Hello all, I recently pickued up a salvage title 2004 Ram 3500 Quad Cab 4x4 with the HO cummins. Got it a great price and am therefore willing to deal with the issues that come with a flood damaged vehicle. The only visible damage is water in the transmission (I expect to have it rebuilt), the wipers don't work and some small areas of mold/mildew behind the rear seat and at the bottom of passenger seat. As I said, there may be other issues and even future issues, but that's why I'm here to see what I can anticipate and what I can do to mitigate any future problems. The truck runs and drives, so after picking it up I drove it 1/2 mile to the nearest trans shop and had a flush done. I drained the differentials and found no water. No water in the engine oil. The trans shift decent, but when pulling the grade on the way home, the truck wouldn't pull it without decelerating, which can't be normal for such a high powered engine. It didn't downshift and I was babying it, but it should be able to pull the grade in O.D. There are no engine service lights on, so I'm not sure what to make of it. It's possible water is/was in the exhaust, but I'd expect the majority of that to have been blown out and I can hear the turbo spinning up. I'd expect that the PCM would be an either work or not work situation so other than the trans I don't know why it isn't more powerful. As for the wipers, the fuse box looks clean and the 30 amp fuse is intact. I swapped out several of the relays thinking that if one of those were out I'd find out by swapping them unless they're all out. Anyway, I'm glad to be the owner of a Dodge truck and look forward to enjoying the Cummins experience. Oh by the way, not to make any enemies, but I owned a Ford F250 Crew Cab 4x4 Powerstroke Diesel for six years. Good truck, but after trading the fifth wheel for a motorhome I didn't need the power anymore and traded it for a new F150 Supercrew. Wrong! Nice truck, but I missed the diesel power, so here I am. Thanks.

 

Could there possibly be some debris inside the exhaust? most flood water is not the cleanest, possibly something clogging the catalytic converter


paul

 

Thanks for your reply. I plan on taking it to a really good trans shop next week, but this weekend I think I'll drop the catalytic converter and inspect. The water must have been very clean since there is no silt or water line or any evidence of flooding at all other than what I mentioned. I'll work it out sooner or later, but appreciate any help I can get. Thanks again.

 

glad to help, there are many more very knowledgeable members on this board and I'm sure will steer you in the right direction.

pr

 

We want pictures!

 

Yeah, What he said!!

 

Pictures wouldn't show anything, since I didn't own the truck when it was submerged and you can't tell now from looking at it.

 

As for your wipers... it could be the switch on the column that could have shorted, also see if you can apply a 12v source other than the factory wiring to see if it attemps to move. Could be a shot motor, who knows how deep the water was? Anyway, just a couple more of my pennies.

 

Folks just like to see pics of everybody's ride...not necessarily to help diagnose your problem. Welcome to the Cummins world and since everybody else is wondering---if i may ask, what did you pay for this truck and how much do you expect to put into it to make it right???

 

mold and mildew is something you ARE NOT going to be able to get rid of easily. you can toss in a new ATS or Suncoast trans, new exhaust, intake and fix some things. by the time you get it running right you will still have a mildew issue.

depending on how much you payed for it I would say you would have a good parting truck. pull the engine and find an older truck with no engine and toss it in. then pull it apart and sell the axels, drive line, doors and what ever else and I bet you will end up making money