Alright I need some help. I've owned two 1st generation CTD trucks before but never owned a '94-up Dodge truck in general. Know a lot about 93-back Dodge trucks,owned mostly gassers and know most of them from top to bottom,so I can work on them quite easily. I'm looking for a 3/4 ton Cummins truck,thats extremely nice inside and out. Don't matter 2 or 4x just a real nice truck I can use,tow with,and be proud of.

I located a truck this evening. Sitting in town,a '96 2500 Dodge it's a 2wd,regular cab,long bed,sing wheel truck. One owner,very well took care off,all service records,looks extemely clean inside and out,not hardly any oil or such underneath the truck and it's never been touched for performance mods or such. Older gentleman owner,bought new at local dealership. Runs on the interstate doing service work for propane companies so it's high miles. Said it's got 324k on it I believe. New transmission at 311k,about $1800 worth of repairs in trans with warrenty,built back stock. Said he's took extremely good care of it and done service and maintaince way ahead of all so called scheldued maintaince suggestions.

Now what I'd like to know is just the basics of the truck. What I'm guessing is this: p-pumped 12 valver Cummins motor,47rh lock-up automatic OD trans,Dana 60 rear with probably 3.54 gearing but don't know. Otherwise I'm not sure,can you fellers fill me in? I know more about the 1st gen trucks but never got into any performance stuff. Anything I can do to the truck to help the performance but still keep it within bounds of the automatic stock trans. How about the mileage,to much,just getting broke in or ??? The price on the truck is right for me,little over 5k,and would suit me greatly but I'd like to know what other Cummins guys think about it before I go off half cocked. Thanks

 

5k is a shade steep for a 2wd with lots of miles, imo. Is it slt trim? Full tilt trim might make it worth it. Do you plan on turning the power up much? If so, that $1800 stock rebuilt tranny will become worthless in a hurry. Most likely 3.54's, like you said. The rear will be a d70. The second gen guys will be around to help you more with the rest. I wouldn't be scared of the miles, personally. I've got just over 400k and still have 60psi oil pressure @hot idle .

 

Like any other light duty truck with 324K + things are gonna wear down. How would you feel buying a gasser truck with a 100k engine but the chassis had 324k? Suspension parts etc wear out etc. Tranny wise I dunno. Im told the p pumps go 300 to 400 K before getting weak. Engine wise, look for blow by etc and be aware of KDP issues same as the early 12V`s, just different and better pumps. Price sounds good if its clean. Typical 2nd gen issues are fuel lines,KDP,trannys, 4x4 front end probs as far as steering quality and wear. Im sure others will chime in. All in all it sounds pretty good.

 

324K is up there.. but if the maintenance has been done it might be AOK.


First I would look at is blowby. Start er up and crawl under the drivers side for the breather tube. It should 'breathe' but not blow. There shouldn't be very much air coming out at all.

Second. Check the KDP. Is behind the fan pulley. ANY excessive oil in this area is a bad deal. (same as the first gens... same fix too)

Third. Rear is a D70. It might have the tag on the rear for ratio... my 354's run down the freeway at 70 with about 17-1800 rpms...




As for pump mods... there is a bunch that you can do. IMHO the very best bang for your buck is a governer spring kit. I'd get the 4K kit and dont use the inner spring until you want it later. Without the inner spring... its a 3K kit. This will get you fuel until 3200 (give or take) and wakes these trucks up like no other mod (again this is IMHO)

Other things you can do is adjust the tranny and up the line pressure a little. Replace the plastic accumulator piston with an aluminum one.

The other thing you will get gains out of is advancing timing some. Your truck is at 12.5 degrees now... 15.5-16.5 will get you good mileage gains... less EGT's.

You can play with the AFC housing (loosen the four hold-down bolts and slide it toward the radiator as far as it will go... under the hex plug on the top is the star wheel. Toward the valve cover is more low end fuel)

Under the AFC is the fuel plate. LITTLE BITS AT A TIME. (you wont want to do this if you are concerned with tranny life) Forward for more power... rearward for less.

Past that... you will shorten the life of your trucks tranny.


IF you do wind up with this truck... I would suggest re-torquing the head. Starting at the center... working your way out in a circular pattern. Loosening one at a time then re-torquing. This would be a very good idea especially if you advance your timing.



Hope this helps.
Mark

 

Man,thank yall very much for such quick responces and good ones at that!! On the simple parts wearing out I'm wanting to check that for sure. If nothing else let him let me drive it home one evening and I could take the tires off,check all the front suspension,brakes,steering and such. Sounds/looks like a total grandpaws truck.

Mark I really appreciate all the helpful info. The problem is when you say accumulator piston,AFC housing,fuel plate,upping the line pressure and things such as that I haven't got a idea in the world what your talking about. The 1st generation Cummins trucks I owned before I didn't do anything but simply change fluids,check them over and drive them. Never any motor or trans tweaks. Can you be more descriptive or spell out what your actually speaking of so hopefully I'll know a good bit more.

I'm not wanting to build the truck to the hilt right now. I just want something very dependable that I can still make trips in,I'll definately check out the blow-by. The truck will see a trailer every now and then. Probably the heaviest thing would be a old Chryself Newport or something such as that. Thanks

 

Hum......... A choptop slammed Chrysler Newport with a Cummins and stacks. You could be the first in the world ( I think). We`ll all be wating and watching.

 

Ok.... to truly tell if it has ever been 'gotten into' for power tweaks this'll help.


When you pop the hood the injector lines are all in line on the pump. If you go toward the firewall from the lines you will see a half cylinder shaped 'doo-dad' that is toward the block from the shutdown silanoid, which is in turn about four or five inches from the brake fluid reservoir.

There are four bolts that hold this down. The one on the front corner nearest the valve covers SHOULD be a brake away screw. It will be round with no place for a screw driver. IF it truly has never been tweaked it'll be there.

ANYHOW... back to my point.

This is the AFC housing. It has oblong holes, so when you loosen the bolts you can move the whole AFC housing forward... it'll only move 1/8".. but its noticeable.

IF ya take all bolts out you can lift it up (might have to slide rearward a touch) and under this is a plate over the opening. Two flat head screws hold it down. There is slots where the screws are that let it go toward the front and toward the rear. This is the fuel plate.

BTW to get the breakaway bolt out you need a torx screwdriver (t20 will work) Thump the screwdriver into the soft metal and turn out.


The accumulator piston and apply pressure.... thats when you pull the tranny pan and the valve body in the tranny.......

This is very tricky to try to describe... I had to have bit by bit info given to me over the phone..... PM me if/when you get this far and I'll be more than happy to help all I can.


Take it easy
Mark

 

Well

here is my basic writeup on how to for more power for ur ram.. I agree with what has already been said here, and im late on this post.. sorry... but please read and enjoy

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=78573

Rick