I have a friend with a 2001 3500 4wd auto. It developed a bad oil leak along the bottom of the access cover on the drivers side of the block. When you start the truck, it takes about five minutes for the leak to start, and then it just pours engine oil down the side of the block. My question is, Can this gasket be replaced without removing the injector pump? I was hoping to be able to pull the lift pump and bracket, and maybe all of the injector lines, and be able to get the cover out. I have never worked on a 24 valve before though. Thanks in advance for your help, Jason

 

There is no other way than to remove the VP, I tried... took me about 2,5hrs to complete, I dont have a LP or factory fuel canister on my truck (airdog instead) so there might be a little more plumbing to remove, IIRC I only removed the 1st group of injector lines (note that they come off in 2 distinct groups...DO NOT unhook the holders that hold each line to each other, just the brackets from the intake manifold)

good thread to watch is one done by diesel dan its a video of how to remove the VP, it will save you a ton of grief

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=152404&page=3

there are some you tube links at the end of the post as well

 

Thanks Nickg, I tackled the project yesterday and had it completed in 6hrs. The videos on youtube were worth their weight in gold! Thank you dieseldan!!!!
I also was able to leave the rear injector lines on the engine which really saved a lot of time, Those rear 2 lines looked like they could be a job! All in all the project went very well, thanks for this great forum, it really helped me out- I hope I can be a help to someone else

BTW the leak was where the gasket around the side cover had got hard and brittle, and shrunk so that the gasket split on the top and bottom of the cover leaving a big gap for the oil to leak. I just wondered if the engine had been getting too hot for some reason? there is an Edge Juice computer on the rig, but whoever installed it put the pyrometer right next to the turbo flange on the exhaust manifold, so the egt's may be much higher than they thought. Any comments on this?