Problems With 1993-1996 Dodge Trucks
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:06 am
If any of you have a Dodge truck 1993-1996 with the Cummins diesel you might be interested in this. It just happened to me. Apparently the alignment pin that aligns the timing gear housing with the front of the engine block can work its way forward enough to come in contact with one of the timing gears. When that happens, it shears the alignment pin off and leaves a nice hole in the timing gear housing, causing a major oil leak. I never heard it happen just noticed it started leaking oil. To make a long story short it's an expensive repair. Turns out that because the timing gear on the camshaft is pressed on they have to pull the camshaft out before they can replace the housing. That requires removing the front end of the truck. Parts were $405.00, labor was $1800. To prevent it from happening to you have your local Cummins mechanic check it out or if you can do it yourself, remove the timing gear cover. The alignment pin hole in the timing gear HOUSING is on the left hand side of the housing about half way down. If it is starting to work its way out you can see the end of the pin. You can either pound it back in and check it in another 50,000 miles or make a tab that will cover the pin hole and bolt it to the mounting bolt just below or beside the pin hole. Naturally you'll have to replace the existing bolt with a longer one. I haven't actually seen this fix but a freind of mine said he fixed his that way. If you can work the pin out you could also rough it up and use locktight then pound it back in.