Hello to everyone.

I am new to this sight and diesels. I am going to be looking at my first diesel this weekend. It is a 1996 Ram 4X4 5-speed w/ 122,000 miles. What should I be looking at/for. ie: when it should smoke, when it shouldn't, what color smoke. Signs of wear. From what I have read, I want to be somewhat sure that I'm not going to need to replace the injector pump or turbo any time soon. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

Wow, I like the mileage so far...

If it was me:

You want to check over the chasis just like any other vehicle. Look at the tires, are they wore funny? Broken leaf springs? Does it have a 5th wheel or gooseneck ball? Ask him how much he towed with it. Was it a "coffee shop and back" truck or did he work it? These questions lead to areas to focus on. Check the diffs, are they leaking bad? Grab the drive shafts and give them a twist with your hand (and the truck in gear), does it have a lot of lash? Check the exhaust, is it factory? Straight piped?

As for the engine, obviously check the oil and the radiator. Make sure fluids are at the proper level and in the proper container (no oil in radiator). Look at the afc housing, is the anti tamper screw still there? If so, chances are the previous owner hasn't turned it up. Is the wastegate hooked up still? Check the rear and front main seals for the engine? Is the whole bottom of the truck covered in Rotella from them leaking? Check the overflow valve.

During the drive listen for any clunks or knocks that don't sound normal. Does it start without needing you to put your foot on the throttle? May need to adjust the idle screw if neccessary.

Find a buddy that has a diesel cummins (that's maintaned right), take it for a drive, listen to it idle and run. Or take him with you.

These are just a few things I thought of, off the cuff...

 

Thanks for the input. What is the afc housing and where is the anti tamper screw? How can I tell if the wastegate is still hooked up? Where is it? Sorry for not being able to speak "DIESELEESE". I have only putzed around with engines that have spark plugs.

 

phone man where are you from? Check for rust under the doors and dents and minor things like that. See if the truck is taken care of or just a work truck.

 

I'm from Ohio. I believe he had a tow bed on it. Not sure how much he towed with it. He is keeping the bed but I am getting an ext-cab 1500 2wd gas as part of the deal. I can use the bed off of it and Ebay the rest.

 

Welcome to DTR! No question is stupid! If you check out the search option you will see that many of your questions have already been answered!

Again Welcome!

P.S. Check out the DTR chat sometime.

Rick

 

That's ok, you'll soon learn that real engines don't have spark plugs.



The afc housing is on the back of the p-pump. The p-pump is located on the driver's side of the engine, it's easily identifiable by the 6 steel injector lines coming out of it. AFC stands for Air-Fuel Control. As engine RPM rises, a fuel rack within the pump climbs the profile of the cam plate. This cam plate is one of the first mods us "DIESELEESE" folks do. By grinding or buying a new cam plate, you change the amount of fuel (and power) you get out of your diesel. To change this, you have to remove the anti-tamper screw to remove the housing and get to the cam plate.

The wastegate, plumbs in just above the AFC housing. This is usually modded by 2 methods. One is to remove the hose completely and plug it with something. The other is to change the barbed fitting the hose clamps to for either an adjustable one, or a fixed one that has a smaller inner diameter. This lets the turbo carry more boost than normal.

Both of these mods will give you an idea of how much tinkering the truck has already had and the potential ( I said potential ) of some abuse...

 

check the front cover for cracks resulting from KDP.

 

Good read for you...

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=124337