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A third possible outcome pits the dowel pin against the cam gear directly beneath it.
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See why it’s called the “killer dowel pin?” Of course, if you’re lucky the dowel pin avoids the cam, crank and injection pump gears altogether and makes it safely down into the oil pan. Remember, if it takes out the cam gear, the pistons will contact the valves, potentially leading to a trashed head and block.
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Once it falls out, the tiny dowel pin usually makes contact with the cam gear first and can then be drawn into both the injection pump and crank gears, effectively making it a 10-cent wrecking ball. Over time and thanks to a combination of vibration, heat cycles and age, it can work its way out of the block. On the assembly line, a tiny steel dowel pin was pressed into the block of ’89 to ’02 mills in order to locate the engine’s timing gear housing. Killer Dowel Pin (KDP) The Problemĭue to its ability to completely trash an engine, the killer dowel pin tops our list of Cummins shortcomings. Read on to find out what your Cummins’ biggest pitfall is and how to correct it. For example, did you know a 10-cent dowel pin can destroy an ’89 to ’02 engine in a matter of seconds? Or the irreparable cracked block scenarios that run rampant with ’99-’01 versions? And what about all the blown head gasket issues plaguing the 6.7L?
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While its flaws are few, these engines do have a handful of potentially catastrophic failure points. This is especially true for diesel newbies hungry to get their hands on one of these legendary inline-six mills. Despite all the performance potential and well-documented durability the B series Cummins is known for, a lot of folks tend to overlook its shortcomings.
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