Whats the best older diesel? I want a diesel but im only able to spend about 4k and i dont want a truck with less than 200k on it. Im thinkinking the 1st gen cummins, old powerstrokes or pre powerstroke fords, and pre duramax chevy diesels. Which of these is the cheaper or more reliable? I want to be able to mod it but i dont want to put that before reliability. Thanks

 

i got a ol 91.5 cummins and it has never let me down.

 

id try to find a 12v cummins or an older 7.3 powerstroke

 

ither 12v cummins (and im a die hard ford guy) or a 93 or older ford

 

i have a 94 cummins an she has 370,884 on her an she is going threw a ton of nods now she is great an never let me down

 

So i should stay away from the old chevy diesels? Do the older ford or cummins motors have any sort of common major problems that would be expensive to fix? Thanks

 

i never had any problems with my 92, but im not an expert on any means, i got a pin hole in the cylinder wall at 380,000, it used ta be an old farm truck so you know it went thro abuse haha

 

Which has more horsepower stock the 1st gen cummins or first gen powerstrokes? thanks

 

12v cummins would be the best bet for cheap

 

The 91.5-93 Cummins is probably the best bang for the buck. The IP is cheap for repairs and the engine is incredibly durable. You get the intercooler in those years. The '94-'98 Cummins is better if you want to make big power, but that's never cheap (the engine mods aren't bad, but the new tranny you'll need is expensive).

The Ford engines aren't quite as good, but they aren't bad. There are a lot of them out there, so you'll probably have a better selection.

Earlier GM diesels are pretty light-duty. They don't hold up as well as the PSD or the Cummins. There are a bunch of them and they can be pretty cheap. The good news is they are the cheapest and easiest to fix. The bad news is you'll have to fix them more often.