What maintenance should I do will I have my front fender off???

[Jmacwillie]

Hey guys, I am in the process of replacing my front fenders on my 1997 12 valve 2500 and am wondering what I should do while I have good access to both sides of the engine? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks

 

[BarryG]

Only thing that comes to mind is on the drivers side the vacuum pump if it needs any help or you wanted to do some pm on it. Fixinrams sells all the parts to rebuild it not expensive ie changing the vanes inside and new seals is about it. My pump lasted about 300k miles before it started leaking oil and when I redid the seals I went ahead and changed the vanes as well. On the pass side maybe check to make sure your exhaust manifold hasn't cracked or broken off any of the mounting ears. Might as well check all the coolant hoses and charge air boots/hoses too. Obviously all of that can be done with the fenders on but access would certainly be better without them so I wouldn't do it if it didn't need it but depending on mileage I might do the pump rebuild. The manifold if it isn't cracked or have broken ears I wouldn't mess with it. Coolant hoses I might do if they haven't been replaced in the last 10 years or ever.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Tappet cover gasket

 

[Jmacwillie]

Thanks guys, I'll do a little research into those suggestions.

 

[mweiman]

X2 on the tappet cover and other suggestions. Might also be a good time to check fuel hose condition and also the battery cables.