Hello Everyone just saying hello.I recently sold my Ford Super Duty and rebuilt a totaled 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel and am very excited to be a proud owner of the infamous Cummins power house! I look forward to reading up all the forums and learning all I can!

 

Not trying to spend your money but IMO if you're smart you'll put a fuel pressure guage on and watch it closely unless it has a good after market lift pump as this is the 24 valve's weak spot. I replaced the pos original lift pump with a Fass and I still watched the fuel pressure because the VP44 injector pump is expensive if it's starved.

 

Welcome to DF and the wonderful world of Cummins.

 

What Gerry said - get a fuel pressure gauge on it tomorrow. If your pressure drops below what, 8psi at WOT, you need to replace your lift pump before your injection pump burns up.

 

10psi actually. 10psi is the minimum you ever want that injection pump to see. and 20psi is the maximum.

get either a raptor, airdog, or fass liftpump on there rated at 100GPH or higher.

and get a mechanical fuel pressure gauge with a needle valve to protect the gauge from the pulses of the injection pump. (needle valve is like $10 tops and keeps the gauge from bouncing around or being damaged by water hammer)

get those items for the truck asap then you will have a good reliable truck

if you want to build it up to a high performance beast, I can give you some build ideas. very easy to build one from anywhere between stock and 600+hp

btw you might want to check and see if its a 53 block or not. a 2000 is one of the years that those blocks were in. look for a 1" raised numbering on the side of the block just above the oil pan on either the drivers or passengers side of the block.

if its a 53 block, check for any signs of cracking on the passenger side around the freeze plugs and water jackets below the head.

if its not cracked, be sure you warm the truck up before you do any heavy towing or hard accelerating up hills and it will help keep it from cracking. (53 blocks had a bad casting resulting in a thin spot in the water jacket on the passenger side of the block and are known to crack there and leak coolant.)

now if it is a 53 block its not the end of the world. if it ever cracks there are repair methods to fix it that aren't too spendy. my truck has a 53 block and it hasn't cracked yet, but its just something you should be aware of. other than that and keeping good fuel pressure to the injection pump, its a very stout motor that will last a LONG time.