ive done a little searching but im trying to find out as much info as possible quickly. im looking to purchase a buddys truck in the next few days. im pretty sure its a 2000 but maybe an 01. four wheel drive ext cab 2500. i know a little bit about these engines but not much. the truck has 190,000 miles on it. id like to know as much as possible about things to watch out for with these trucks. and especially the things to look out for with this kind of mileage. im trying to decide if it is a good buy. it has skyjacker 4" lift with 35" grabbers on 17" wheels. new fuel pump, edge box, rebuilt tranny, some guages and straight pipe exhaust. he wants 16000. when you turn the edge box up to step 5 and get on it normally i thought it would blow black smoke but its white. and it just started to take longer starting. you have to crank it for a good5-10 seconds. do you guys think this would be a worth it buy. thanks

 

I would say, something is wrong with it. If you cant get it to smoke black with an edge box on 5, there is something not right. And the smoke should not be white. Have you scanned it for codes?

 

if the fuel pump was replaced and it's smoking white and has extended cranking, I would say the fuel pump going out was hard on the injection pump and it's gonna need a new one. Also, is the new transmission a performance rebuild, or just a stocker? A stock trans. will fail with the power cranked up. Sounds like he's trying to unload his problem on you

 

well he has no idea about how the truck operates or anything so he thinks the condition of it is great. it has one of the cheaper edge boxes on it that just has 5 little bars and two arrows to add bars or take them away. he has only run it on 5 a couple times, but i was with him once and i thought this thing would bellow black smoke but it throws 1 small cloud of white smoke and thats it. what does the white smoke indicate? i believe the tranny is a stock rebuild. how long can it tolerate the the box turned up. im not getting this for the power i want a good daily driver. the box i just liked because it was their and i could use it if i wanted. it has some aftermarket fuel pump on it because he said as soon as he put the box on it he had problems with the fuel pump and i believe it went out so he replaced it and he might of replaced the injector pump also if i remember right. i will find out today. thanks guys

 

$16K sounds like a big chunk - even if the VP44 is good, and the tranny is "built" - the 190k miles is about half-life....the fact that the big cloud of black smoke is missing on "5" sounds ominous.

 

ive been reading a lot about the parts on these trucks but what exactly is the vp44. is this the lift pump. he also told me when the fuel pump went out the lift pump and the injector pump were changed with tst equipment.

 

There is the lift pump to supply fuel to the VP44. The VP44 is the injection pump that feeds the motor. Take it to autozone and have them scan the codes.
It sounds to me you might have a dying VP.

 

so the vp44 is just the name of the stock injection pump. i thought these things were like 1000 dollars or more. he said he just replaced the fuel pump, lift pump, and injection pump all tst.

 

Fuel pump and lift pump are one and the same. Yes, the Vp 44 is simply the stock injection pump.

 

thank you for clearing that up but why would others spend so much money on stock injection pump when you can get aftermarket for half the price. okay what are some other things to look out for when looking at these trucks in general. and everyone is talking about this truck not throwing black smoke when it is turned up. why would it now be. when the truck was stock i could step on it on the freeway and see a small black cloud. what could be wrong if it is not smoking now. what does white smoke mean?

 

What to look for on that Edge Comp:
Make sure it has been installed correctly. This is assuming all is ok with your VP44 & yer lift pump. The Edge has a wire that goes from the box to the top of the VP. This wire can be tapped or be instlled inside the cover which is what I did. Also, there should be a boost fooler. This will be located on the bottom of the compressor side of the turbo. Its function is to increase boost.

One more important thing to look for on this truck. VERY IMPORTANT!
Under the VP on the block, there may be a stamping. "53". This is bad news. I had one of these and these blocks are prone to cracking. The letter are about 1 inch tall. You can't miss them. If it's not a 53, yer allright.

Lastly, 16k seems a little high. Go to NADAbook.com and check the value. It's a good way to show him if he's in the ballpark. Good luck!

 

This is the first thing you must decide. Either a friend or a truck. Purchasing something like this from a friend or selling something to a friend just leaves a sour taste in my mouth every time. If something goes wrong, then it always ends up bad.

 

well the only reason im thinking about it is because number 1 he is a pretty honest guy and i know he never had any problems with the truck until the fuel system went out because of the edge box. the tranny he rebuilt just to get it done before it went out. i really want a nice looking, nice running, daily driver lifted diesel. i cant afford to buy a stock truck at 16k with over a hundred thousand miles and then throw 4k to lift, wheels, and tires. and then to have to worry about a weak tranny. the way im looking at this is i am paying 12k for the truck and finacing 4k in brand new lift and tires. also i meant to add he took out the muffler and just put in straight pipe, the whole truck is a lot louder but the turbo screams now. it is the loudest turbo ive ever heard on a truck. anyways i see where you guys are coming from and i really appreciate all of the help, i just want a ctd very bad and i want a nice one but dependable at the same time.

 

White smoke can mean also mean burning coolant. Definitely a possibility for a lifted truck w/ a edge box that it has been beat on.
Check the condition of the oil and antifreeze, could be a popped headgasket or the such.

I would also get the codes scanned to make sure theres nothing coming up like the others mentioned.

 

I would check the 53 block and think about it possibly being a headgasket.