New Owner 2001 Cummins
 

Hi everyone, I just purchased a 2001 Cummins. It has 102,701 miles on it. The gentlemen who owned it was in his 70's and he had 5 other Cummins in his yard along with some other sweet MOPAR products including a 68' Super Bee in his garage. I swear! Anyway, he sold the truck to me for $4,400 and said it was good to see it go to a younger guy who will put it to work. I thought the price was very odd. I thought atleast $7,500 even though it's a 2wheel drive Standard cab 8ft Box. I bought the truck and drove it home that night. It really ran great! The next day I seen a leak in the front on the drivers side. Vappit Plate??? I seen something online saying it could be this.. The leak is not extremely significant but just enough to really irritate you. What could this be and how much would it cost me to get it replaced? I'm really happy to have my first Cummins. I always wanted one and now I have it! I just want to take care of it the best I can. Any help would be nice. I will post some pics tomorrow. Thanks everyone

First of all welcome to DB !!:hellox: Simple check first You could check the breather pipe hose which is located forward of the front cross member it comes out of the front engine cover and the hose runs straight down.
These have been known to drip oil from blow by and makes a real mess sometimes.
Here is a picture of how I ran a pvc pipe from the hose back to dump out back behind the transmission cross member.

http://s849.photobucket.com/user/jetafuel_2009/media/family%20pics%20187_zps5ybz8h2l.jpg.html
http://s849.photobucket.com/user/jetafuel_2009/media/family%20pics%20257_zpscmwvhxkc.jpg.html

Breather pipe
 

Thanks for the video. I appreciate your help. Please bare with me, I'm new on the site and trying to navigate is a little tricky. I'm going to address this today. What type of oil should I be using for this Engine.? Some say Amsoil 15/40? A few people has told me this engine is like brand new practically. I don't know what that means when they say that but It does have only 102,000 miles on it. I thought when engines get that 100,000 mark its starting to get old. Any help would be appreciated. I really like the Cummins Diesel motors. I'm excited to start learning more.

What is a breather hose? Why would it leak?

You can run any synthetic oil, In my dads 12 valve he uses Rotella T 15w40 its cheap and a real quality product, but is dino oil. As far as it being called new diesels typically last longer than there gas counterparts, especially the cummins engines, they have fewer moving parts more main bearings and inlines are generally more naturally balanced than a v engine. The cummins has a reputation as being a million mile engine and i have seen more than a few there. Some feel than a cummins is not fully broken in till around 100,000 miles.

Thank you for that. I found where the leak is coming from. The power steering bracket. I'm thinking the seal is bad. Anyone have this issue before? So 102,000 is good for miles? I was thinking of running Amsoil. Can I put the severe gear in the differential? 75/90?

So far i havent had and issue but i really haven't had my truck that long, Amsoil makes a great product all my quads and toys run amsoil, i would run Amsoil in my truck but my dad buys rotella in bulk becuause he runs his truck and all his tractors on it so i snag a "bit" off him on oil change time lol, and to answer your question 102,000 miles is getting rarer and rarer to find these at. I don't know about you guys down south but up here in canada a 100,000 mile second gen depending on shape can go anywhere between 10-15,000 dollars.
I would be very proud of a 100,000 mile cummins its still new! And don't quote me but im pretty sure dodge calls for synthetic 75/90 for the diffs.

Ohh wow! That's really great news! I have wanted one for quite sometime. I'm very happy with this truck. Need to fix the Power Steering pump seal and we are good. I would like to post some pics. How do I go about doing this?

They are great trucks, im not bashing other brands but around here the other diesels just dont cut it, my dad is a huge ford fan but when his 6.0 powerstroke blew the second time he went the dodge route. My truck is an 01 24 valve H.O 6 speed and i pull my dads three bobcats site to site with ease. They are just great great trucks all the way around. My Dad and I are planning on doing a F350 with a 24valve cummins just because he likes his fords but hates there engines. As far as posting pics im pretty sure you have to upload it through photobucket, load your pic to there sit and copy and paste the URL onto your post. Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot! I can't believe how clean the engine is. It really is a great truck and should pull my 7,000 camper around good. Anything else I need to know about maintenance and that? I just want to take care of it! Thanks everyone!

