Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual: Your Key to Monster Torque
Haynes Cummins book explains how to modify or modify every part of your Dodge diesel pickup engine.
If you drive an older Dodge truck with a Cummins Turbo Diesel engine, the odds are good that you do at least some of your own work. If you do any work that is more technical than tire rotations, oil changes and simple brake jobs, you likely own a Haynes book. Their technical manuals generally focus on a specific generation of vehicle, with detailed information on how to remove and replace every single factory component on the vehicle.
The Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual is different, offering the full details on how to rebuild a stock engine while also offering in-depth details on how to reliably make monster power.
Whether you are replacing a water pump, a heater core or the rear differential gears, the Haynes manual will walk you through the process. Those books will help you restore any component back to stock specifications, including the engine in Dodge diesel pickups.
Haynes Cummins Techbook
The traditional Haynes manuals focus on a specific generation of vehicle, such as the second generation Dodge Ram 1500, with information on every stock component, including engines. The Haynes Techbook for the Cummins engine focuses just on the powerful diesel engines that have helped make the Dodge and Ram heavy duty lineup so popular.
However, this isn’t just a traditional Haynes manual that only covers the repairs of a stock engine. The Techbook explains just about everything that there is to know about the Cummins diesel engines. It starts with an explanation of how diesel engines work and how to properly plan a build moving onto the details on how to assemble an engine with massive torque and the necessary reliability to enjoy the build for years.
There is even a section on the gauges that you will need and how to upgrade the items rear of your Cummins diesel engine to handle gobs of torque. Really, if you are familiar with the basic function of your Dodge diesel engine, you may only need the more technical chapters, but anyone planning a big build can benefit from the in-depth information in this new Haynes book.
Pre-Build Planning
The first five chapters of the Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual focus on information that you will need before tearing into your Dodge truck powerplant. These sections offer technical details, but not on the actual engines themselves.
As mentioned above, Chapter 1 welcomes the reader to the world of Cummins diesel power, with sections that explain the basics of the Cummins engine, how a diesel engine works, how to plan your build, how to prepare for the expense of the build and the rigors of emission testing. If you are buying the book for help in building your engine, this chapter might not seem like much help, but for a performance diesel newbie, this is all great information.
Chapter 2 discusses how to plan your build, with a section for each distinct era of the Cummins turbo diesel engine. One section focuses on trucks from 1989 through 1993 while the 1994-and-later trucks have their own section. Since those two engines vary in a few ways, the book looks at the differences in the build process.
Chapter 3 looks at the gauges that you will want to install in your Cummins-powered Dodge or Ram pickup to help protect the various aspects of your build. This includes a look at each essential gauge, what it does, why it is important and where you should mount it. There is even a section on full digital gauge displays, for those who want to go a little fancier.
Chapters 4 and 5 both look at the items that are prone to fail in Dodge or Ram trucks with a Cummins turbo diesel. Chapter 4 focuses on the weak links in the drivetrain, such as the torque convertor, the clutch, the transmission itself and the timing cover dowel. Chapter 5 looks at key items needed to prolong the life of your truck when adding lots of power, such as a larger transmission pan, transmission coolers and valve springs. The valve spring discussion is really the first technical aspect of the book that discusses the engine, leading into the key engine technical section of the Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual.
Knowing Your Cummins Engine
Chapters 6 through 10 dive into the most important exterior components of the Cummins diesel engine when trying to make monster power. These five chapters go into heavy detail on helping the engine breathe on both ends, starting with the air intake system and the exhaust system, then moving onto the fuel system and the components of forced induction.
Chapter 6 begins with some details on the stock air intake system and how it can be improved. It then moves onto adding a “big honkin’ air filter” followed by details on a full aftermarket intake system, the intake pipe, the process of deleting the intake air heater and the intake manifold itself. The goal in this section is to explain why adding more air helps and how to add more air safely.
In Chapter 7, the Haynes Cummins book goes to the other end of the combustion process, breaking down the details of the exhaust system. Since the exhaust system is pretty simple, this chapter is short, looking at the general overview of the exhaust system, how to modify it and how to add an engine exhaust braking system.
Chapter 8 is the longest in the book, offering detail on every aspect of the Cummins fuel pump system. The chapter explains lift pumps and injection pumps, how each works, how they differ and why they matter. Of course, the book explains how to access, remove, replace or upgrade these fuel pump systems, whether you are restoring a truck to original or trying to build big power.
The key in making big power from your Cummins diesel engine is the turbocharger and Chapter 9 tells you everything that you could want to know about the forced induction system on the Dodge diesel trucks. After a basic introduction to turbocharging, the Haynes Cummins Techbook talks about how to improve the stock turbos, how to measure boost levels, how to install a boost controller and how to install a turbo timer. You don’t know what a boost controller or a turbo timer do? Luckily, this book explains all of that.
If you are adding more air with a free-flowing intake system, a big honkin’ air filter and a modified turbocharger, you will need to match that extra air with extra fuel. Chapter 10 explains the basics of fuel injectors and water injection, along with details on how to tune the system to make the most of your upgrades.
Finally, if you are looking to make monster power, Chapter 11 will be of interest. This chapter talks about nitrous oxide, propane injection and the bottom-end items needed to make huge power, such as the pistons, rods and crankshaft.
Routine Maintenance
While the Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual offers volumes of detail on how to reliably make more power from your Dodge truck, it also has the basic mechanical information that you would get from one of the company’s traditional repair books.
Chapter 12 lists all of the engine components that you can repair or replace in the engine bay. A surprising number of major components can be replaced without pulling the engine out of the truck. This book lists them all and explains how to work on those parts, including tips on how to access the hard-to-reach bits. In fact, most of the external engine parts can be replaced with the engine in the truck, including the intake system, the cylinder heads, the exhaust manifolds, the water pump, the oil pan and more. You can also replace some internal engine parts with the engine in the truck, such as the camshaft and the seals for the crankshaft. If you are repairing an older diesel engine for daily driving, Chapter 12 is sure to be a helpful one.
Chapter 13 is another that is similar to what you would find in a traditional Haynes book, explaining how to remove and rebuild a Cummins engine from the ground-up. This chapter begins with an explanation on how to diagnose the problem and prepare for the engine removal. The book then details the removal, the complete disassembly of the bottom end, how to put everything back together, how to reinstall the engine and how to break-in your newly rebuilt engine. This chapter also includes all of the fluid capacities and torque specifications for an engine rebuild.
Basically, Chapters 12 and 13 will walk you through the steps to fix anything that could fail on your Dodge diesel engine. Provided that you have plenty of tools and basic mechanical knowledge, these two chapters will help you restore your older Cummins engine back to proper running order.
The 14th Chapter of the Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual offers a detailed breakdown of the fuel system from front to rear, including details on how to replace every piece of the system. However, this chapter isn’t just a summary of the fuel system, including information on how to remove and replace the turbocharger, the intercooler, the throttle cable system and the EGR system.
Finally, the book ends with a glossary of terms that relate to the Cummins diesel engine in Dodge trucks.
Whether you are simply performing heavy duty maintenance on your Dodge Heavy Duty pickup with a Cummins turbo diesel engine or you are trying to build a pulling truck with thousands of pounds of torque, the Haynes Cummins Diesel Engine Manual is a must-have for anyone working on their Dodge diesel truck on their own.
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