I just bought a 2001 2500 and am very dissappointed. I have a 3800lb trailer and the truck struggles to maintain 48 mph on a 6% grade. I also have a 97 1500 with the 5.9 gas engine and it tows the same hill at 57mph. The truck has 3.55 gears and 91,000 miles. It seems to me that it should do much better than my gas truck, but after numerous inspections by my dealer, they tell me that it is fine. The truck does not surge or lurch, it just seems to run out of power going up the hills. I am not very knowledgeable about the Cummins so any help would be appreciated. If I put the truck in 2nd (it's automatic) it turns 3100rpm at 48mph. In 3rd it turns about 2200rpm at the same speed. I now have a 5 year used truck loan and a truck that gets outpulled by my what I thought was underpowered 5.9 gas model???

 

4speed, there is something wrong with the truck. The truck should be able to go 80 mph up a 6% grade with a 3800# trailer. That is incredibly light. Sorry I can't help as to what is wrong. Considering it has SO little power I might bet the turbo is shot?

 

4speed
Your problem is the perfect reason for gages. A boost gage will tell you if the turbo is the probelm and a pyro will tell you if it is a fuel or exhaust.

 

The dealer can tell you it's alright because they're either dumber than a rock or they don't wanna fix it.

If you have some mechanical ability there are some simple things you can check on.

1. Fuel filter- is it dirty or gray?
2. Black smoke- is there any, a lot, or none at all?
3. White smoke- same as above
4. Air filter- is it dirty?
5. Turbo sound- can you hear it whistling pretty loud, some, or none at all?

Don't be disappointed just yet. Not every "diesel mechanic" knows what they're talking about. In fact, some dealerships actually have their gasser mechanics work on the diesels, which is an outright sin!

Answer those 5 questions for us and we'll be able to lead you on the path to dieselness. Most of the time somebody who owns a diesel doesn't know much about them and then trades them in because they think they're getting worn out 'cause it's lost its power kick. Not true! The previous owner of your truck probably treated it just like a gasser. That Cummins engine, with the right maintenance/mechanic combo, will run perfect for 500,000 miles BEFORE the first rebuild.

You could have a fuel pump dying on you. Diesels are very sensetive when they don't have the air and fuel they want. Even more sensetive than a gasser.

 

After checkin the items welder27 recommended y'all mite want to dyno your truck.....that will give you a true measure of your power output

My truck stock had poor power on upgrades while towing too then I put in a fuel cam and re-dyno it the extra power will now pull any load that I can get to move

 

I'm sure I'll get flamed for speaking the truth but my '05 Hemi pulls the hills better than than all four of my Cummins powered Rams. They were all stock as is the Hemi. It just uses more fuel to do it. We tow a 10,040 lb high profile 5th.

 

On 1 of the tow 2 trips with my 95 4x4 5 speed pulling a 1200 lb trlr with 2, 500 lb quads on it I wasent able to pull grades in 5th by much. Going thru Tahachipi 0n hwy 58 its not even 6% up hill and floored it would do around 63. Pulling the grade on my daily commute where I live in 5th I can manage to get 75 empty on a good day. Pulling my stock trailer at 3500 lbs? had to floor in 4th to get 52 mph. But what the heck, I still get 19/20 mpg. Cant complain there.

 

Thanks for the responses. The dealer changed the transfer pump (not sure if that's the lift pump), replaced the valve body in the transmission (it had a surging problem before), and the throttle cable. They said that there were no codes showing and that the fuel pressure was within the perimeters. They also changed the fuel filter and air filter. It doesn't seem to smoke either black or white. It runs great with no load, it just seems to run like a 318 gas engine when towing. My local dealer has an advertisement today for $7,000 off of MSRP on a new cummins. Maybe I'll go look at those.

 

If you are not getting out of 3rd gear while pulling, lock out overdrive. This will allow the tranny to lock the converter in 3rd gear, and it makes a big difference, because the engine is not losing any power though the tranny that way. Try it with overdrive off, and tell us how it goes. Yes. The transfer pump IS the lift pump. You Injection Pump could still be going out though. My uncles is going out on his 98 24 valve, and it is very weak, but it has other symptoms. Wont hardly start unless you roll it. Did they check the codes on it? Go to auto zone, and have them check the codes to see if any come up. I cant remember which one is for the dying injection pump? You should DEFINATLEY be able to out pull your 5.9 gasser on that hill with absolutley NO problem if your only pulling 3800 lbs. Dads stock 98 12 valve would do at least 75 with that load. Something is definatley not right. Like i said. Try locking out overdrive, and see what happens. Good luck, and keep us posted
Also, what gear/speed are you hitting the hill in/on? If you are moving pretty good when you hit it, you for darn sure shouldnt be losing speed. Try locking out overdrive about 20 seconds before you get to the hill to give the converter time to lock, then see what hapens. Good luck

Eric

 

4speedmopar
my previous truck was a '01 2500 auto with 3.55 like yours . When towing in overdrive , tractor/box blade on tandam axle trailer, would bog on any hill or against head wind. I don't remember if there was a TSB but the dealer reflashed the puter for better performance while towing in O/D. Made a small diff but I did not like the auto's performance while not towing. Towing in 3rd the Cummins would pull anything but at 65mph the RPM's and noise was to much for the one ear I've got left. I sure love my Cummins/6spd........JIM

 

A clogged muffler is something else to check. I showered down on mine one day passing a pickup and blew the muffler off. My boost went from 17 to 23 with the straight exhaust. I haven't pulled with it yet but I' sure it will really make a difference. I pulled a 30' travel trailer from Virginia to Texas right after I bought my truck and I was disappointed in the hill pulling power also. I would almost bet you have nothing seriously wrong, just need to do a little trouble shooting.

 

A stock auto truck is not a very strong truck in my opinion. What power the motor can make with what little fuel they give it gets sucked up by the torque convertor. If you look at the sign. of the people on here probably 90 percent have a upgrade of some kind on their truck. Once you get used to driving an upgraded truck you forget how a stock one runs. I got to thinking my 97 didn't run as good as it used to till I bought the stock 02. Night and day difference! Not to take anything away from a stock truck if that is what a person wants it's just not for me. Just the little ez on my wifes truck helped it alot but it still doesn't have the get up and go to give confidence in a tight passing area. It really ought to pull 3800 without any problems thought. Are you having to let out of the throttle before you hit the hill? If you are cumminsdriver is right and the convertor is not staying locked in. Find someone who knows about these trucks and they can probably get you on the right track.