What To Look For In A Wrecked Truck
 

Going to look at an 03 cummins that took a fence in the front corner. Bad enough to puncture the oil pan. I'm wanting to put the engine/tranny/t case in one of my work trucks (93 F250).

Any advice what to look for that could be messed up that would cost big $$$$?

if it punctured the oil pan i'd be worried of anyone cranking it w/o any oin in the pan. the intercooler ain't cheap. other than that i'm not sure.....

Buying the truck. The front axle is no good, the pumpkin came back into the sump part of the pan, not a big hole or anything but it did put a little rip in it. The transfer case is toast, when the axle came back the driveshaft broke it's housing to pieces. The axle yoke put a nickel sized hole in the bell housing, but it looks repairable.

The good news. The intercooler, radiator, and a/c are fine, which I'm going to try to use it all in the Ford. There's 4 good doors, the interior is all in pretty good shape, the rear end and suspension is all fine, so there's plenty of parts to sell to help offset some of the cost.

I'm going to look into getting an adaptor to mate the nv4500 to my ford's transfer case vs buying a case from a dodge.

sounds like a fun lil project Matt......look it over real good man...I too would be concerned about the bearings and no oil issue..as long as they didnt crank it over with no oil ya will be alright

hmmm very interesting project. keep us posted on this thing if ya would please.

At the least, I'll pull a bearing cap when I have the pan off, and see if I want to look into things further. Got a good enough deal on the truck, that if I had to do much engine work it wouldn't bother me. I think everything is fine though.

The guy that I'm buying the truck from, only drove the truck 80 miles after he bought it used before he totaled it without full coverage. He had taken it to a reputable diesel shop before he bought it, and they say the engine was in real good shape.

I will try to remember to take pictures along the way. Right now, the plan is to just use the Ford transfer case with an adaptor ($400). I'm going to pull the radiator support out, build a new one to give enough space to run the Dodge radiator, and intercooler, all with the stock fan. (Hopefully anyways.)

I will probably put in a new clutch, but other than that leave it stock until it's running, then I would like to try a box like the TST or similar.

Going to pick it up in two weeks, I promised my trailer to one of the high school classes for the homecoming parade next week.

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Also, I'm planning on using the in tank pumps that are already on the ford, and using the cruise control off the gasser, since the 03 motor has the engine mounted, cable actuated TPS. I should be able to use the temp and pressure sensors off the gasser, and the speedometer is electronic off the rear end. My truck does not have a tach, I don't think I'll need one, but that may be something to look at doing down the road. The Ford already has 3:55's which are ideal for the cummins IMO.

One thing I'd like to retain is the obd II port so I can use a code checker on the engine. I'll have to see what's involved with keeping that once I tear into the wreck.

I'm excited. I think this will make a nice truck when done.

I got most of the front sheet metal off the Dodge today. Pulled the a/c, intercooler, and radiator. Found out my intercooler is slightly tweaked, I am going to pressure test it, and try to tweak it back straight. Also, found one of the blades on the fan is broke, it's not bad, but I believe it would cause balance issues.

I talked with a local body shop about options for selling the left over pieces. It seems the cab is worth more than I was thinking :U:.

Any pics of it? You will have to keep the OBD port since it is part of the engine wiring system.

From what I've heard, the Cummins block tends to crack apart where the engine mounts attached. It's supposed to be somewhat common for there to be stationary mounted Cummins gensets and pumps with holes where the engine-to-frame supports were until the old Dodge or Bluebird was in an accident.

I have taken some pics along the way, they are to big to post on here. I don't know how to make them smaller, or how to make the camera take smaller pictures.

I have seen 24 valves running without the obd II port anywhere near them. I am going to try to keep it so I'll have the option of using a downloader, and be able to check for codes. I forgot that this truck has an electric fan clutch, I already have a plan in mind to wire it up. I can see I need to order an 03 service manual to help decipher some of the extra wiring that I want to keep in use.