somewhat dissapointed by reliability of Cummins
 

I am a new member and have 06 3500 4WD. All this talk of pump failures and even leaving some people stranded has me scared of getting stranded on rode pulling my mules. Also somewhat irked about maybe having to spend a good bit of money for a permanent fix on a brand new truck that has been known to have this problem for years. I love my new truck and the power, but I drove an old 87 6.9 ford with banks T. for 14 years with no breakdown on road. Another member said he thinks the problem still exists with 06's. I plan to get a set of isspro guages soon and maybe mild mod (Edge ) after my warranty expires if I find I need it. Should I just bite the bullet and spend nearly 700 samolians on FASS 2 and be done with it or wait till fuel pressure starts to drop? I want reliability and longeivity, that is why I chose Cummins. Sorry for the length. A am impressed with this site and the phenomenal knowledge base you members have. Thanks for any and all advice. Please no suggestions to go buy another Ford as I love my CTD 3500.

are you talking the vp-44 injection pump? thats only on 98.5-02 trucks. so you dont have to worry about that. might try this in the 3rd gen fourms. this is the 2nd gen ;)

sorry wrong site, ? easy way to transfer to correct one?
 

[duhhh] meant to put it in 3rd gen but [dummy] you know how it goes sometimes>

[laugh] its cool man, we've all done it

Hi Nelrod and welcome to the forum. Keep in mind that reading a forum like this you are listening to a very small percentage of the people who have purchased these trucks. They sell between 300,000 and 400,000 trucks a year and I don't believe that DC would be in business if EVERY truck they sold had lift pump or injector pump problems. Also, a lot of the people on this forum have "bombed" their trucks because high performance is important to them. There was a post last month asking if anyone had a 3rd gen that hadn't experienced problems. There was page after page of replies from people who had had no problems with their trucks!

The 2nd gen trucks had issues with the lift pump that when it failed could take out the injection pump VP44 and that is a fairly hefty repair bill. The transmissions were also the weak link in the drive train.

That being said, my 01 had 92000 miles on it with 25% of that towing a 12000 5ver and never experienced a failure (it was NEVER in the shop). The group I RV with has 3 other 2nd gen trucks ranging in mileage from 55k to 85k miles and again about 25% towing. None of those 3 trucks has been in the shop for anything other than routine maintenance. All 4 trucks have autos, mild 65 HP chips, and 2 have 4" exhaust. All have gauges. All 4 of these trucks had routine maintenance performed religously!

On the 3rd gen trucks the tranny was changed from a 47RE to 48RE automatic which is proving to be very reliable. They moved the lift pump into the fuel tank and that seems to have helped. There is a new injection pump. All in all they have improved reliability in 3rd gen trucks and that improvement is on a very reliable 2nd gen truck.

There are some issues with the 3rd gens like the ujoints and ball joints that seem to fail more often than they should. This is caused by the "permanent" lubrication parts (that aren't) that DC is using. If these fail, just replace them with ujoints that can be lubed.

If you peform the routine maintenance, you will probably have many years and miles of trouble free performance from your truck. If you want to run 400+ HP and make power braked 4x4 launches, you will start finding the parts that weren't designed for this application. Then you will need the new TC, valvle body, etc etc etc.

my .02

Your truck is fine, drive it for years to come and don't worry about it.

Plenty of guys with 04.5+s with 300k miles on their trucks already, heck, on ebay there was a 04.5 or an 05 with 500k on it...:p

Dont worry! [roll]

It aint gonna happen on this site very easily!!! [laugh]

the only problem you are liable to have is another CTD roaring past you, sucking earth & blowing coal out the strait pipe.

then you'll be doing mods.

was up in Shelby NC, last week, you close to there?

i figure it's the % you hear....lots of folks without a problem, but we ALL Post when we get one tiny problem.

enjoy it. coal is cool coming out your pipe.....

Feel better now
 

Thanks guys, for info. 04ctd, I am 45 min from Shelby, up in Connelly Springs.

cool, i think we lived on connelly springs church road when i grew up.

drive it, enjoy it.

they are awesome. let my wife's buddy drive mine all day, she was LAYING on that thing! she was amazed at the speed of a truck that size...she's got an accord!

i've got 60k on mine, only problem was my own fault .....

Nelrod
had a '01 with 75000+ miles and no LP probs. My present '03 has 55000+ miles and no LP probs. My neighbor has a '03 3500 DRW, hotshoter, with 205000 miles and no LP probs. Thats not saying you won't have that prob but if it worried me I would add a system such as FASS or a gage to monitor pressure changes.

JIM

For what its worth, mine is an 05 with 20000 on the clock and I havent had anything wrong with it yet.

50,000 miles here with just oil and filter changes. Just drive it.

Jeez, I'm disappointed with the reliabiltiy of my 07 Dodge truck...oh it isn't out yet.....ummmmhhhh. I disappointed about what might happen to the truck I have, even though it is working perfect. [dummy] [dummy] [dummy] Even if something did happen to your truck....Sheet happens, its under warranty....there are dealers everywhere. What more can Dodge do? I've had three dmaxes and a powerstroke....you don't know how lucky we are.
Dodge owners complain when the cigarette lighter outlet blows a fuse running the 5 hp compressor. Chevy owners are always in denial....and Ford owners are just happy they can buy a truck that their great grand pappy used to drive. You have a great truck that is the most reliable truck on the road. It ain't perfection...nothing is perfection. ks