IanM

Sorry. got it off with a few hammer taps and a pry bar.

Diesel4blood

Post back with how this went for yoiu and how long it took you would you? I just got my kit a couple of days ago and I'll soon be doing this one too.

IanM

It took me about 6 hours by myself. The toughest part was the fan/fan shroud. It was a bit difficult to get them both out on my own...an extra set of hands would have been really helpful. I also had to fiddle around with the vibration dampener for about 15-20mins before it came loose.
I think it would have been much quicker if I disconnected the rad hose on the drivers side. The windsheild washer fluid resevoir also doesn't have to be drained and disconnected either. As long as you remove it from the fan shroud, there's enough room for the resevoir beside the battery without getting in the way.

Don't forget to have some kind of tool (crow bar, screw driver etc) to bar the engine to get the dampener off.

Click here for KDP instructions

I used the TST instructions, and they were awesome. Covered all of the bases and didn't leave anything out.

Luckily for me the dowel pin in my truck was still fully seated! After 430,000-460,000 kms no less!

Thanks again for everyone who's helped me out on this site so far! Cheers!

Ian

Tate

You should just be able to remove the bolts, give it a spin on the crank to break it free and walk it off by hand. Unless its been doweled to the crank. Which is unlikely unless its an aftermarket damper.

IanM

Sorry, I meant to get the damper bolts off, something needs to keep it from spinning. I had to wedge a pry bar into the notch on the damper to get the bolts off with a 3' chunk of pipe on the end of my ratchet. It was really stuck on there good.

Diesel_Power_2

Hi IanM,

I also just did the KDP on my 97 with 455Kl and it too was fully seated But all the other bolts that hold the inner casing were loose I Locktited all of them but 1 that was under the cam sprocket I couldn't get a wrench on the final few turns even with barring the engine ,"murphy's law". I did retighten it to about 20 ft lbs so should be good for a long time now.

Does your 96 smoke blue when cold? Mine does then after about 10 minutes only black exhaust. Your mileage is close to mine so I thought I'd ask.

Yes the TFT Instructions were just Great to have and saved a few hundred bones by doing it myself.

Cheers.

IanM

Yeah, i re-torqued all of the other bolts just to be safe too, but it didn't take much to torque them to 20lbs.

I don't get any blue smoke on cold starts, but I get a very light white/grey haze occasionally. It tends to go away after idling for a couple minutes.

It's nice having some piece of mind! One less thing to worry about

Where abouts in BC are you? I'm down by Pitt Meadows. Nice to see another local canuck on the forum

Diesel_Power_2

Hi IanM,

I agree on the 20lbs issue. I just estimated the value. I wanted them snug down but not too hard. Must buy a T_wrench some day.

I am in Surrey area. O_well..

I seem to get pretty heavy blue when it is real cold out for about 5 minutes then all is good. This is my first Dodge diesel and I have put alot of time and $$ into bringing it back into shape. The KDP went pretty smooth and by doing it myself was able to clean things up with some paint on the cover.

May be my turbo is causing the blue smoke as someone suggested here. Hopefully not. I can live with the blue for the 5 minutes it takes to get ride of but it does make a cloud out the back when first heading out in the cold AM. Took it out today for a spin and she sure likes the Hwy.

Nice site to have for Newbee's like myself for help and support when needed.

Diesel4blood

All these posts are really helpful! I have 175,000 miles on mine. I've never really seen any smoke yet, but we not only have low sulfur fuels here in Arizona, but we also have 20% biodiesel blends as well.

When I start out driving my truck, I keep it under 1500 RPM until I see the temp guage begin to rise. Then I keep it under 2000 doing normal driving and avoid 2500 RPM until the engine is at normal operating temperature.

I don't know if this is babying it too much or not, I just know I cannot afford to replace it or have a breakdown if I can help it.