I thought I might try to pick you guys brains a little bit here. I am looking pretty hard at buying my first cummins, I found a 1995 2500 4x4 5spd that I really like. The truck is a reg. cab with an 8ft flatbed and has a ranch hand front brushguard. It has 208,000 miles on it and the dealer says it was used to haul some hot shot loads and the majority of the miles have been put on in the past couple years. The truck has a pacbrake on it and pyro, boost gauges but they dont know what kind of mods it has. I was going to go test drive it this weekend. What should I look for while I'm there? I have unfortunately had two ford powerJOKES, so I am not new to diesels but I am not too familiar with cummins. I just want to know what I might need to look for on it. Any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Make sure that the front end does not need to be redone with over 200,000mi if it has not been redone it will more then likely need it soon and its an expensive fix. Also the dash tends to crack on dodges.

 

The dash on this one is fine and the front end looks like it has had some new parts. They also said something about a tracking bar being replaced?

 

if the front end looks fairly new as long as it rides good and doesnt have major leaks id say you almost cant go wrong, esp with a 12 valve. some oil on the bottom of the engine is prettymuch normal but i would be concerned if anything was dripping. good luck

 

Look for a major oil leak/broken timing case from kdp falling out, cracks in ehaust manifold if stock, and make sure it is not filing the overflow bottle with coolant, or leaking coolant from block with 200,000 and being 13 years old the headgasket maybe getting stressed.

 

Check the bottoms of the doors. They rot out and are expensive. ($1100.00) a pair for decent aftermarket doors not including the paint.

Look for KDP cracks and oil leaks in front timing cover.

 

Is there a way to see if the kdp has been fixed without taking some things off. Like I said I am not too familiar yet with the cummins, I've read about the kdp problem and have seen close up pictures of some that were tabbed but they looked like the timing cover was off and the radiator was out, is their a way to tell just by looking at it when its sitting on the dealers lot. The paint has a few spots that are chipping off but it was a southern truck so it has very little rust, the interior is very clean and the tires are almost new. They were asking 9k for it does that sound decent? I thought it was a little high but these trucks are getting harder and harder to find in decent shape and this one is set up just like I want.

 

the turbo shaft that the impellers ride on (worn bearings possibly),clutch assembly (lots of towing slave cylinder etc could be on its way out)

 

Heres a picture of her

 

check real well for external coolant leaks at the head/block line. i bought my 95 with 242k on it and a few weeks later the HG started leaking near #1 cylinder. It was only an external leak (i drove it leaking for another 30k) but still a nusience none the less. with 270k on it, i'm in the process of installing a new marine head gasket.........


and a few other widgets.

 

WHat does kdp stand for, im cummins dumb, but trying to learn

 

Killer Dowel Pin; It falls out and gets bound up in the timing gears if not adressed. $150 fix for peace of mind.

 

I got em talked down to 8,000 and found out it is a 1 owner truck, does that sound like a fair price for it?

 

Looks like the paint is peeling?

keep in mind, a paint job is expensive.