Hey guys, I'm another Dakota man looking at buying a Full size again (Had one before, but I want a diesel this time). I've been towing and hauling a lot of stuff lately and even though my Dak pulls it quite nicely, It's just not big enough. I find myself towing close to it's max capacity, and when I haul stuff I usually have to make 2 trips. Getting tired of it. I'm looking for an extended cab long bed SRW. 2500 or 3500, don't care.

Basically the only thing keeping me in my Dak is the MPG's, but a diesel will mostly likely get better MPG's than I'm getting now, right? What kind of mpg numbers are you guys pullin down in city/highway unloaded and loaded?

So, since I've never owned a Diesel before, what should I look for? Price range depends on what's gonna be better. Under 10k would be wonderful, but whats the likely hood I'll get something thats got a lot of life left in her? So probably would be looking at under $15k.

So how do I shop for a diesel? What things should I keep a look out for in regards to the engine? What about the rest of the truck? I suppose it would be like looking at a gas engine, but I need to know what's normal for a diesel versus a gas engine.

How many miles is acceptable in that price range?

Basically give me a run down on what to look for, how the engine should run, how easily should it start, etc. I've driven diesel trucks before, but they were mostly new, under 40k miles. Never driven anything thats been broken in already.

 

Well, in that price range, you're gonna be looking at 2nd Gen's mostly.

Biggest problem on them is the VP44 injection pump. Other than that, the torque converter is the only other main problem.

If you're looking at 24V 2nd Gen trucks, don't be alarmd by oil on the driverside on the oil pan or tranny. The crankcase vent comes out right there and blow by is not uncommon.

Check for rust at the bottom of the doors. The door seal on the 2nd Gen's is kind of a crap design and trap water there, causing the bottom of the door to rust. I see you're from the Albany area (I grew up there), so you know the rust problem.

Wheel bearings and ball joints. These are another area that most heavy duty trucks suffer it.

Other than that, everything else is like checking a gasser.

 

Thanks for the advice.

My last truck was a 96 1500 with a 360. I know all about the ball-joints and door rot problems.

What's wrong with the torque converters? What about the injection pump? What do these repairs usually cost? Should I look for any excessive smoking? What about mileage range. What should I look for? Around 100k miles? less than 150k miles?
While we're on the subject what exactly is an injection pump? What does it do?

What about mpgs? What's the average?

 

What do you think of this truck?

Huh, link won't work...

It's a 97 Extended cab long bed. 138k miles, Automatic, 4x4

 

Is this truck anywhere near you?

If it is, do me a favor and pop the hood and get me a good picture of the engine.

I wanna see if there are any tell tale signs that he had things installed on it.

All I need is a TOP view of the engine.

If there are no signs of it being a hotrod and that it was just used as a "truck" then the TC will be fine, but that is the weak spot in the tranny.

As for the VP, that's hit or miss. They can be good one day, crap the bed the next day, but it's usually related to fuel pressure.

If you buy this truck, there are 2 things I HIGHLY recommend that you do very quickly. 1 - Get a fuel pressure gauge. The VP NEEDS to have 10 - 20 psi of fuel pressure. 2 - Get a good lift pump. FASS or AirDog and you'll never have to worry about the VP getting starved of fuel.

Otherwise, the truck "looks" clean.....except it does have those damn Cali mirrors.

Mileage.....that's all in the tuning. Stock you can expect 15 - 16 in day to day driving and 18 - 20 on the highway.

 

Actually that truck is a bit of a drive for me. It's in NJ, and I'm as you mentioned, in Albany.

What are the signs too look for? There is one for sale that has a shot of the engine. Would you like me to post it?

Oh and I like the cali mirrors. My 96 had them, not a damn thing behind me I couldn't see! But mine had the separate spotters, not the ones stuck onto the mirror.

 

Look at the exhaust manifold for any signs that it's been drilled and tapped. That would indicate a pyrometer was installed. Also look at the exahst elbow on the back for the same thing.

Look on the intake horn for the same thing, indicating it had a boost gauge. Also look around on the driver side of the engine behind the intake horn and look for anything that doesn't look "factory", a shiny, silver bolt where there should be a factory 10mm bolt hold down the manifold cover.