Advice!!!
 

It’s a 2000 Cummins with about 280k on the body. About 30k miles ago the engine went through a full in frame rebuild and over haul including, fire rings and injector tips along with a lot of other things obviously. This will be my first diesel and the miles scare me even though I know these things can go forever. It’s a manual 5 speed and has an edge comp box. Even though the miles scare me, the rebuild has me thinking this thing could go another 300k miles. I don’t really want to buy it and have to throw a lot of money in it. Was told it’s starting a little hard just for the first time each day. (VP44 was replaced when the rebuild took place) and lift pump has been done as well.
Any tips or if it’s a bad idea?

Tanner:

First of all,...Welcome to the wesbite! Glad to have you as a member here.

To answer some of your questions, in my opinion the 1998.5 to 2002 Dodge CTD 24 Valve VP-44 trucks can give good service but my problem with them is that fuel pump you already mentioned,.....the "infamous" VP-44! I owned a 2002 Dodge CTD 24 valve which I bought brand new and had ALOT of trouble with those VP-44 pumps. Over 125,000 miles I had three (3) fail on me. Now with that being said, there are many DTR Members here that have and currently own them with little or no problems. But in my opinion, they are the worst fuel pumps that Cummins ever put on their 5.9 Diesel Engine. Also, with your truck, I would be somewhat concerned about the 280,000 miles you stated is on the body. As you may or may not know, the front ends on the Dodge CTD Pickups are NOT that good. The wear items are the ball joints, the trackbars, the upper and lower control arms and steering boxes.
If you have not bought the truck yet, I would very closely at those items.
Finally, the Dodge 47RE Auto Transmissions are not that good in stock form.
They need to be beefed up with better torque converters, increased clutch packs, higher line pressures and beefier internal shafts (input, output and intermediate.)

Anyway, I hope that helps you some. I hate to be the "bearer of bad news" but I also don't want you to get a bad truck. After having owned five (5) Dodge CTD Pickups those are the things I would look at. Good luck Sir!

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John_P

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Thank you!! And thank you for the response!

ive read a lot about the VP-44’s and it was replaced along with the rebuild and also was the lift pump. It sounds to be that it could be something as simple as losing prime over-night. And I have test drove and looked under it and all that end everything seems to be in good shape for the year and runs and shifts fine.

I cant tell if I’m talking myselfmin to the purchase or out of it haha

Also, everything has been done by a shop with papers. I’m going to go to that shop tomorrow and personally talk to the guys that worked on it

Well, the mileage does not concern me.. at least on the engine.

The hopping up with fire rings, injectors etc always reduces the "idiot-proofness" of these trucks, so have a set of gauges and don't be an idiot.
(Watch your fuel pressure, your EGT and change the oil more frequently than with a stock setup.)

About the rest of the truck- you buy a 17 year old vehicle. It will have a history. This can be good or bad. You will have to look really close.

Tanner:

You are very welcome on the reply! I am glad to hear you have looked the vehicle over for problems. I also would run an internal ECM check to see if any codes will come up. As I recall, you have to turn the ignition OFF then ON THREE CONSECUTIVE times and wait. After a few seconds if any codes are in the ECM/PCM they will display below the speedo/tach by number. Or, if you have a buddy at a Dodge Dealership see if they can connect a Chrysler DRB Scanner to the truck and see if anything comes up there. IMHO, you can never
be "too careful."[laugh]

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John_P

On the positive side, the 24 valve VP44 is emissions free with minimal complications, especially with the NV5600 six-speed. I’ve found that cleaning the electrical plug on the VP44 with contact cleaner and applying dielectric grease solves the false codes that can appear. I wonder how many good VP44’s have been replaced as a result of a weak or dirty connection?

Happlily, my front end is hanging in there. No issues, yet, with over 336,000 miles.

This is always good advice anyway. Connections can be so tricky, one wrong thing can cost hundreds. Better to check the cheaper option first! Contact cleaner costs much less than new parts.