This is what car salesmen sold to the public! Shifts so 'soft' you feel them!!
If you know how it works and what they design into them you would understand.
Don't misunderstand though, a shift with a clunk or jerk can break parts.

 

I don't plan on towing much with it or putting a whole lot of strain on it, Ive been wanting a truck now for about 5 years and all the men in my family drive dodges. I started to fall in love with diesel trucks when my uncle bought his in 04'. I am still in college so Im still on a slight budget, thats why this one seeems right, just was hearing things about these automatics that scared me..

 

how is the fuel mileage in the 2nd gen. autos? I know my uncle gets around 23-25 mpg on the hwy in his 04 6speed manual but don't know much about these..

 

Just by what you said here, I have to let you know that there is a few things which the 2nd gen trucks are prone too. If you're on a tight college budget then it would be terrible to have something break on you and not be able to fix it. You mentioned the mileage being 128,000. Is that all stock or has anything been replaced? If the VP is stock then that means its getting old for a VP thats sitting next to a stock fuel pump.....and if the VP44 fails, you're looking at $1000-$2000, depending on what you buy and who installs it. This isn't intent on trying to deter you from buying it nor am I implying that any other vehicle wouldn't be costly to fix either but that we forum members already have knowledge of whats probable to go wrong and what it will cost to fix.....on these trucks. Now what the trucks offer in return far outweighs any potential issues compared to any other vehicle that could perform the same tasks but that doesn't change the point that you're in college and living on college income. But maybe because your family has Dodge Cummins trucks, if anything goes wrong, they will/can help you out.

As for fuel mileage, the 2nd gen Dodge Cummins is known for being the best fuel mileage Cummins. If every things running right, you have 3.54 gears, and you're not a hot rodder then you could very well see 15-18 in town and 18-22 on the freeway.

 

It took $4500 of DTT upgrades to handle 100 rwhp extra on my '98.5. That was with 285's and a 1800# popup. I'm not a fan of the 47re. The 48re now has worked out much better.

 

it is stock..I planned on keeping it pretty stock..is it pretty much gauranteed that the vp 44 will go on these trucks? ive heard its a problem.. I am in college but do work full time as weel, but I still dont want to have to dump a bunch of money into it after buy it..

 

Yes.....and no. In short, yes the VP is notorious for failing but so is the OEM lift pump.....which is the primary reason for VP failures. Talking about the VP44 is a whole different and involved topic. If you're really curious about the VP44 then there is loads of information regarding. Here's a thread which may give you a little insight: http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98...lly-knows.html

If anyone can give you any advise if you choose to purchase the truck, it should be to get a full set of gauges. Closely monitoring the boost, auto transmission temperature, EGT's, and fuel pressure is by far the best prevention you can do.

As for worrying about the auto.....you should also be concerned with if you'd "rather" have a manual or do you live in that would involve lots of shifting and would it bother you to shift so often. Manual tranny's sound fun but most people would rather put it in "D" and go.

 

ive always driven manuals but ive had such a hard time finding a cummins with manual trans..

 

can anyone else say anything about their auto tranny? I need help deciding whether to buy this truck or not!!

 

run from those auto trucks!!!


so there's more for me

 

I had to overhaul mine at ........350,000 miles.

Don't let anyone tell you the 47RE is not a good transmission. Keep it serviced and cool and it will treat you right.

 

How do you bump up the pressure?

Rick

 

Here it is. Just remember to not go too high or you will blow lip seal on a direct clutch apply piston. DTT has an upgrade on this but few install it until transmission needs overhaul as it is a lot of labour.
http://www.dieseltrans.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=68

The view is the valve body with trans pan removed.

 

Is there a target pressure to look for? I don't want to go in there not knowing how far to go, I would like to check the pressure first and then know how many turns to go.

Rick

 

No more than 6 psi above standard which was 52 psi at idle pre 99; while post 99 is 58 psi. About 2 turns or you risk the lip seal blowing out.

read this for reference:
http://www.xtremediesel.com/manuals/...stallation.pdf
Rememberthat BDgoes too high and they knock down pressure voltage with diode to reduce voltage 0.6v (diode junction) to avoid limp mode.

Also:
http://www.dieseltrans.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=195