"New" Truck and New to Diesel!
 

Hi there guys,

I am pretty excited as I just brought home my first Cummins. I picked up a “new truck” and this is what it is:

1993 Dodge Ram – Cummins Engine
5 speed Getrag Tranny and 4WD
It has a short box, 4 inch lift, 33 inch tires and a few bells and whistles.
DANA 60 front, and DANA 70 rear, with Power-Lock

It was a restored at some point in time, there is still black paint on the frame, and the box is from Texas. It also came with 1 new fender and texas doors, so I am going to have some nice parts to work with. I ended up paying $3500 for everything (in Canada), and it was good enough to drive home 3 hours)

All that being said, this is my first diesel truck, and I have a few questions about what I should look for when going over everything.
I plan on changing ALL the fluids in the truck before anything. The engine has 460 000 KM… so about 300 000 miles. It starts right up, and there is no odd knocking or smoke, even when it is cold (-15 degrees C), and drives like no other truck I have driven, very happy with it.
It has a new “lift pump?” on the left side of the engine, as well as a battery, alternator, and rad. I was told from the guy I bought it from that he THINKS that the head gasket was replaced, which I hope means that it had the head and valve train touched up. He said that there are also “larger” injectors in it??

So thats basically all I know. It seems really good, but since I am restoring it, and I would like a good reliable truck, I was wondering if there are any parts that should be inspected, replaced, or to look out for. Like I said, I don’t know much about diesel trucks (especially turbo’s) because I mainly work on tractors, so this will be a learning experience. Any tips or help would be much appreciated. I am eager to learn as much as I can without having to do it on the side of the freeway, and I don’t want to get into an unnecessary engine rebuild right now. Im not looking to make any mods ATM, just to make it reliable and safe.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Jacob

Damn, geez. :humm:

the lift pump is your fuel pump. it pulls the fuel up from the tank and feeds it to your injector pump. its good that it has a new one because the factory lift pump would have been 20 yrs old, and they are sort of expensive.

injectors are, well, injectors, they inject fuel. bigger is better. sometimes.

by the new parts list you provided, sounds like someone did the hard work for you. granted they did it right, you should have no trouble. the cummins is a strong motor and the miles are never a factor............. so in short, you have a good truck that should serve you well for years to come.

HOWEVER, there is one fatal flaw in the cummins there is a dowel pin, "the devastating dowel pin of death" you may want to research it yourself, but its basically a pin used to align the timing cover at the factory, years of rattle can knock it loose and it will fall into your motor. the pin is very strong steel and WILL win the fight within your motor.
there is a fix to this problem. you can buy a kit, and be able to sleep at night from now on. it involves taking off the front of your motor but is wort the work.

BTW don't worry about the turbo........... its a precision built part and has made it this far........ it will be fine. but just to be sure you should take off your intake duct on the turbo and wiggle the shaft to make sure the bearings are still good.

enjoy your truck!

Thanks for the great reply! Thats exactly what I needed to hear. I will look into this dowel pin for sure, because its not the first time I have seen it pop up, but wasnt sure exactly what its purpose was. That is the kind of thing I want to nip in the butt and eliminate the risk.
I cant wait to get this thing on the road... but cant start workin on it until I get the car finished in the shop... I made that promise to myself... cant have too many projects on the go at once or the wifey starts to complain about no parking spaces! (because she ends up having to park outside in the snow!)

Thanks again!

yea, my truck is so big. I had to put my 300ZX out in the barn while i do paint in my garage........... the old dodge got skin cancer.

anyway, sounds like you have a solid platform for a strong reliable truck..... love her.

:c: