new to trucks.. help!

[mycorrado]

I looking to buy a truck, never had one before - new to oil burner

I'm interested in the cummings turbo diesel, so I'm looking at dodge's 2500.

I found one here, a 96 which the seller claims has a 1st generation cummins. I thought the 96 would have a 12v 5.9 td.

Tranny is an auto, rebuilt by aamco 50k ago. should I run away?

Also, he is stating the engine lost a cam follower causing a cylinder not to fire as there is no compression. Easy to fix? or could there be piston damage like in a inteference gas engine in a car?

I can fix cars all day long, just haven't worked on trucks much, but would love to have a diesel 5.9 truck.

What else do I look out for in terms of major no-no's on the 2500?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[argve]

Well first off Welcome to the site!

both the 1st and 2nd gen trucks had 12v engines - difference was in 94 they switched to an inline p7100 injection pump, then as years advanced naturally they got hotter injection pumps - the auto trans ones had the least HP rating on the the pumps, the manual trannies got the better pumps.

The first gen engines had a bosch VE pumps. The early trucks didn't have intercoolers while the later 1st gens did (I can't remember the year the intercooled trucks started off the top of my head)...

I haven't had the pleasure of getting my hands inside a cummins (built too well - I couldn't break mine) but I have read in the service manual that they are not quite as easy as on a gas engine.

How much does he want for the truck?

Me I'm not a fan of the auto trans in a dodge and I don't think I will ever own one - they were pretty much designed to fail in that the engine was rated for 5 hp more than the tranny was rated to handle. I found that little tidbit out when I was shopping for mine 5 years ago.... I knew the auto's died behind them pretty quick if the engine wasn't completely stock and I knew why after reading the ratings.

If the price is right you might give it a go but I'll tell ya I just sold my running 95 with a whole list of power mods for $2500 with a bad body and 311K miles... And I wouldn't have hesitated one bit to load the kiddies up and drive to Kalifornie on a minutes notice with it.

 

[dulcevendetta]

is the follower missing? or stuck open, keeping the valve open? I never had a cummins, but like many diesels there is nil space at the top of the pistons stroke

 

[mycorrado]

bent valves then?

I don't know other than what's described in the add. he's asking 2500 for it, he's added a bunch of parts: new lucas pod injectors, 16cm turbo housing
denny-t fuel pin, new fuel lift pump (p pump?) and dana 4.1 front and rear
with posi rear plus new brakes all around.

seems like he was trying to add power, but if the tranny can't handle stock, it will sure break again under more power.

I still don't know the miles on it.

Maybe I just find a runing manual

 

[ameristar1]

For a first diesel, unless you are adventurous, don't mess with something that may need major work, and changing the cam or followers in a B series is not for the light hearted. Call a shop and see what the time is for labor and you'll see what I am talking about.
There are trucks out there that still have a lot of life left in them, that have not been modded. That's what you want, unless the PO is very well versed in diesels.
The intercooled Dodges were built from 90.5 and on IIRC, rotary pumps till 93, P pumps 94-98, 98.5-02 VP44 electronic rotary pump (very expensive to fix), common rail from 03 on.
If my dates are off, someone correct me.
The easiest ones to get stupid power out of are the P pumped 12 valve models. Find a manual trans truck that has been taken care of, add a few bolt ons and you will smile. Most trucks can range from 3500.00 to 6000.00, but there are deals to be had if you dig.

 

[mycorrado]

Thanks,

Yes I've seen some at the Stealer wanting like 12k for a '99

book on those seem to be close to 6k.

I'll keep looking, thanks!

 

[averagef250]

Something does not add up. a 96 engine will not take a power pin. It has a fuel plate and an aneroid that does not use a tuneable fuel pin.

I have had some pretty horrendously broken 3.9 and 5.9 engines and never had one that was expensive to fix. I've dealt with dropped valves, rods through blocks, tons of melted #6 pistons and heads severely cracked.

The most expensive aspect of these engines is the fuel system.

These engines are extremely common. I've had no issue finding replacement blocks, heads, cranks and rods used for every concievable 3.9/5.9 application at very reasonable prices locally. Another aspect of these engines is that they very resilent, as in toss a used piston and ring set in a bore with a hellacious ridge and 1/8" wide cylinder wall scoring and the sucker will still run great and make good power. Not recommending this as good fix, but if you need to get back on the road it's realistic.