Cummins Diesel Engine -B Series Installing Cylinder Head

Cummins Diesel Engine - B Series Cylinder Head Installation

The cylinder head deck and engine block should be checked for flatness, valves and guides for excessive wear as well as any visible cracks especially around the valve seat area. A machine shop experienced with diesel engine repair will check all these areas out.

• align head gasket with coolant passages and head bolt holes in the block
• position head gasket over the dowels
• place cylinder head on the block and seat it onto the dowels
• 4 cylinder head weighs 80 lbs. while the 6 cylinder head weighs 114 lbs.
• position the push rods into the valve tappets-lubricate sockets with engine oil
• lubricate valve stems with engine oil
• loosen rocker lever adjusting screws
• install the pedestals-align with dowels
• install 8mm pedestal mounting bolts finger tight-lube threads and under bolt head shoulders with oil-these smaller capscrews will be torqued last
• install 12mm head bolts finger tight-lube threads and underside of bolt heads
• Torque head bolts in a circular pattern starting from the middle of the head and working your way to each end of the head
• tighten all capscrews to 66 ft. lbs.
• recheck to 66 ft. lbs.
• long capscrews only to 89 ft. lbs.
• recheck long capscrews at 89 ft. lbs.
• Advance all capscrews 90 degrees
• Note: the head gasket kit usually comes with a torque procedure which may vary from this one depending on the year of your diesel engine
• finally torque smaller pedestal capscrews to 18 ft. lbs.

This procedure is the basic method for cylinder head installation on a B series Cummins Diesel Engine

Cummins Diesel Engines - B Series

Cummins Diesel Engines



To help you better understand the Cummins Diesel Engine-B Series let's start at the beginning. I will show you first what is called the Engine Nomenclature which is the data of this diesel engine.

For Automotive Diesel engine applications B is the engine series 3.9 is the displacement in litres 105 is the horsepower rating. This is a B 3.9 - 105 Cummins diesel engine.

For non-automotive applications the model would be 4 number of cylinders B engine series
T turbocharged A aftercooled 3.9 Displacement in litres. This model is a 4 B T A 3.9 Cummins diesel engine.

The Cummins diesel engine data plate is something you don't want to lose! It's fastened very securely to the timing cover housing but I have seen a few get damaged. The information on the data plate is essential when ordering parts. The Engine Serial Number, Control Parts List [CPL], Injector Part Number are all included on the engine data plate.

On my next post I will continue with repair instructions & tips on the B series Cummins Diesel Engine.

Cummins Diesel Engine - Finding Codes

Cummins Diesel Engines


The world of computerized Diesel Engines has been around for awhile now and they are definitely here to stay. The emission standards are very high and most of the population does not have a problem with that since these standards effect the air that we breath.
Many years ago it didn't matter how rich the exhaust emissions were in your everyday diesel engine. The richer the mix meant more power!
Today, diesel engine power has to be sacrificed for the good of our health, environment and global warming. That's it for my environmental public service message!

Today the up to date mechanic has to hook up a laptop and read diesel engine fault codes. I looked at a Cummins Diesel engine [ISC model ] that had an amber warning light come on. 'Warning' being the operative word since you can usually keep driving until the problem is checked out back at the shop.

The fault code was '0268' which means: fuel pressure in accumulator is not changing with engine operating conditions. This code will cause power and/or speed derate and the engine could run rough. This is the worst case scenario, the diesel engine in this case did a hiccup and then kept running smoothly after that. The Cummins Insight software will tell you everything, how many times the code occurred and at at what time of the day etc.

The Accumulator is part of the C.A.P.S [Cummins Accumulator Pump System] and controls the fuel injection operation of the Cummins Diesel ISC Engine.
The code only happened one time so I deleted it [since it was inactive] and replaced the fuel filters.

There has been no comeback so I'm going to knock on wood, no sense digging deeper into such a minor problem. We'll wait and see!

This is just a tidbit on what it's like working on a electronic Cummins Diesel Engine.

Diesel Engines-Cat 3116 injector seating tool

DIESEL ENGINES



Cat 3116 diesel engines require the proper tools when making any adjustments. One tool that is required is the injector seating tool. This diesel engine has unit style injectors that are seated into cups in the cylinder head.
If you don't properly seat the injectors when replacing or re-installing there is a possibility of compression blow-by which will pressurize the fuel system. I talked about this in a previous post, the fuel tank will build up pressure and your diesel engine will run verrry rough!
I experienced this first hand because I did not seat the injectors at all and relied on the injector hold-down clamps. This caused a lot of extra work, so our shop invested in the hold-down kit 'Cat # 173-1530'

Also when installing the injectors I use the sealing o-ring that fits over the injector tip [not specified for new injectors] this adds to the injector sealing capabilities.

The Cat 3116 seating tool is easy to use [it comes with an instruction manual] Just fit it over the installed injector [injector hold-down clamp torqued] then torque seating tool to 25 ft. lbs wait then retorque. Retorque injector hold-down clamp to 9 ft. lbs. [+ or - 2 ft. lbs.]

I highly recommend the seating tool for any of you doing your own repairs on a 3116 Diesel Engine.

Diesel Engines

Diesel Engine exhaust fumes have a very distinctive odor that makes me think of work and how much I respect these machines.
Although the exhaust smoke from a diesel engine is offensive to some people, I use it as a troubleshooting tool!
I had a diesel engine that ran like crap and pushed out more white smoke than you could imagine! What does that tell you? There is a lot of unburned fuel going out the tail pipe.
The problem with this particular diesel engine was fuel timing which makes sense because fuel injection occurring on the wrong stroke is not a good recipe for efficient combustion.
If you run a diesel out of fuel[lots of starter cranking involved] the first place you should check to see if fuel is getting through the injection system is at the tail pipe. With a no start problem, if there's no smoke pumping out of that pipe you have got a no-fuel problem. Is there fuel in the tank? [it's happened before!]Is the fuel solenoid working? Transfer pump?
My favourite quick check to test fuel lines and the fuel tank[always check the source!] on a diesel engine is to grab a 5 gallon fuel can and stick the suction line to the injection pump into it and crank the engine over, or run the engine whatever the problem may be and see if there is any improvement in your diesel engine performance.
Don't worry about fuel contamination by doing this, you've by-passed the primary fuel filter [suction side] but there is still the secondary [pressure side] fuel filter before the injection pump. [You have of course already replaced the fuel filters since this is a fuel related problem].
Diesel engines have come a long way in the last few decades with the emission standards and electronics but in the end all a diesel engine needs to run is AIR & FUEL! And don't forget that tail pipe jargon I was mentioning earlier. Check the simple things first!
That's all I have to say right now about diesel engines.

Rear Differential ...... Adjustments

Rear Differential


When repairing a rear differential one thing that must be checked is the Crown & Pinion gear backlash. Backlash should be checked before disassembly and reset to the same setting if you are planning to use the same gear set.
Backlash is measured using a magnetic base dial indicator which reads the rocking back and forth travel on the Crown Gear. This adjustment is very important because a high or low backlash setting changes the gear pattern on the differential.
The backlash is adjusted by moving the threaded side bearing adjusting rings which moves the crown closer or farther away from the pinion gear. A new differential gear set is usally adjusted between .005 - .015 in. while a used gear set is adjusted between .015 - .025 in.


The final backlash setting on your gear set depends on the gear tooth pattern [by painting on a substance that shows gear tooth contact, I use copper never-seize compound] With some resistance you roll the crown and pinion gears around so the contact will give you an idea if the backlash or pinion gear depth has to be adjusted.
These are the 2 most important adjustments on a rear differential.