I recently bought a 91 250 with a 5 speed. Runs like a champ and doesn't look to bad. After reading through this blog for the last week I feel MUCH better prepared to start fixing it up and making it the monster that it has always wanted to be.
First things first.
This is the first diesel I have ever owned and I have been spending every second since I've had it trying to catch up. I cAme across a few electrical problems but they were very minor and were "fixed" the first day.
The next thing I noticed was the trans leak. Now before everyone rolls their eyes and thinks oh god here we go again, I have done some research. I know there are problems with the 5 speed getrag and I am going to assume that is what I have due to the fact that I am leaking a little trans fluid and I can hear some noise from the trans in 4th gear. All other gears are fine and since I will only ever drive it 2-5 miles a day I can probably skip 4th if I need to to buy some time.
So now here we are. I am a full time student and work 2 jobs. I have limited funds to get everything up to par. I have access to a full shop and can do the work myself.
So what I need to know is where do I start. I am much more interested in it running properly than "turning up the pump" right now. So am I looking at rebuilding the trans or do I need to start hitting some junkyards to find a newer trans to convert to. It sill be slow and steady work but I am ready. Hopefully it will last a month or so more so I can save up and do it right. Any help from you guys will be greatly appreciated. I am very excited to learn as much as I can.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
Phillip

 

check out NV4500 Transmissions - Adapters - NV4500 Conversion Kits | NV4500.COM for a trans swap

 

the nv4500 will out last almost anything out there that would the the ideal tranny swap but if thats out of budget around where i am a rebuilt auto goes for way less then a rebuilt 5 speed i can get a rebuilt auto for about 600 done by a shop a 5 speed is about 1,100 idk y but maybe an auto swap is an option for now. next the very first thing you want to do before touching the pump is gauges. i have the same truck exept auto and i am running a pyro, tranny temp, boost, and volt for my second battery.your truck proly only has one battery because thats how they are stock,i added mine for my sterio system. this set up works great as far as guages go and will run you anywhere from 200-400 dollars. dont go cheap with guages because you will get what you pay for and have to spend twice that in the long run not that i know that from experiance. next i would start pump mods get all the free power you can. do you know if your truck is a 91+1/2 or before 91+1/2 because that will determine the injector size you have stock if they are still stock. if its like mine and after 91+1/2 you will have the smaller injectors in witch case you can turn up the pump all you want and you wont notice a whole lot of difference right away. next if that is the case you will want injectors. they are gunna run you about 500-700 depending on what you want to do with the truck if you want all out power go big... but if that is the case as soon as you do big injectors a turbo upgrade $600 and exaust upgrade $400 are going to have to follow otherwise your truck will be rolling coal witch is unburt fuel,basicly a waste of money and power. next if you have power it does no good for you if its not getting to the ground so a touque converter is next. that is where im at now. and i am probably just going to do the nv4500 swap first because i want it to be a 5 speed instead of auto.so all in all for about $3000 you could have enough power to spin the tires and keep up with a ricer if your set up right. and you will be able to smoke out the ricer if he gives you any crap about your truck. hope this helps and welcome to the diesel world i promise you spend some time here and you will love it. i would never sell my truck now and its all because of this site right here everyone is willing to help you. almost always you can find someone who has had or has the same problem as you and keep that first gen alive they are becoming fairly rare mine seems to keep going up and up on cash offers around town but i wont sell it. enjoy,
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