Tappet Cover re-assembly Part 2!
I finished up the re-assembly of the Tappet cover gasket and put the Injector pump back on. Next up is the front timing cover and I wanted to secure the Injector pump gear before pulling that cover. I didn’t line up the Injector pump with TDC when I pulled the pump so the drift pin was facing down and could easily fall into the timing cover. Luckily I was able to get the pump back on without dropping that guy.
I went down to the parts store and found a timing gasket set that looked pretty close. I had to use one from a Gen1 Cummins since Gen2 didn’t come with the front timing gasket, only the rear. I’m guessing you were supposed to just use Permatex, but I’m not a fan of Permatex only gaskets seals. The new gasket was almost the right one so I had so McGyver it a bit.
Pulled the Crank Pulley/Balancer off. Now to remove all the bolts holding the timing cover on.
After marking what bolts were long and short and different I pulled them all out. Then pried that cover off, it was stuck! 2 layers of old Permatex! You can see I also installed the Killer dowel pin pix in it while I was in here. It was fine, but I’ve heard horror stories of them falling out into the gears, yikes. The gasket surface has also been thoroughly cleaned and wiped down with acetone. I didn’t get an pics of my gasket mod but I had to cut out a small section between 3 bolts and use just Permatex.
New Crank seal installed and timing cover back on. It took awhile to clean off all that old Permatex. I then ran ever bolt through the wire wheel to get the Permatex off them as well. I also had to tweak the cover as it was slightly bent as well. I also had to flatten the bolt holes back as well since the previous guy used the torque spec of “1/4 turn before the bolt snaps”. I tightened all the bolts down to just finger tight, waited 24 hours for the Permatex to set and then tightened all to proper spec.
I ended up replacing the water pump after this. 5 gallons of coolant came out before I got the new pump in. This was the easiest pump I’ve ever done. 2 10mm bolts and a rubber gasket. Cleaned up the surface with a 2″ wizzer pad and popped the new one on. Filled back up the coolant. I found a return line on the top radiator line that was the highest part of the system and filled the engine until it came out there to try and remove all the air. It seemed to work.
I didn’t take any more pictures after this since I was in a hurry but I finally started engine re-assembly. I was able to get everything back together. I then cracked the fuel lines at the injectors and pre-filled the Fuel Filter assembly. Then cranked the engine until fuel came out the lines, which was pretty quick. Tightened down the lines and double checked everything was back on and tight and cranked the engine over. After about 10 seconds of cranking it started to sputter and then popped right off and ran great. Better than it ever has for some odd reason.
I also hooked up a 3in1 Gauge. For EGT, Boost and Fuel pressure from Glow Gauges. I put the snubber/sensor for the fuel on the outlet side of the fuel filter, in between the VP44 and the Filter. For the Boost gauge I bought an adapter that allows you to remove the front left intake bolt and replace it with an adapter that allows you to screw the sensor into the new adapter bolt. I need to wait on the EGT sensor because I have to drill and tap the manifold and the way this manifold sits the shavings will fall directly into the Turbo. So I’ll tackle that once I remove the turbo to change that leaking gasket. I used the security wire to run from the dash back to the engine compartment. And I still need to come up with a nice way to mount the gauge on the dash. But for now at least it works! I also bought a Scangauge D and plugged it in and things look pretty good with the engine, no codes stored yet so that’s good.
All back together!