Looking to purchase my first diesel truck. Found an early 2004 dodge 3500 slt crew cab 4x4 with a 6 speed manual transmission , 373 rear end with 120,000 miles on it . Looks stock as far as I can tell but like I said I've never had a diesel. No aftermarket gauges, programmer, exhaust . Don't see any extra wires anyplace . What are so things I need to look for other than the obvious ( fluid leaks , strange noises, etc) ? Want to make sure I don't inherit someone else's problem truck. Mainly going to use the truck to pull my 30ft aluminum stock trailer and other farm type hauling . Wife will drive it around town some also but not more than a few miles per week. Thanks in advance .

 

Hello and welcome to DTR.

Congrats on finding a low mileage truck.

The good news is that is a good year truck with relatively few inherent problems.

The dash may fall apart at any time now, usually the flat surface above the glove compartment. Get a dash cover if one isn't there.

The fuel pump is a unit that is mounted on the backside of the fuel filter housing on the drivers side under the hood. These are units that are prone to failure at about the mileage you list. The owner may have already fixed this issue.

Ball joints and the front hub bearings should be looked at. Some people get a couple hundred thousand out of them, others not so much.

The clutch could have some wear to it at this point and is worth checking.

The last place of concern is injectors. This is the expensive thing. They could be in great shape, they might be close to death. Understand, the same situation could be there in any diesel of any brand (BTW, duramax injectors are similar).

If that was truly kept a stock truck, the engine has just been broken in for the most part and you should expect to get a lot of life out of it. Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the info! Dash looks great and so does the drivers seat so either someone took great care of it or it's been replaced . Ball joints are original but are still tight . How can I tell what kind of shape the injectors are in without actually taking them out ? Truck drives great and shifts fine very responsive to acceleration no smoke on cold start and doesn't smoke while driving . Haven't checked the pump yet but I will . Overall truck is in really good shape , no rust dents dings a few small scratches but it's a truck . Bed is in good shape some scratches but not all beat up . Almost one of those too good to be true deals , so making sure I've covered all my bases

 

Maintenance records would go along way in showing how well it was kept (or not).

I've saved all of mine for the day I decide to sell.

Good luck!