sammylittledirt

i drive a 97 360 gasser all lifted and custom and long story short tired of **** breaking and its not a good daily driver. ive been looking at two different trucks, one a 2001 dually, 142k miles for 15 grand. i think thats a bit pricey. it drove good when i test drove. started good. no trying or anything. not a 53 block. checked. didnt check the codes. and the other is a 2002 dually with 200k. for 10 grand. havent gone to look at it yet but plan too. i know to look for codes involving the lift pump and injection pump, general maitainice but what else should i be wary of?!?!?!?!!?

KATOOM

You want to look for the obvious thing which indicate how well the owner cared for their truck. Then ask them personal questions like why they're selling it and how long they've had it and what they've done to it. You'd be amazed the crap people say.....

Then report back with all the details and someone should be able to help you. My opinion is you want the least modified because usually people add power first then maybe reliability later.....if they can afford it. Then after everything is ragged out they look for someone to take it off their hands at a steep price as they try to regain some of the performance goodies costs.

cougar

If I had it to do over again, I'd avoid the 98.5 to 2002 years. The VP44 continues to be a sore spot with me.

patdaly

Yep, if I were stuck with one, I would seriously consider a VE swap.....

To the OP, if it were me, I would jump right to the 3rd gen.

Assuming you couldn't find a good 97 12 valve....

KATOOM

I'm not sure why you guys would feel this way..... The VE was no better and offered no where near the power gains. The P-pump offers reliability but requires a different style of modification and driving style. The 3rd gens have their own list of problems too.....

I'm certainly not trying to overlook or shadow the history of the VP, nor downplay any frustration anyone has had with this pump, but in reality you can add more power cheaper and easier to a VP truck than any of them. Heck, you can almost buy three VP's for the price of one set of injectors on a CR truck.

patdaly

Perhaps that is the case, but very few VE's just up and died on the road....... And if you need more power than a VE will reasonably produce, buy a SEMI........ Not to mention the VE is stone simple and swaps relatively easily on the VP trucks, what's not to like?

Oh yea, that power thing........

What we really need to do is lobby the Trump Administration to create a class of trucks that we can purchase as a Glider kit and finish ourselves, I could see myself in a 2017 SRW 3500 4X4 with a 12 valve..........

KATOOM

From the sales records I've found, Dodge sold approximately 180,000 Cummins trucks between the years 1989 - 1993. That calculates to around 36,000 trucks per year. And between the years 1998 - 2000 Dodge built approximately 306,000 trucks. There was 116,000 trucks made in the year 2000 alone.

So to offer some perspective to the number of VP "issues" relative to those of VE issues.....ONLY using two of the four years the VP trucks rolled off the assembly line, there was almost double the amount of VP trucks made as there was VE trucks over a five year period. Disclaimer: There is no data I can find for the years 2001 and 2002 so I cant use those statistics.

Giving consideration to the level of production growth we see as the years progressed, I think its safe to say that there was probably at least four times the number of VP trucks manufactured as there was VE trucks. Meaning, for every four 2nd gen trucks you see, you "should" see one 1st gen truck. But how many VE trucks do you still see on the road today.....? Again, I have no idea how many trucks were made in 2001 - 2002. There could have been even more than I'm guesstimating.

And none of those statistics are even considering the thousands of thousands of ISB VP engines which were used in commercial applications as well.....

All that said, excluding the overall production numbers just mentioned, which one was obviously the more popular of the two? And which one saw more modifications which directly compromised the integrity of the injection pumps reliability before it was discovered that fuel delivery was the key? And which one had to deal with the introduction of ULSD only a few years after production.....? Remember, the VP engines were simply a quick fix to get Cummins through the initial beginning stage years of diesel emission requirements before they could roll out the Common Rail engines.

I'm not trying to discredit anyone's level of frustrations which they've experienced with the 2nd gen trucks but in all reality I would say that there is a significant reason why 1998 - 2002 Dodge Cummins trucks are highly desired still to this day. Poke around in the 4th gen truck forums and its almost sad to read all the level of problems those members are having. And.....they probably paid in the range of $55,000 - $65,000 for those trucks.

Busboy

In 2001 I bought a new 2500 and my FIL bought a used 2001 dually 3500. I've since sold my old 2500 but a friend of my son now owns it and it still has the original VP. My son just inherited my FIL's 3500 and it too still has the same VP. I'm looking for a 2001 3500 now too just to keep as a spare truck. Count me as a VP believer.

cougar

Lucky you. I haven't been that lucky. My 1st gens how every have been great. ZERO VE problems.