No problem! You shouldn't have any issues pulling a 7000lb camper around, these trucks can pull and pull and pull!! One of the most overlooked things on a diesel is the fuel filter. These should be replaced every 15,000 miles, the VP44 on our trucks are known to fail in low fuel pressure situations and arent the cheapest thing to replace, a clogged fuel filter can result in low fuel pressure and can take out a pump pretty quick, drain the fuel out of the filter with the plunger at the bottom, relace filter hook everything up and turn the key 10 to 15 times (don't start the engine) to prime the filter, than start up and go. If you dont know when the last time it was changed it dont hurt to open it up and look if its pretty clogged and dirty replace it. On another note, i like to use Diesel Kleen every time i fuel up, although not really necessary i feel better using it, diesel fuel lubricates our pumps and the ULSD isn't as much of a lubricant as the higher sulfer diesel was, i just feel better using it as our VP44 pumps like to go without warning. Hope this helps!!

Ok. I will look at that and see if it's clogged or dirty. Where shouts is it on the truck? I'm totally new with the Cummins engine. Bare with me please... Lol! I'm willing to learn everything I possibly can. I appreciate it.

No problem! Its on the drivers side of the engine with a round top, it looks like a little container. You might have the filter that looks like a oil filter, mine is the internal filter though.

Alright. I will check that. I think I might replace that anyway. I'm hoping this truck last me a long time.

Can you really get a million miles out of these engines?

I know of a 91 Dodge Cummins up here in Canada, the guy ran a company pulling R.V's up from the States to Canada has over 1700,000 kms on it, thats a bit over a million miles, went through 3 transmissions a rear diff replaced almost every body panel due to rust in our winters, a VE pump 2 injectors and a turbo, engine was never touched internally. An old farmer i knew up here had a '89 Cummins non intercooled, He bought it brand new, the odometer quit in about 1995-1996 at over 600,000 kms, he used that truck hauling firewood hay for his cattle horse trailers gravel and equipment. He easily had over a million hard miles on that truck when he passed away. The truck was in very sad shape body wise, that motor still ran good though. The motor has proven time and time again that it will out live the truck and the sad thing is the biggest problem with our trucks is the Dodge surrounding it. Now keep in mind those 89-93 dodge 12 valves were entirely mechanical, they had no emissions or electronics on it to fail. Our ISB 24V trucks are electronically controlled more emissions friendly and with 24 Valves more moving parts and 12 more valves to go wrong. I'm not saying our trucks are bad in any way shape or form, it's still a Cummins, but on our trucks we do have more that can go wrong. Any engine is a wear item and all the maintenance in the world is not going to stop them from wearing out, but regular maintenance can definatly pro long the life of our diesels. My uncle had a 98.5 24 Valve He had 370,000 Miles when he sold it, had to replace a few things but the engine ran great.

Wow! That's amazing! Well I'm happy to know I have a great truck!

They are an awesome truck! Should give you years of trouble free service. If you want avoid premature turbo failures, always cool the truck down before you shut it off, our trucks dont like being driven to the grocery store and instantly shut off, its hard on our engines and our turbos, let it sit 5 minutes at least before you shut it down. A diesel uses way less fuel to let it idle than it does to start it up, keep that in mind. I used to work in a Cummins service shop and i seen many trucks with cooked turbo's that would have been fine if the owner cooled it off properly!

It sounds like I have a great truck and great people who know what they are talking about. I'm going to keep on learning and learning. I'm a retired Combat Veteran with four tours in Iraq. (Wounded). I have always wanted one but it seems I have tons to learn HA! I'm happy I have the truck and I'm gonna try and take care of it to the best of my ability. I bought a new MOPAR Fuel Filter today. A new Power steering pump and a new air filter. I also bought Amsoil Synthetic 15/40 and Amsoil Severe gear 75/90 for the diff. I'm gonna change everything this week. Thoughts on these products?

Don't forget the oil filter I like the NAPA gold it is my filter of choice cant remember the number off the top of my head.

Thanks for your Service to this great country.:tu:

My father in law works at the Dodge Dealership Somali just went with the MOPAR Fuel Filter. It only cost me $17.00. I thought that was not to bad. Thanks again for helping me out with this truck everyone

Should I pull my Camper on O/D Off? I know that's kinda a stupid question but was not sure. I use Tow/Hall in my Big Horn but does not have Tow/Hall on the diesel. If so, what type of gas Mileage can I expect and RPMS?

I also just read something about Cummins are going to be in Nissan Titans? A foreign truck? Wow! Ram will have a EcoDiesel From FIAT? Why has this happened? That's a bummer. Anyone heard any news about this? Will Instill be able to get parts for my truck?

Cummins is using a 5.0 in the nissan, we will still have the cummins in the heavy duty trucks and the ecodiesel is only available in the 1500 rams. Cummins is one of the largest diesel manufactures in the world, they been in everything. The 12 valve cummins (same basic design as the 24 valve) was designed by cummins and case for case tractors and medium duty trucks. you can go right to case for cummins parts.