Hello All,

My father in law passed away several years ago and his son has finally given up on his old truck. He took it after his dad died as a daily driver and it wasn't long before he started having trouble. Not being an overly motivated guy he did try some things but then gave up and left it in the parking lot at the plant he worked at for 2 years.

My sons talked him into letting them have it and so the project begins. I wasn't excited to get it at first because there wont be any expense the boys wont accept and I know I will be the one expected to pay. I must admit though that its value is more than sentimental and I would like to have access to it's pulling power from time to time.

Heres the scoop;

The truck was produced (as per the door sticker) in 2/1998 making it a 98 model. I see that the forum breaks up trucks into 24 valve 98.5 and newer versus pre 98.5 models which are 12 valve. This one seems to not fit either category

This truck is a 24 valve turbo diesel 5.9 liter Cummings 2500 Dodge Ram

The truck wont start. Paw in law had some cold start issues which we attributed to faulty glow plugs. He would use the block heater even though we rarely get below freezing here in south Louisiana and that seemed to help. He also used starter fluid which I thought was frowned upon for diesels.

He replaced the turbo not long before he passed (it went out) and it probably got about a years worth of daily driving after that.
When it quit on his son, he had someone come to the plant parking lot and replaced the fuel pump. It hasn't run since.

So, the truck turns over without trouble and has a new turbo, fuel pump and filter. I do not assume anything except the turbo was installed correctly.
Questions I have;
How can I check to see that the glow plugs work?
How do I know if the fuel system was primed properly?
Is starting fluid a no no?
What should the fuel pressure be? Brother in law says that they had 10#


Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

Lots of things wrong with your post
first its a cummins
second cummins dont have glow plugs. They have a grid heater
you need to hook it up to a scan tool and see if its throwing vp44 death codes.

if you run a vp dry they die.

fuel pressure should he 15-18 idling

 

Not sure what it means that theres lots of problems. I did mention i am not a diesel mechanic and that it was a cummings diesel.

thanks for your input on the type of heater it has. I tried to check the codes but there was some connection problem not yet overcome.

One would assume that i could also check the heater with an ohmmeter if i knew where the connector was?

you provided the appropriate fuel pressure range but the truck is not running so checking pressure at idle is not yet possible whcih leads to my next question.
The fuel pump cycles when i turn on the key, is there any diagnostic value to knowing this pressure?

 

He was saying there is no "G" in Cummins. Its not cold enough to worry about the grid heater. Your truck would be 98.5+. You can crack the line at the VP44 injection pump or even the fuel filter on the drivers side of the engine area to check for fuel. Once you have decided which fuel line before the VP44 to loosen a bit turn the truck on and crank it for a couple seconds and let the key stay on, after a few seconds return the key to off. Do this a couple/few times. If your pump is working you will see fuel leaking. This is a very rudimentary way to check but it should work. Perhaps someone has a better way as well.

 

 

Possibly bad fuel too, especially if the fuel was bought after a hurricane! LOL! Sitting two years probably didnt help the fuel quality. If it hits a lick or two with a small shot of ether, it probably is a fuel issue.

 

 

 

any codes? and knock the 17mm banjo bolt loose on the pump to purge air out of the main feed line if that is a concern for you.