lugnut30

Greetings everyone. I am the proud owner of a 95 Dodge 3500 Cummins 2wd and have some general questions and am looking for any tips for a new diesel owner. The truck was my dad's (passed away recently) and i could not bear to sell it cause dad loved it so much. The sad thing is i don't know much about it. I know it's got 115000 on the odemeter (don't know if that's right) and that the last thing dad had done was he put a fuel cutoff cable on it (the truck was bad about not starting up and he had told me that you could put a cable to the fuel pump and bypass all the electrical so he did...it cranks up great now no problems) and that's about it. I know it's got a ton of power and to me needs another gear (its a 5 speed). So here's my questions and i'm thankful for any help. A lot of things i can do myself (went to school, worked, lived working on cars) but with diesels i just don't know very much...i've always been a Chevy 350 kind of guy

1. Oil changes- This is one of the first things i do...What is the best type of oil to use, best oil filter (Mopar or something else??), same with fuel filter (i always filled the filter up with trans fluid when i serviced 18wheelers...same here??) and is there anything else i need to do for a service change (water filter, air filter, etc)??

2. The dowel pin issue?? So i've read about it and it scares the pants off me cause i don't know if dad had it done or whoever owned it previously...is there a way to check without taking the timing cover off?? Or do i just need to man up and do it and save myself a lot of heartache.

3. I plan on getting the front end checked out...it doesn't seem to have a whole lot of play and doesn't pull to one side but it just feels like the steering has a little slack in it...may just be me but i've read that the front ends on these trucks wear out quickly...any suggestions?

4. The Inside is in pretty good shape. One of the ears that holds the cupholder in broke so i've got to figure out how to secure it. Any suggestions or upgrades to the interior that i should be thinking about?

5. Any more general advice or tips you have would be great!

6. forgot one...last night was the first time i drove it for an extended period of time (80 miles, around 2 hours) and the temp gauge kept fluxuating from around 190 (i'm assuming since the gauge only reads 200 at the middle and 260 in the red but the needle was a little below 200) to 220 (a little less then half between 200 and 260). The truck sounded good but it concerns me a bit...gonna check the water level today but what is the general operating temp and is the fluxuation normal??

patdaly

1.) Oil changes, I run Rotella, others run Delo, to be honest, I don't think there is a bunch of difference between major names.

I wouldn't play with filters though, I run Fleetguard ( Cummins ) or Baldwin/Hastings/Wix.

You can probably buy them cheaper, but I like the Genos Garage 4/2/1/ kit, gives you 4 oil filters, 2 fuel filters, 1 air filter, and it usually works out about right, 7500 oil, 15k fuel, and 30k air.

2.) Man up NOW, get it ripped apart and see what's in there. I got bit, I really hope I am sending you on a wild goose chase, but if you don't know, you gotta go there.

3.) I don't remember anything really ugly about the 2WD dodge front ends, just the 4X4 ones.

5.) Read, Read, READ DTR...... if you can think it, someone has done it and reported on it here.

9812vram

Welcome lugnut! Hope you brought your reading binoculars!

and X2 on about everything patdaly said. I run Rotella oil and Mopar (wix) filters and I also got bit on the dowel pin. Sucks. TST KDP Instructions

cromulius

Open it up and look at the pin. The whole process is pretty easy if you worked on autos.

Look at genos for a new cup holder. Stock one is good for cell phones and some cups.

Temp gauge should move because its a real gauge.

samboats

I bought a 96 model new. I did the temp gage fluctuation thing constantly til I traded it off about ten years later.

Totallyrad

Welcome!

Robert Rausch

Welcome lugnut! I think the '95 was the best Dodge/Cummins made. And with 115,000 on the odo, you are way ahead! I've got 310,000 on mine, and I bet I get another 310,000 easily. Not much to add to what others have said. If you don't have a Shop Manual, get one on ebay, as it will save you big bucks in the future.

samboats

Hey Lugnut, what part of AL are you in? I'm in the Shoals area about half the time.

mtdoragary

I'm in the Shoals area as well. Be moving there full time this summer....

ronnie

drill a small hole in the thermostat 1/8" this will keep the temps much more stable. search this site for that, there is a write up on it.

infidel

Read> Low or Fluctuating Coolant Temperature