So I’m the new owner of a 2002 Ram 2500 with the 24v Cummins motor. The truck I have all ways wanted. It is in need of a lot of work. And the more I look into it the worse it gets. I plan to restore it if worth the cost. If not I hope to get out of it for what I can get back of my money. I have no idea where to begin as I have never owned a diesel but I’ll start with a list of what I know now and go from there.

it leaks about every fluid known to man. I’m sure if I look hard enough I’ll even find a gas leak😑🙃 but it leaks oil from just about everywhere. The valve cover, lower on the block, and looked under it today and it was coming from the bottom of the bell housing. I smell diesel fuel when the truck is running so I’m sure it’s leaking fuel.

I just don’t know if I should put the effort into this as the more I go the more I find. Miles are unknown as I now know the cluster is not accurate and most the gauges don’t work. Would it be better to pull the motor and work with it from there? Or cut my losses and try to find a different truck?

 

 

Don't know much about diesels but a there are a few guys here who do and they will chime in shortly!

 

It looks to be in REALLY good shape..... Does the interior look as good as the exterior? How many miles on it? Around here, even if it has 300K miles on it, it would be a 15,000 dollar truck...... Manual, or automatic?

 

the interior is honestly better than the exterior. The common cracked dash and seat tear but everything else is in good shape. I’m unsure of the miles as the cluster is not the original and the odometer don’t work. It’s automatic and someone at some time took care of it. “275 hp DAP injectors smarty ARP studs industrial injection silver 66 turbo Airdog 150 on frame.” This was in the add and appears to be accurate. The body has door panel rust on the passenger side(both doors) and on both fenders on the bed. Frame is pretty much rust free(probably from being coated in oils)🤣😂

 

Truck looks great. While it will take some time and funding to repair the mechanical issues, as long as you didn't pay way too much for the truck, it should be well worth fixing it up. 2nd gen cummings diesel trucks are still in high demand, so you could likely sell the truck later on if you decided to down the road.

 

I did pay a bit much for it(9k) I don’t plan to sell it if I have a say so. I don’t think I over paid too much but it is all ways hard to tell. I’ll know for sure once I have a good mechanic look at it.

 

Have 'em do a compression/leakdown test. (is that a thing for diesels??) See what kind of shape the motor is in. If it's good, you can sink a fair bit of money into it, and still be able to sell it at a profit. If you are going to keep it till it blows up, then it doesn't matter how much you put into it, as having it reliable, and available, will be repayment enough.

 

Thats a 600 hp truck if its running and tuned correctly.

 

Nice truck, and its cummins. What problems are you having? The 66 is abit big and laggy, unless you put in a high stall. I would find out what type of nozzles your injectors have? I would at least have the injectors pop pressure set to 300 bar, to at least help get rid of smoke.