Hi everybody, needing help and advice! I have picked up a 2003 dodge Cummins SLT 6-speed! The Good: straight as an arrow, interior good, paint good, quad cab. The Bad: motor is shot, uses 2.5 gallons of oil every 3000mi!

The story: I actually owned this truck from new until 2008, sold it to my father in law with 75,000 miles, he used it in oil field work. He did not drive it hard yet he idled it 12 to 15 hrs. a day until he finally washed rings or bearings or both out at 124000 miles.

Where I need help is: I have purchased this truck back for 4,000 dollars and plan on getting it back on the road with a salvage motor. Wanting some advice on and aftermarket parts, systems, filtration (air/fuel), engineering or anything thing that needs to be done hands down to make this a solid dependable diesel that it was for me. The truck is fixing to be in the shop and i want to get everything done that i need to.

This is a great chance at a solid truck for low dollar! Oh and where to buy these parts or systems would be helpful! thank ya'll very much!

 

i would do new injectors possibly 50hp over ones and i would do an Airdog for the pump and filters and i would do head studs just because

also we can help ya out with all of the above parts

 

I would get the engine rebuilt, its gonna cost 4000 to 6000 dollars depending on the extent of damage. I know its 400 bucks for a complete gasket kit. Aftermarket parts kill the kdp if you got one and put in a good fuel pump.

 

i think he said he was buying a salvage engine not doing a rebuild, thats why i recomend the new injectors since ya dont know what your gonna get

 

this is daily driver setup, mild towing

i went with a a salvage motor 98,000 miles complete for 3850, (but im scared to death it only has a 90 day warranty parts only) rebuild seems like an act of congress where im from and i do not know any body reputable around here. gonna order reman injectors from bosch at $225 a piece and with a 12 month warranty which is better than the stealership at 460$ a piece and a 6 month,

is the filtration the real problem with these trucks, i am gonna order the glacier under hood setup for filtration, because just had a new lift pump not long ago and i do not want to invest to much until comfortable with the motor. I did not know this was gonna be this stressful just gonna have to keep my fingers crossed on that motor

and it has an edge tuner and straight pipe

 

yes the filtration is that important

 

so what do you think about how i am going about this, and what do you think my odds are with a salvage motor

 

if you have the motor out, go to cummins and buy the shop manual for that engine.

rebuild it your self, these engines are not hard at all, if you need any help or want to know of a good machine shop in you area, you can pm me or ask any of these fine folks on this forums.

you will know it is done right if you have your hands in it.

 

If I were you wile you have it out replace the front cover and pan, and mabey pop the head and see what she looks like Oh and replace your front and rear main seals, at least you have an extra 98000 miles before they go out once you get it in. Plus you can kinda get the idea of the engine condition.

 

I bought a running used motor from Oregon when the motor went in my 06 cummins. i had it shipped to florida, when the motor arrived it was then we found out the motor didnt really run and it needed to be rebuilt, total bill of 12k it was learned to never trust anyone