Paul S.

I am looking at a '93 turbo ext. cab 4x4 tonight, this is the first Dodge I have seriously looked at, is there anything I should look for specifically. My last truck was a 6.9l Ford, I know not much but it was my first diesel experience and it treated me well. But, I have always wanted a Cummins. <br>Any help would do.<br>Thanks.

Bushy

By 93, especially later in the year 4/5/6 month pretty well all the little bugs had been ironed out. <br>You should look at the steering coupler for signs of gross leaking/staining. It is in the drivers front fender well, just ahead of the steering gear. It is a common PIA part.<br>Check the steady bearing on the drive shaft. The mount should have a 1/2&quot; spacer between it and the bearing mount.<br>Look at the injection pump. Do you see 'naked' screws with no tamper caps? If it's an auto, take it for a ride and see that it shifts up thru the gears properly... specifically does it go from 3rd into OD smoothly somewhere around 35-40 MPH?<br>Does it downshift properly? Does it hang in gear as you stop, then dump down when you start out again?<br>Open both doors, and look past the door edge, in and under the fender edge. Do you see any sign of cracks? You really need to look closely, and a flashlight might help.<br>If the weather is cold were you are, and the truck has been sitting unused, then check out the following....<br>Turn on the key and check the dash lighting... on the right side above the heater buttons it should say &quot; Wait to start&quot;...<br>That light will stay on for a few seconds while the manifold heaters are cycling. The alternator guage will take a dive when this happens also. Then, after a few seconds (depends on outside temps 5-20 seconds) the light goes out and she's good to start.<br>When started cold, do you get smoke? What color? White and or a bit of blue is normal and indicates timing is a bit retarded. No big deal. After engine is started does it drop in idle for a bit then climb again? This indicates the heaters are cycling normally, again this is good.<br>Open the doors and lift them at the handle, do the door hinges feel sloppy? This is pretty common as well. Hinge kits are cheap.<br>Any signs of fuel leakage around the injectors or injector pump?<br><br>I'm going to include a link to some pics that I have on the injection pump. Take a look at them and remember that they all have 'tamper caps' on them from the factory. That would include the governor screw, full fuel screw, smoke screw. If the truck doesn't have them, then it has either been tinkered with by a DC mech. or the pump has been tweaked by the owner or friend. Not necessarily bad, but it means the truck has been run a bit harder in all likelyhood.<br><br>http://www.turbodieselregister.com/u...mp;albumid=453<br><br>Good luck... Bob.<br>ps: if you want any more info drop me a line, I'll be glad to help any way I can...

Paul S.

B,<br>Thanks for your tips, I am going to look at it again today in the day light. The door hinges were sagging a bit so that would for sure be a fix early on. When letting the clutch out the tranny really grabbed, the guy told me when he replaced the tranny 10k ago he put in a new kevlar clutch and related parts, and had the flywheel turned, is it normal for that clutch to grab like that. Other than that it ran out real good, may need an alignment, but cruised nicely.<br>Again thanks for your tips...<br>p

furious70

mine has a newer clutch in it, but I don't think anything too spendy, but it definitely lets you know it's grabbed hold. I like it tho, I'd rather have that positive grip than a soft feeling thing

Bushy

Some clutches are a bit grabby, and like mentioned I'd rather have one that gets your attention than one that is spongy.<br>So long as the clutch peddle comes up off the floor a decent amount before engaging I'd say it would be normal.<br>Also, on the Getrag you should overfill the tranny by 1 ltr/quart. You can pull the top PTO cover bolt out and fill thru there, or you can pull the shifter tower out and do it that way (its more work though).<br>This extra oil helps keep the internals lubed when operating at high angles. This is important and is a well know fix amoung the 1st Gen stick owners.<br><br>Bob

Paul S.

;D Well I am one of you guys now, I bought the truck Fri. night. I will pick her up probably next Sun. or Mon. I look forward to visiting the site more often and getting to know who is who here.<br>Again thanks for all your help and hope there is more down the road...<br>p

Nuttymopar

;D Now you're ready for a BOMBing. That will wake that truck right up. ;D