Valve question.
 

Hey guys. I have a pretty much stock 95 3500 with an auto and ever since I've had I noticed a consistent knock and thought it was just the diesel sound. But every other 12 valve I have heard, it sounds a lot smoother and doesn't have this knock.

So I adjusted the valves while it was hot, .008 and .018 and I was able to find TDC with the timing pin and everything do I don't have any concern I did it wrong. But I started her up and it sounded like the knock went away. But I could hear it very faintly. But on the way home it randomly came back as loud as it used to be.

Could it be something else? Thanks!


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

is it a knock or a sorta poping sound. Also when you found tdc with the pin how many valves did you adjust. Your suposed to do half mark the pulley and role it 360 to line the mark back up then adjust the other half.

how much timing do you have? that adds a noticable rattle. lifters are a tick rods are a knock. what noise is it making? is it making the noise on the top of the engine or the bottom? slight chance it could be a cracked flex plate?

Yeah I did everything one of these links around here said. Do half and do one full turn and do the other half.

Its not a real big knock its more of a annoying ticking and It sounds like its at the top of the engine. It's hard to explain but I can feel the valve covers with the truck running and I can feel one or two valve covers (cant remember which) has a harder thump and I can line the thump up with the ticking noise. But I'm pretty confident my timing has slipped so I'm going to get it bumped up to 16 or 17 degrees. I don't think its a rod because I know the sounds of that from our gassers. What are other symptoms of a cracked flexplate?


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

Update:

I noticed my truck will smoke white a lot when I start it for the first time that day. The white smoke won't go away until it's warmed up and drive it for a while but I can still see a haze of white after its warmed up. Could it be a bad injector causing it to knock and smoke white?
Tomorrow I will crack the lines and see what happens. Will the knock go away if it is a bad injector when I crack it?

Thanks guys.



1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

white smoke is more than likely slipped timing can be an injector but your timing is prolly really retarded. and a cracked flex plate can tick on the side of the tranny making a knock noise. sometimes, other times it just breaks.

first thing I would check is your injectors start the truck up let it idle crack each injector one at a time and if the knock goes away on one of the injectors then that is more than likely the issue if that is not the issue then i can help you with setting the injector pump back to stock settings.

Do a compression test....my bet is that #6 is going to show less then the others.

We rebuilt 3 last year all with the same problem....galded #6 piston due to clogged piston cooling nozzles

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I cracked the injectors and the knock didn't go away until I did the #1 injector. But I tightened it and came back. But then I loosened the #1 injector again and the knock stayed, didn't go away the second time. Wtf lol.

What do you mean set the injection pump back to stock settings?

As for the compression test I think I'm just going to take it into the shop and have everything adjusted. Timing, tranny bands, etc...


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

there is only one band FYI...

I thought there was two. Front and rear band. Front controls 2nd gear cluster and the rear controls 3rd gear cluster and reverse...


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

ive been terribly wrong before... but i am very possitive the 2nd gear band is it. it is adjustable from the driverside of the case. off subject. my bad

vexxxed is right, there are 2 bands. One accessible from the side of the case, the other one you have to get to through the pan.

Heh no problem. It happens!!

So anybody know why the injector would quit knocking but then I tried again and it still knocked?


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

i would swap the #1 injector into a different hole and try doing that again on that cylinder and on the one you put that injector in and see if you can get it to stop knocking again

also we have an engine in the shop right now with an oiling issue in the #1 cylinder galley so it would be possible for the #1 piston to be galded, we found the piston cooling nozzle broken off in this engine. The cylinders that are the hottest are #6 #5 and #1.

i guess what i'm getting at is if it were in our shop we would start with a compression test on all 6 cylinders

Oh I gotcha. Thanks for the help! Where are you guys located at?


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

we are in Arkansas so a long ways from ya

to add to what i was saying about swapping the injector to a different cylinder...

if after you swap them the knock stops when you crack the line on the cylinder that you put the injector into then its a problem with that injector

if the knock still stops when you crack the #1 line after swapping that injector to a different cylinder then it is a problem with that cylinder

Gotcha. That makes sense. I just have to mess with it some more. I mean the truck runs good. Just the tick gets. Little annoying. Cant hear it when it's above idling RPM's but i don't know if the tick goes away or just gets covered up by other noises like exhaust and turbo.


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

you will find it eventually

And your sure its not the lift pump pulsing a fuel line? Lol any way you can get a video?

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Hopefully I will find it lol.

What should I look for if the lift pump is doing that? Yeah I could probably take a video and post her tomorrow!


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

ya know myster i had a total brain laps i shoulda thought about the lift pump, vex hes right it could possibly be the lift pump

As in the lift pump is bad? What are the symptoms?


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

No the pulsation of the lift pump causes the fuel lines to tick or knock if they are loose, sometimes they tick even when the lines are tight. If the spring in the pump fails it can tap or knock but generally causes low pressure as well.
Don't worry cummins un glued. I have times when ill over diagnose something I've fixed hundreds of times and chase my butt around the truck for hours at a time lol
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Oh I gotcha! I will check the lines and if the lift pump spring is ticking should i be able to hear it coming from the lift pump?

Thanks again for all the help guys!

Update!
So this morning I was looking at the lift pump and seeing if I could feel it pulsing with the knock that I am hearing and i couldn't feel anything like that.

So I was looking around the injection pump and I noticed the bolt holding the #1 fuel line to the injection pump looked a little wet. I tried tightening it but it was as tight as I could get it. But I loosened it and a little fuel started misting out and the knock went away! So the problem it somewhere on the #1 fuel line. Either the injector or something in the injection pump there?? Or I'm hoping it is just the timing is really retarded. I loosened all of the other fuel lines on the injection pump and nothing happened. Only the knock goes away on #1. And I did it multiple times instead of just once like in my above post.

Any thoughts are appreciated!!


1995 Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 12 Valve Automatic
4" Straight Pipe to 9" Stack

Whats your timing sitting at?

I would use the pin to see if its at factory timing. Then as said before switch injector 1 and say 4 and see if the knock moves. If it stays at 1 I would check delivery valve and compression on cylinder one. If it moves have your injectors replaced or serviced. If it stays and you rule out mechanical issues I would send the pump to the injection shop. While its possible to diagnose pump issues on the truck your really just running blind. You might have an educated guess but in the end a bench is required.

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^^ x2