cummins donor search? what to look for?

[otisd85]

i am looking for a donor cummins to inplant into the truck in my sig, i have decided to go with a 12 valve for the reliability and simplicity of being mechanical, and the 94-98 because of the legendary p7100's power potential. i have been looking for a complete truck for some time now but for some reason nobody wants to get rid of their truck for what i want to pay for a engine and tranny, go figure. so looking at used engines that outlasted the shell built around them has come to be my next best option, but thats okay to because after some more research i found i want a nv4500 out of a 98.5+ that came behind the 24v not 12v.

i found several engines for a reasonable price (to me, ie. 1250-2000) but they all seem to be higher milage (again to me, ie. 200,000-400,000). im looking for a donor to "freshen up and fire ring", not something thats going to need a major overhaul.

i have a engine im interested in but its 6 hours away and i want to be sure its what i want before i go look at it because if i go that far i want to be at least 95% sure ill buy it unless i notice something catastrophically wrong with it.

so i need some advice from all you cummins connoisseurs out there on what im looking for, what questions i need to ask, and what tools i need to bring to do as much diagnostics on a engine that is out of the the vechile as i can?

as far as what i already know about the engine is the seller is asking 2000 obo, he says it has 2500rpm gov springs, it has 66,000 miles, its out of a ford bus. the engine id tag, or as much of it as i can read states,
manufactured by cummins engine co. for ford motor co.
dom 10-4-1994
cid 359 / L 5.9
model # b5.9-190
cpl 1351 (im not 100% about the "3")
timing tdc 11.5*
valve lash cold int .010" exh .020"
firing order 1 5 3 6 2 4
ford p/n F4HT-5007-JGATN4A
hp 190 at 2300 rpm

there is quite a bit of other info on the tag and i can read the numbers but cant really tell what the numbers are for.

any info you could give to help me make a more informed purchase would be a huge help and if there is any more questions i need to ask the seller or any questions you have i may be able to answer let me know

sorry for being so long winded but thanks a million for taking your time to read this and thanks even more if you take your time to post any info helpful to me.

otis

 

[otisd85]

just a couple more things, on the ip where the forth line from the front (or third from the rear) goes out up by the nut it looks like there was some fuel leaking, is this a big deal? how do i make sure this is a p7100, so i dont end up with a p3000 or anything else?

thanks again

 

[argve]

You would need to get the bosch number off the pump to see what pump it is - there is a tag on the outside of it on what would be the drivers side towards the gear side of the pump or front of engine. The pump sits tipped at an angle towards what would be the drivers side so you will probably have to get a mirror to see it if it it's still in the vehicle but if laying on the floor it will be much easier to see.

The 1351 cpl number is for a 1990 and 1991 engine but that is when they put them in dodge pickups.... you can take that cpl number and call your local Cummins service center and get the specs on the engine. But if someone has changed the ip then it won't tell you that information so that is why I said get the bosch number off the side of the pump to know exactly what pump is on it.

From my research the 3000 pumps came on ag applications. But I know that those can be modded as well.... The outside of the pumps look the same to the eye.... so again get the number and look it up.

 

[argve]

if you want post up the bosch number and it will give more hands on digging up the information.

 

[otisd85]

there is a black metal tag on the side of the pump held on by 2 rivits that says bosch on top and has a barcode on the bottom with a three didgit number on the top left as you look at the drivers side of the engine(the corner of the tag on top closest to the front of the engine). is this the tag and numbers i am looking for? if it is it looks like 965 or maby 905, pretty sure the first number is a 9 and third is 5 but the middle is hard to tell, because the pic i have gets real blury when zoomed in close enough to even tell there might be numbers on the tag

 

[rebel_horseman]

I've got a '96 3500 2wd cab and chassis with the Cummins and auto that I'm trying to sell down here. If I remember right the truck has 250k on it. That should be the 180hp and 420 ft-lbs pump.

 

[otisd85]

driving to florida would really cut into my allowance i have to spend on the engine

 

[rebel_horseman]

Sorry...that confuses folks that aren't from around here. I'm in southeastern LA. The toe of the boot of the state, the area east of the MS River, was originally part of Spanish West Florida. There was a period of time in 1810 when this area was independent of Spanish control but not yet under US control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Florida#Short-lived_Republic

And that concludes todays history lesson.

 

[otisd85]

cummins dont have glow plugs? how do you do a compression check, if they dont have glow plugs? do you have to take out the injectors or is there a better way? is there a tool to take out the injectors and is there a adapter for the copression tester made specifically for the cummins? just thought a comp. test might be a good start in checking a engines condition.

 

[rebel_horseman]

Nope, no diesel engines contain glow plugs. You can pull the injectors to do your test but there is a special injector tool that you'll need to use to get them out of the head. You can get it from most of the injector suppliers or directly from Cummins. You may even be able to get a generic one from Harbor Freight or make one yourself.

 

[u2slow]

Also look at some heavy truck wrecking yards. Good chance of getting just an engine there. Freightliner and Ford used p-pump 6BTs quite often.

EDIT: I think I would recycle your current NV4500 for now... an input shaft and bellhousing should be all you need.

 

[otisd85]

i would love to use my nv4500 as i already have a doubler behind it but its a early gm nv4500 and they have different bolt patterns between the bellhousing and transmission

 

[otisd85]

found a 95 cummins with a nv4500 2 wheel drive with 280,000 for 2600 bucks, if i am replacing the output shaft to do the updated 5th gear nut can i just use a 4wd tailhousing or is it more hassle than that? what do you guys think of this deal? if i buy a whole truck i can drive it home and i get the intercooler too.

it had already sold

 

[u2slow]

i would love to use my nv4500 as i already have a doubler behind it but its a early gm nv4500 and they have different bolt patterns between the bellhousing and transmission

Only difference is the lower holes, and the trans casting is the same (gm vs. Dodge). You can drill two new holes and be done.

 

[otisd85]

if i remember correct the input shaft bearing retainer is a differnt size(so the bellhousing wouldnt center on it correct), but i may have to look into that some more. i read somewhere the dodge version ia a NV4500HD, has anyone else herd or know anything about that?