hello I may be buying a 03 quadcab short bed with the manual tranny was wondering what to look for on these trucks? Im a little i'm familiar with the older 24v but not the CR any 53 block issues? doe's the cp3 have any issues like the vp44? are injector's a big issue being the first year for common rail? also i wasen't aware of this but some one told me the 03 came with a 5 speed and a 6 speed? so the 6 speed should be a nv5600 which I know is a good trans but what about the 5 if it has one?

 

one thing to look at is the fuel pump pressures.

 

My '03 is a beast. only had a few issues. gone through 3 waterpumps, 1 fuel control actuator and some injectors. a 2 micron fuel filter will help injector life. the injection pressures are way higher with the common rail than the 24 valve. The computer is not as savvy as the '04.5 and newer. the block is stout as hell. the '03 6 speed trans has a cast iron case, and handles whatever you throw at it in the way of power adders. the newer are an aluminum case; not as strong, but much lighter.

 

And always check for blowby.

 

No block issues, CP3 bulletproof compared to vp44, fuel filter canister mounted lift pump leaves room for improvement but easy to replace or improve. "if" it has a cat, delete or replace w/ high flow as 03-04.5 cats are stupid restrictive.