I’ve got a fun one for you guys. Recently purchased a case 590 turbo. Did an oil change (really struggled to get the drain bolt off - had to run the engine up to temp, apply a bit of torch heat, and use a breaker bar) and I found this. Is this the famed KDP (Killer Dowel Pin)? What do I do with this?
And just to be clear, I’m referring to this piece of metal on the left.
Looks like it very well could be try to file it is it harder then wood pecker lips is there any troubles with the engine
Hi Tyler. Strangely enough, I’m not having any troubles with the engine, everything seems to be working like it should.
If this is the killer dowel pin (kdp), does anyone know if I should leave it out or replace it? If I replace it, do I need to take apart the radiator, fan, and hydraulic pump first to get to the case?
We replace them in the 6 bt’s and locktite the timing case bolts I have taken timing case bolts out with my fingers when tabbing the kdp. They will all be loose, Lucky it didn’t, break the timing case, which means pulling the cam to change or breaking the cam shaft and turning your engine into a Cummins paper weight
I took the questionable part to the service manager at the Cummins store, and confirmed that this is in fact the KDP. The dowel looks like it nicked a few gears on it's way down, but inspecting the undercarriage it does not look like it cracked the timing case. I got lucky. The service manager said he's never seen this happen on a 4-cylinder model (4bt 3.9), so this is a first for him, but in theory it could happen on other case backhoes. BTW: service manager says not to bother replacing the dowel pin. I'm very confused because there's both types of advice on the internet: some say to replace the dowel pins due to timing case alignment. Others say not to replace them. Anyway, I just wanted to follow-up in case anyone else has this problem.
The case carries the injection pump and the accessory pump below and maintains their gear alignment, without the dowel, bolts are in clearance holes. My experience in tabbing kdp’s the bolts holding the timing case to the block under the cover will all be loose. You need to custom bend a wrench to tighten the one under the cam gear The kdp if it breaks the case it is above the cam gear. Some have stopped the oil leaking out of the cracked case with a gob of jb weld. You will find pic’s on the net where to look ( Cummins in dodge pickups) On a truck it’s an easy job to fix, you have more work.