the help yall.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

the guy I bought my truck from had receipts for about ~$300-350 in parts when his went... it's no small undertaking, but it's not impossible by any means... I wouldn't want to do it, but I certainly couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it for me!



Forrest

 

[EGaskamp]

The guy also said that the berings in the camshaft hole are going to go one day but he can't tell me how long but he says it will be expensive and it will happen. HELP!!!! don't know what to do

 

[Joe G.]

Why do I smell a rip off?



I have not heard of anyone with a KDP failure having a problem with cam bearings if the damage was not enuff to kill the engine.



Two weeks? The two guys shown at the web site I posted above did it in one day. I could do the job in one day and I'm no professional mechanic.

 

[BPonci]

The timing cover job can be done in a day easily. Ask the guy if all the bearings are bad. Then ask him how many bearings there are. By the way for your info there is only one bearing. The front one. Good Luck!

 

[McCRam]

At the very least get a second opinion, that guy doesn't sound right. If it had happened to me, because of the money involved, I would have gotten a shop manual and taken care of it myself on a long weekend.

 

[Andy Redmond]

I could help, but the local Cummins Dist. usually smokes my price. Although the gear train, cam bearing/block can be damaged from the KDP its hard to tell until its torn down. Often times just the housing R&R repairs the issue.



Whoever, you choose, assure that they pull the cam vs the cam gear. As Joe Donnelly has correct posted, heat in excess of the what the cam gear can take is necessary to fully press it back onto the cam, if just the cam gear is removed. (FYI many DC dealers do the short cut).



Avg. labor times around here avg. 13hrs. if just the gear case is r&r'd. I'm guess less than $500 in parts for the R&R aforementioned.





Often the softer aluminium gear housing is the sacrificial element, the proverbial "rock and a hard place"?



Good luck

Andy

 

[Deezul1]

Check the Cummins shop down on University Park Ave south of Baylor. They are a nice bunch there.

 

[SBrandon]

Originally posted by Andy Redmond

heat in excess of the what the cam gear can take is necessary to fully press it back onto the cam

I am no diesel mechanic but when my kdp bit me I fixed it myself, ten hours and one case of bud heavy, I did not pull the entire cam only the gear. to put it back on i used a household deepfryer filled with motor oil, worked fine, but ya gatta be quick and precise.

 

[CATCRACKER]

mine is out i have got prices on labor only of $1200 from cummins and $1400 from another cummins shop. the parts are about 350 to 400 depending on a few things. i think when i do mine i am going to put a enterprise or piers cam in.

 

[shendren]

Originally posted by SBrandon

I am no diesel mechanic but when my kdp bit me I fixed it myself, ten hours and one case of bud heavy, I did not pull the entire cam only the gear. to put it back on i used a household deepfryer filled with motor oil, worked fine, but ya gatta be quick and precise.

i don't get the deepfryer thing?... ... ...

 

[Andy Redmond]

He used hot oil to heat the gear to expand it enough to allow it to more easily be pressed back onto the cam.

 

[Piers]

Just a FYI, new gear cases are $150. 00, not the $300. 00 he said.