First diesel truck

[dpaqu]

This is my fist time posting in a forum so please correct me if I break some rule or do something taboo.

Today I test drove a 1996 2500 regular cab automatic 2wd diesel truck with 131,000 miles. The truck is a former Detroit Diesel company truck and is for sale in the dealership that services there local company truck fleet in Redford MI. Cosmetically, the truck looks pretty bad, or I should say it looks like any Dodge of this vintage would look if it saw 11 Detroit winters. The bottom of the doors are badly rusted and there is a solid amount of rust scale under the truck on the leaf springs and such. Oddly there is almost no rust in the fenders or wheel wells and none around the windshield. I spent some time under the truck there is a slight dampness to the rust next to the differential cover and there was a small puddle of ATF under the trans. No oil or anything just ATF. The truck started on a 25 degree day with some prodding of the accelerator. No smoke that I could see. I checked the air filter to see if there was any oil blow by. Maybe I am missing something but I did not see any hose connecting the crankcase with the air filter assembly. Anyway the air filter was caked with dirt. I held my foot on the brake hard and revved the engine in drive up to about 1800 rpm where the rear tires started to spin. Is that normal? At what rpm should the converter flash I figured it would be lower. Is it slipping? I test drove the truck hard and did not notice any slipping. When the accelerator is floored I did notice that I was blowing a slight amount of smoke in the rear view mirror.

They are asking 5400 dollars. If I could get it for 4200 (I have no idea if they would take that) would that be a good deal. How much roughly, would it cost to replace the transmit ion. I intend to use this truck as a daily driver to work and back and infrequently tow stuff in the 6000-9000 lb range. At some point I would like crank up the power a little too. One last question is there an easy way to see what kind of gears are in the rear diff. ?

Thanks for any help. Looks like a great group of resourceful people are gathered here.

 

[youngcummins]

doesn't sound like a bad truck. i have almost the same truck. 96 reg cab 2wd with 358k. we payed 3400 for it , they wanted 4800 but dad talked him down. we would of still payed it anyway.the rust would be my only worry. mine has 3.54 gears, it goes 73 at 2000 rpm. any higher then it should be 4.10 gears. check under the hood for the sticker that gives you the gear ratio. it should get good mpg, in the 20mpg range city.get a k&n airfilter, they are good. good luck with it

 

[dpaqu]

Yeah its still for sale price reduced to 4,900$. I am tempted to pull the trigger on it. I am trying to figure out how much a trans refresh would cost if I farmed it out. local shop here in MI says 2 grand maybe more.

Of course I just bought an '86 IDI F-250 for 500$ but I guess you can never have to many diesel pickups.

 

[argve]

not seeing the truck I would say it's about right on price - as said 3.55's is probably what you will find for the rear gear.

 

[NoGin_Cummins]

I live in B.C. Canada, out here a 94 dodge 2wd even with rust and 300,000k (roughly 140,000 miles) goes for about $8500, sounds like a good deal to me, and from what you are saying the tranny sounds ok, I have rarely seen a dodge at that mileage with its original automatic, test it when its cold, it should still shift firmly, and without too much of a delay, I wouldn't worry too much about a leak, it could be a line or pan gasket. Also these transmissions are old tech. basically a 727 3 speed with an overdrive bolted on the end of it, only 2 things are computer controlled.... 1.) converter lockup and 2.) overdrive engagement, normally if the engine is too cold the overdrive is not supposed to kick in...

alot of issues with these can be solved with a simple band adjustment and fluid and filter change.... remember to only use chrysler ATF +4 this is VERY IMPORTANT.... do not listen to what transmission shops tell you or what the dipstick says, dexron with an additive is NOT the same, it will drastically shorten the life of any chrysler transmission.

Also If you are planning on towing these trannies suck... I have owned 2 ram diesels with the auto and one with the getrag 5 speed.... You will need a good cooler, I tow a 14,000 lb trailer and the first thing i noticed was how much the torque converter slipped... it takes away alot of your pull.... Invest in a heavy duty low stall converter its well worth it....

Long story short the manual is about 100 times better towing.

GOOD LUCK