TurboCrisco

I found a few trucks today coming home from work at one of my favorite lots. Initially I stopped because I saw a 03 Chev crew cab diesel for 16K$, seemed pretty cheap to me. Got the keys, started it up, looked under the hood, kinda nasty, poor attempt at cleanup. Expansion tank aka Rad cap was loose, unscrewed it and a slight haze is coming out of it, smelled like exhaust...hmmm head gasket ya think, how much to repair that? Scared me away. But really clean truck otherwise with 190K. Id hate to have to pay a huge repair bill right off. Sorry on to the CTDs
They had 3 Dodges first a 95 ext cab 4wd 5 sp 410 ltd slip LWB with 200K for 5800, It runs good but, sounds like tranny has a slight rattle in 4th and when shifted to 5th it has a definite strange rattle ,sounds something like beer cans being ground up if that makes sense. And has a pretty healthy oil leak down the front.
I went out back and they had a 94 3500 5 sp 355 gear dually, rough shape in & out with 290K. The motor was pretty clean,sounded good, drove pretty nice, good clutch. First 4 gears went smooth but when I shifted to 5th, what it aint there, nothing. Oh well how much is that gonna cost to fix. He wants 3500 for it.
And they had a very clean 01 single cab dually auto w/ 200k, he wanted 8000 for it, probably could get it for 7-75 .
Do any of these sound like a deal ?

Scramblinman

Beware, that sounds as if the KDP has struck and the timing case is cracked. NOT an inexpensive repair if you have it done by a shop.

5th gear is probably getting ready to let go or has already been fixed using one of the more expedient methods and the splines on the mainshaft on 5th gear are worn and making noise. The proper fix is a new fully splined mainshaft and 5th gear which = $$$.

5th gear is gone. See above.

VP44 injection pump and an automatic trans with 200k miles. Probably taking a gamble there as well.

Sounds like all of the trucks at this dealer are beat up and rough. Might be a cue to shop elsewhere.

I might take a closer look at the 1995 and see where the oil leak is actually coming from. It's likely a cracked timing case, but maybe it's just a crank seal, which is no big deal to replace. Show the dealer the cracked timing case and some quotes on how much it would cost to fix it. Maybe get it for $4,000 and it might be worth having the timing case and transmission fixed.

Then maybe the 1994 if I could tolerate both a dually and a single cab along with a beat up truck.

A 5 speed NV4500 transmission rebuilt with a fully splined mainshaft can be had for either of those trucks for $1500~.

The 24 valve would hold no interest for me at all.

Personally, given those three choices, even with the low prices compared to the market where I am, I would probably just keep on looking elsewhere. The dealer sounds like he picks up clapped out trucks at auctions to resell. Who knows what other unseen problems are lurking within them.

getblown5.9

that 94 is a decent deal, the tranny would cost more than $1k to fix or a few more hundred to just replace. depends on how BAD of shape the rest of the truck is.

is the suspension is good, then you can fix the tranny, get a cheap paintjob, and possibly throw some seats and carpet in the interior and have a darn nice truck for about $7k or less, and you'd never have to worry about the VP44 dying. i still see 94 and 95 12v's in good shape selling for $7-9k