New 12v with 325k Miles
 

I just purchased a '95 Auto with 325k miles and the motor sounds a lot different than my 24v. It sounds very weak and loose... it also smokes (white smoke) upon start-up. When I picked it up there was no water in the Radiator and the tranny fluid was very low. I'm thinking the compression is probably low causing some blow-by. I know the timing cover has been off (a lot of silicone around it) But I dont know if the KDP has struck or been fixed!

It hadnt been started in over 6 months and has a few leaks of just about every variety. It also needed a starter so I put one in with two new batteries. It started with little effort and had a miss for the first few minutes then cleared up! I added some water and antifreeze along with some tranny fluid and took it for a spin. The tranny is shifting firmly and didnt seem to slip. I am concerned about the weak motor and white smoke... any ideas?

It is stock and has not been turned up! This is just a toy and something to tinker with. It will not be a daily driver and will spend most of its time hooked to a Sled so I will want to get the most I can out of it. I'm not as familiar with the 12v so is there anything I should check?

Thanks,
Josh

I would check the OF valve (overflow) Mine ran poorly when that went bad. It would explain the noise and harder starting. As foor the smoke, I would do some injectors. My new injectors helped the white smoke prob out tremendously. I doubt that the engine is wore out. these are pretty bullet proof power plants if left stock but if the water was run out then it could have gotten hot I guess.

At 325K I'm sure it has some wear...my 95 has 345K on it, and yeah, it white smokes a little (new injectors do help though;)) and leaks some, but it still runs better than the day it was new to me:D :D

Good luck,
Chris

I would change injectors and see if it helps the smoke. You can get new injector tips pretty resonable for the 12 valves on ebay if you watch for them. If you wanting to check out the engine then I would say get a monometer and hook it up to the vent tube and see what kind of blow by it has. I know the dodge manual has what it should be and what is acceptable. Otherwise I would say do a compression check. It sounds like it just wasn't taken care of. After you find out what Kind of shap the motor is in then I would check out the kdp.

That "no water in the radiator" bit concerns me. I'd want to flush out the system, maybe even a couple of times, and make certaint that's all straightend out first. Then do a valve lash check & adjustment, replace the fuel filter and the air filter before I replaced injectors. But yes, moderatly more agressive injectors would likley help out my truck as well, as it's feeling a bit less than perky these days. It also is begging me to go an tow 10,000 lbs for about 300 miles one of these weekends, which would be the best thing I could do with it.

Check the timing it can slip and cause white smoke

my truck has 400k on it mine did the same i did the timing worked alot better after that

How do I check and edjust the timing?

Thanks for the ideas fella's.

How can the timing slip? Wear?

Farmer Tom

With 325k, it's only 1/2 way to it's Service Life of 650k !!!

Just getting broken in! :cool:

The engine may be but as for the rest of the truck.... I wouldnt be hoping for 650K miles out of it.

Why not ? [dummy]

The rest of the truck is easy to maintain. May have to replace a couple trannys along the way though. :o

Kilometers maybe....I believe 350K miles is the cummins recommended service life. Although, they will go further......

Well even if I have to rebuild it I got it right at $1500.00 so no worries!

[QUOTE=lifer;1915873]You can get new injector tips pretty resonable for the 12 valves on ebay if you watch for them.


i think only for 24v's when i was checking for injectors, but maybe someone knows for sure.