Ive located a truck, I havent went to look at it yet but the man says its a 1998 quadcab 12 valve cummins, He wants 6500.00 for it. Hes the second owner of it. It looks really clean in the pics. It has 302 thousand miles on it. Is this to much money for this truck? And how can I make sure its a 12 valve.

 

I would not pay that amount, but I have not seen it so it might be a cream puff and in great shape, seems expensive. If it has 6 individual valve covers it's a 12 valve. My 98 is a 12 valve but it actually had the 24 valve emblems stuck to the side. If it's leaking alot of oil on the front of the engine, that's alot of work to change those gaskets.

 

Thanks for the info. Indont wantnto pay that much. But its looking like Indont have much choice in the matter. Ive been looking all across the United States and cant find one any cheaper. Allni have found is older ones that cost more than that, and not nearly as clean.

 

Search for pictures for the differences between the two. The injection pump is a dead giveaway along with the valve covers. The 12 valve won't look like it has individual valve covers because of the long decorative flat cover on top of individual covers. 24 valve has one solid valve cover that is noticeable. The air intake horn looks a little different, the 12 valve has a weird little shroud attached to it. Hes asking a lot for that truck, thats a lot of miles. Oil leaks front and rear are bad, costly to repair. One consists of ripping apart front end and the other consists of dropping out tranny for one very non costly seal.

 

I'm odd man out here, if it is clean, 300 thousand miles don't really mean that much in the scheme of things. I turned down 15 for Greenie not all that long ago with 170K on her.

Easiest way to identify it as a 12 valve is to look at the front passenger side of the engine, the 12 valve has a P7100 injection pump, the lines going from the top of the pump to the individual injectors are in a straight line, front to back. The 24 valve with the VP44 pump has them on the back of the pump arranged into a circle.

 

I took in consideration all the things you guys told me. And when I saw the truck all these things made sense. It was a 12 valve for sure, I can recognize one now with a quick look under the hood and by sound. And by the 8th digit in the VIN number being a D, And by the badge on the side. Im learning a ton from you guys. The truck he said was a 98 actually said on the plate in the drivers side door that it was a 97, and it also had the 2 little suicide doors that opened up on each side. It also had a lot of dings and dents and scratches, And I noticed some old wire holding the exhaust pipe up lol. He had not even attempted to clean any part of this truck. It had dirty work clothes inside, oil all over the motor, coffee spilled all over the place, old food containers inside, cracked front window, bald tires. He asked me if I wanted to test drive it and I said thank you sir and told him Id keep looking. I would not have traded him my 2006 f150 for it straight across lol. Im glad I asked you guys advice. If anybody knows where I can find a good truck please let me know.

 

I bought a 93 in that condition with only 100k miles for $1500, spent another $3000 on it and sold it for $3900. Then I bought my present 96 with 217k miles for $4500. I like my 96 better other than the 93's better interior and the better performance from the 93 engine! keep waiting - you'll save big bucks in the long run!

 

If it had the suicide doors and an original 12 valve it is considered a 98.5, even thought it had a manufacture date of 1997.

That is why it was in that configuration...new dash and quad doors, yet the past years excellent 12 valve with p7100 pump, early 2nd gen 2nd gen. Also known as a "Holy Grail" truck.

My truck is another manufacturing anomaly. Comes up as a 2001, but with rear disc brakes and some deleted features from up to the 2001 model year, it is considered a 2001.5!

There are some late 99's out there with rear discs though, so it can get sketchy when it comes to nailing down the actual start date of rear discs....

From the sound of it, he knew what he had, just didn't take very good care of it. Would have easily gotten that if it was a "cream puff" as stated earlier.

 

For future reference, you will not find a 98 model year 12 valve that was built in 1998. They only built 12 valves till 12/31/1997, starting on 1/1/1998 they started 24 valve production.

This is why any 98 12 valve is harder to find, the QCSB being the hardest.

 

It was a holy grail then, And all it needs is a rebuilt motor and about 15 grand sank in to it and will make somebody a nice truck. Anybody interested in it can message me and Ill give you his name, address, and phone number. It was definitely a 12 valve and sounded good.

 

LOL, I have my grail truck......... To me, they didn't get any better than 1997.

 

The truck in question is referenced as a "98.4" because it's a 12V

The 24V version is a "98.5", as I recall.

 

I love your truck to , I love it so much you should sale it to me! lol

 

LOL, from my cold dead hands....and then you will have to do a cage match with my son for the right..... But keep your eyes open, they do come up for sale, I had to do with my Auto truck for almost 3 years before I found my true love.

 

It's a 98. Check the title. Build date will be earlier due to the difficulty of building a 98 model truck in 99 or 2000.

$6k is not out of line for any cummins powered ram. Depends on condition mostly.