I've sealed a few cracked cases with RTV where the guys either couldn't afford a new timing case, or didn't have the ability to have it down for the time being.

I'd check other things for ticking before I tore the motor down. Exhaust leaks or cracks in the manifold (common on 12V's) could give you a ticking noise.

with those symptons im affraid it is piston slap, mine had a slight ticking noise and had alot of blowby, i found the kit on ebay, it uses mahl pistons and genuine cummins bearings and seals, CUMMINS 4B3.9 4BT 4BTA ENGINE OVERHAUL REBUILD KIT - eBay (item 370142331732 end time Mar-10-09 08:55:56 PDT), that is not the kit because it is a 4bt, mine is identical for a 6bt, same company

Well all he says about blow-by is that the oil is black... Lets face it, diesel oil gets black in a hurry, especially with the new CJ oil and ULSD.

I'm not saying you're wrong at all, in fact, there's a good chance you're right. I'm just saying to check the obvious before you go dropping huge dollars on something you possibly don't need.

on my 12v i had a tick for a long time. it ended up being an exhaust leak i found when i replaced my turbo and downpipe.

one thing to check is while the truck is running put some pressure on the priming bulb on the lift pump mounted below the filter towards the back of the motor. if the tick goes away then it could be a liftpump going bad.

BTW if the tick goes away once you break idle then i would rule out piston slap..... but that is me unedjumicated mind thinking here....

sorry i havent checked this in awhile. been thinking about other things in the mean time. heres the updates. last weekend i pulled he front end off and got the timing cover off. i was sick so i couldnt really get any futher than that. the pin is mia im guessing oil pan one of the bolts behind the cam had fallen out and found it back there with the head ground off. the only other bolt i could get to was only finger tight. the case is busted behind the cam where the bolt cam out but i can fix that pretty easy. i couldnt really find any major damage to the case will know more this weekend when i get the cam and pump out of the way and can pull i off. as far as the ticking noise i cant harly hear it at idle i mainly hear it around 1500 or higher with a low load on the motor. it may just be valve adjustment but they will all be readjusted when i put the rockers/pushtubes back in.

Heck, the ticking could have been the bolt hitting the cam gear.

i was thinking that it may have been, I SURE HOPE SO!:choochoo: i looked at the gears and none of them looked bad at all. just normal wear. i think the pin must be in the oil pan because i cant find it anywhere. i havent seen any other 12valve cases but where the pin goes in isnt is suppose o be at the same level as that bolt right next to it? mine isnt its kind of built up right there? mine also doesnt have any tags on it.

Yes, there is a bolt that goes next to the dowel pin, thats what holds the tab if you tab the KDP.

Its not hard to drop the oil pan to pull it out. The tags fall off a lot, the rivets just pull through and the tags fall off. I think they're both on my trucks, but both my 95 and 97 lost them.

well the way my case is formed you wouldn be able to tabe it becasue it is raised at the pin. i dont think mine had a tag because it looks like no rivets were ever installed. do i need to jack the front end up to clear the axle with the oil pan?