patdaly

Well?

We need answers man!

cougar

I talked him down to $9K. Compared to what else I've looked at, this is the best of all of them, even the 12 valves. Shipping a truck to AK is $2 grand. I spent some good quality time under the truck and saw no surprises, surprisingly. What oil leakage I did see around the engine are typical for a Dodge with 175K. Everything works, even the cassette player. It had noticeably more power than the 2000 I checked out the night before. A little wander, but that was probably the road I was on with deep studded tire ruts. There is a tire that needs to be rebalanced. They kept good maintenance records. Quite a list. A lot of stuff done/replaced this past summer.
So, I think I'm going to get it.
It does need a windshield, like every other vehicle in AK. And it could use a fresh pair of batteries, eventually.
Priorities are a through engine cleaning and some more inspection time. Front to back fluid and filter changes, if it needs it. Then gauges and a FSM.

SIXSLUG

An oil leak....that's weird!

cougar

Yah, usually it's markin its territory.

cougar

It's mine. Now the fun begins.

SIXSLUG

Congratulations, now put a fuel pressure gauge on it and keep both hands on the wheel!!!

cougar

Looking into gauges and a factory service manual now.

nothingbutdarts

Great you got it!

NE frmhnd

That's not an oil leak, that's the CAOS.
Cummins
Automatic
Oil-undercoating
System.

cougar

Added to my list. That's funny.


D rips
O il
D iesel
G oes
E verywhere

Tallguy67

Cougar - there is lots of discussion about gauges but here is the route I went. I got the Edge Insight. It allows me to monitor and set threshold alerts for any and every parameter that can be read by the ECM. You can also add extra sensor like oil and fuel pressure as well as a pyro for EGT's if you start adding extra power. The Insight also is a code reader. When I was fighting with an locking and unlock TC, the gauges really helped me narrow down what my problem was. The Insight IS more expensive than a few analog gauges but it packs a lot of functionality into a single little package. If you decide to go the Insight route I would recommend the CTS (color touch screen) instead of the CS (color screen) as the CTS gives you more real-estate on the screen for gauges.

cougar

Thought this kind of weird. There is no lift pump on the engine, only one in the tank. There is a bypass block were the lift pump use to be and there is a relay on the firewall. I heard this was a retrofit from the factory. With a calibrated mechanical gauge I have 10psi at idle. Do I need to do anything? I'm not planning on doing much in the way of performance other than maybe a bigger turbo and exhaust. Cooling for towing.

Lary Ellis (Top)

10 at idle is low that means at WOT it is most likely dropping off to 0 and I never like seeing anything below 7 then....Ideally you want to see at least 15 at idle a little more doesn't hurt.

Remember it is all about fuel flow not necessarily pressure but pressure is a good indicator. If you increase pressure by using a better lift pump and open up the flow with larger fuel lines you have a much better chance of keeping that pesky VP44 alive and well.

In the summer don't run it under a 1/4 tank, the fuel acts a heat sink and removes heat from the IP as it flows back down the return line. The hotter the fuel gets in the tank the less it cools the IP

cougar

Never should have bought this thing

Lary Ellis (Top)

They can be a great truck...you just need to be sure the IP gets plenty of fuel to work with