1998 Dodge 2500 V10 to Cummins swap... help and info please...
 

hello. im not sure if this is the proper place to post this. sorry if it should be somewhere else...

i am doing some research for a friend. any help would be appreciated.

so heres the deal. Scott (my friend) has a 1998 Ram 2500 V10 automatic. the truck itself is in great shape, but Scott didnt stay on top of maintenance as well as he shouldve, so the engine is pretty much shot. Scott owns a concrete company, and as a result, he tows around a pretty good sized skid steer on a 8x18 trailer.

i will most likely be helping Scott do an engine swap. what i want to do, though, is install a used (but well maintained) Cummins diesel engine as opposed to just dropping in another V10. i am just wanting to research some options along these lines before telling Scott about it. for obvious reasons, a Diesel would be very ideal for the use of the vehicle.

main questions are these:
12 valve or 24 valve? from my research, the 24v is far more modifiable, and offers more out-of-the-box, off the line performance, but that it isnt as reliable. is this the case? which one is more likely to hold up under extreme circumstances with occasionally neglected maintenance?

will the existing transmission work properly with a Cummins engine? im assuming that the bell housing is the same for both applications. someone please correct me if im wrong.

other than the complete engine, computer, exhaust and some fuel components, what else would be needed?

another objective is to do this: if a diesel swap is decided upon, we're gonna want to improve mileage. what is the most effective way to do this? chip? exhaust?


any help with this would be much appreciated.

12v for simple reliable mechanical power, 24v if u like the computor programmers and push the button type of power changing. Both can be 500hp daily drivers fairly easily. It's cheaper to make power out of a 12v, with a bigger turbo, injectors, Dv's, and the normal free mod's and exhaust and intake you can be right up at 500hp 1000+tq. The 24v's have a neverending problem with the VP44 and lift pump, so thats a repair bill u can always look forward to it seems like. I get 19mpg normally, but can get alittle better if I stay light on the throttle.

As far as the swap itself, the 24v would be alot harder since it has more wiring and computor stuff (more things to mess up), I'm not sure if the trans will swap over, my service manual seperates the v10 tranny and the diesel tranny so i'm thinking they have some differences, but could be wrong. Maybe someone will chime in who's done the swap, but it's gonna be alot of work for sure.

Didn't the V8/V10 get the 46RE, instead of our 47RE tranny?


Don't worry, its in the right forum. :)

Welcome to DTR mad2smile http://deephousepage.com/smilies/wavey.gif .

I think my dads 95 V10 has the 46re but i will have to check. My dad and I are looking in to doing the same swap in the future and it will be a 12valve, just for the reliablity and less electronic junk.

12V is much much simpler.

The engine will bolt to the bell housing, but you will want to get a diesel T/C with the lower stall speed. Being a 1999 the governor is electronic, so you will need to get the proper computer for the new engine.

It's rare these days that swapping an engine, especially changing the fuel type as well, will wind up making economic sense. Chances are he's much better finding another Cummins-engined truck (preferably with a NV 4500 or NV 5600 transmission) that may even be in better shape. They really are not that costly and for what it would take to find a rebuilt or used engine, all the compontes, fuel tank, wiring harnesses, etc it would probably be a lot less hassle to replace the veichle entirely.

I will say that in certain very limited applications it may make sense to keep your same truck, maybe a strong emotional attachement or whatever. But even swapping a dump-body isn't nearly as much work as changing an engine (and fuel type) is.

Just my $.02

thanks guys for the warm welcome and all the help youve given so far.

what about mods to increase fuel mileage?

please keep the suggestions and information comin'! :)

Fuel milage is more a result of ur right foot then what power mods u have. you should be able to stay around 19-21mpg driving normally if ur not dumping smoke and wasting unused fuel. So make sure u have the right turbo for the mods u want, and a good flowing intake(filter), fuel filter, fuel lines, etc so everything flows and burns off good.

BUMP!
:cool:

any more advise or comments about this?

I wouldn't bother... The value of a 9 year old truck isnt worth the effort plus when it comes time to sell I think you'd have a hard time getting your money out of this project. I'd do what others have said and just buy a diesel truck.
You would need, New fuel tank, new fuel pump, (dont know about the lines) new brake assembly if the old one is a vaccum run unit, new rad, intercooler, trans because if he didn't take care of the motor im sure thats shot too. You'd still have a 9 year old truck that around my area would be starting to rust and be worth roughly 7-8 grand...

Depending on if you get emission testing in your area, it can be hard if not impossible to get the DMV to change the FUEL TYPE on the title. Going from a gasser to a diesel engine can cause real headaches in certain states. [dummy]

And - like others have said now, change out this engine to a diesel and due to being "modified" you just wrote off any resale value it had left.

Sorry to sound so negative!!! I guess there are just so many of these trucks around that it just makes a lot more sense to trade for a different one.

I would love to put a small diesel into a Jeep CJ or Wrangler, possibly a Sprinter MB-5- cylinder or else a small Toyot diesel conversion, but in these cases it's strictly due to the fact that in this country they are not avalible as such. So I hope you don't take these comments personally. Good luck to your friend - maybe he should keep the V-10 as a beater (it's a good engine too) and use his CTD truck as the heavy pull/dailey driver.

Yeah, I'd just find a used 12 valve on ebay... Or 24 valve... And keep the V10 as a beater.. They aren't worth much but have plenty of grunt. I almost bought a used one cash instead of the new cummins.

If I were getting a used work truck though and didn't log a ton of miles I'd get a V10 or BigBlock gasser hands down.