smokin99

alright, i'll admit it, i'm a ford guy...but i've always had a soft spot for dodges and there's nothin like the cummins diesel. i'm pretty new to dodges obviously, and i'm currently looking at a 1999 2500 24v with 158,000 miles and the automatic for 12,000. The truck is in excellent condition, quad-cab, laramie slt pkg etc, but i've seen similar trucks priced a little higher than this

so my question is...Is there anything specific i need to look for pertaining to these trucks? what about the tranny, should i go with an 5 speed instead? what do you guys think, good deal or not? cause it seems like a steal to me. but you guys know more than me at this point, so any help would be appreciated. thanks guys.

SkyKing56

Welcome to DTR. If you browse any of the Second Generation topics you will see some of the more common issues such as the DDP (Dreaded Dead Pedal). The '98.5- '02 24V Cummins engine is prone to Fuel Injection pump failure due to faulty lift pumps, which shows up as a dead pedal and a CE code of P0216. So if you can find any history on the truck see what kind of warranty work was performed by DC to the truck. Even if the VP44 Fuel injection pump was changed under warranty, your truck has a few more miles on it beyond the 100K DC warranty.If you do buy the truck install a fuel pressure gauge to monitor the lift pump- $200 gauge kit vs $2000 VP44 repair is a no brainer. Many of us have relocated the lift pump from the engine block to the frame next to the fuel tank. Tjis way it has fuel fed to it by gravity. The pump is made to push, not pull.
There are several relocation kits available, I went with the Vulcan with the oversized fittings.
There is also the issue of the defective engine blocks stamped with "53" on the drivers side of the block. These were made until '01 I believe, and have a tendency to crack and leak. Take a look-see to identify what number is stamped on the block and judge accordingly.
By the way, my mechanic informed me today that Ford has issued something like 173 service bulletins on the PowerChoke Diesel.
Welcome to the Sunny Side of the street!