I was looking at purchasing a 04 ram 3500 with 145,000k. The only red flag for me is that the owner has replaced the stock turbo with a Industrial injection turbo that runs at a increased boost of 45 psi. The head of the engine has also been studded. He claims there was a never a issue that made him do these mods. The vehicle also has a tuner on it. If I put my foot into pedal hard it blows black smoke out the exhaust.

Would a vehicle with these mods be something to steer clear of or are these value added features?

 

NO if he has after-market head studs and a bigger turbo thats great, the black smoke comes from the programer if u turn the programer back to the stock positing it wont smoke, the only thing that "might" be a issue is the transmission. the black smoke is just unburnt fuel cause the programmer is dumping more into the engine wich increases it HP and torque does it have a automatic or manual transmission? and not to metion 145k on a cummins makes it a virgin still. u can get upwards of 300,000miles outta that truck

 

It has a auto. Can will the increased boost cause premature engine failure? If I purchase this truck I still want to run it up to 250- 300k without an forseeable engine jobs.

 

no not at all 45psi is quite a bit of boost to produce but it really dosnt hurt much, alot of my freinds pull there trucks and are upwards of 55psi. the last thing that u need to worry about is the engine, i promise u that. cummins are the most dependable heavy duty engines on the market today, and 20 years ago. the onlything u might have issues with is the tranny like i said cause its an automatic

 

Thx for the replys, The vehicle sold before I could put a offer in =(

 

damn that sucks But FYI there is a break in 2004 its either a 2004 with 305 hp or 2004.5 with 325 hp... Just so you know for future trucks that you are interested in buying