Dodge Cummins Engine Concern

[mikehaugen]

Yes!!! The mower on the left has the hemi and the one doing the wheelie has the ecoboost (obviously), and didn't take tax dollars to build.

:laughing:

 

[Egon]

Yes, but at the same time, the 426 in street trim was not a big performer; the 440 Six-Packs were faster. It was when you started doing mods when the 426 really shone brightly. Sure, the same could be said of other motors, like the FE427, or Boss429. But not like the 426....

Once warmed up a bit, the FE427 could not keep up in NASCAR. Even the Talladega's. That is part of why Ford only had to make 500 Talladega's in '70, and none of them were 429 or 427 4spd cars. They put those in Mustangs. All the Talladega's were 428 auto's. Mopar had to make a full 500 426 4spd Superbirds, AND make a whole bunch more(2 per dealership). Then on the track, they had addition restrictions.

Drag racing restricted them heavily too

Let's not bypass the 413 even though it was a wedge.

 

[RobertN]

the 413 and 426 wedge's were very dominate at the strip. Ramchargers!
Spotted! 1962 Dodge Dart 413ci Ramcharger, Woodward Ave, MI | Mind over Motor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSYZ-lVttbY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7spGvaUyn0c

Let's not bypass the 413 even though it was a wedge.

 

[RobertN]

Of course, I like this Hemi 6-Pack Charger E49 package. Never seen one in person, but would sure like to test drive one!

If an inline-six is good for a Cummins, why not a Hemi?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZLMLVXjSOw

 

[aczlan]

Let's not bypass the 413 even though it was a wedge.

Especially since the Beach Boys did a song about it:

Aaron Z

 

[dodge man]

I love the vintage Mopars. I've owned three of them, the fastest being a 70 440 six barrel Road Runner. The vintage stuff is where my heart is, but the truth is the newer stuff is faster and better.

My 2004 Ram with the Cummins and a mild chip on it would have given the 383 Challenger I used to own a run for the money. My 2010 Challenger would put the hurt to Road Runner I used to own. The Road Runner might have beat it if it was running slicks. The new Hellcat has clocked low 11's on the drag strip.

It's not just Mopars either, Ford and Chevy both are making some wicked quick cars, but I do love all the talk about vintage Mopars and the cool engines they made.

 

[dodge man]

BTW the shut down song is wrong. Several years ago a mag recreated the shut down song. The 413 max wedge beat the fullie Vet. In my opinion the Vette wasn't any where near stock either.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I beg to differ. I've had my Challenger on the dyno, its the 5.7, and I have a few simple bolt ons, exhaust, tuner, cold air intake, and pulled 370 hp at the rear wheels. That's either more or equal to the original 426 hemi. The newer hemis also take well to mods to get even more horsepower. If you get into either the 6.1 or 6.4 hemi, the ones in the SRT8's, they make even more power, and if that's not enough look at the Hellcat, it makes 707 hp. They have had the Hellcat on the dyno and its UNDERATED at 707 hp. They are all pretty special if you ask me. They are just a lot more common then the original 426 hemi, 392 hemi etc.

I guess I should restate that. In nothing special I mean a dime a dozen. About everyone is making some sort of Hemi engine. Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks for the entertainment. Now you are trying to run down Dodge by comparing their engines to your lawnmower? LAffin. You sir are hilarious. I remember last week when you said a eco boost out tows a 1 ton diesel dually and that a eco diesel is equal to a mid size SUV. And now this. I need to keep track of these and do a greatest hits list for you. It would be hilarious. Top it off with at least 100 posts where you remind us that Ford didn't' take tax dollars from the government, which we all know because you put it on your avi as well. Thanks again for the entertainment.

Glad I can entertain you. Must be hard stepping off your soap,box and putting down your crayons....

Chris

 

[MossRoad]

A 20 year old V-8 gasser pushing a huge 4x4 vehicle that gets almost 18 mpg?

I get 12 around town, but 18+ on the highway. I've had it for about 5 years. It was an old EMT vehicle for a fire department. It just turned 100K about a month ago.

 

[kenmac]

Especially since the Beach Boys did a song about it:

Aaron Z

Back in the day,the old super stock dodges ruled the strips. They were a sight to see

 

[dstig1]

So since you are a self proclaimed "vehicle" expert what is it specifically that makes the steel on Ford trucks rust less then the steel on other branded trucks?

I'm not Chris, but I have seen the issue. In my past I did a bunch of testing of adhesives for auto body work. We had 3 main specs in those days (it's been 20+ yrs...) for Ford GM and Chrysler. The Ford and GM steel were all but identical. Good quality galvanized steel. The Chrysler stuff was another story. They used a cheaper grade where the zinc was not so well adhered. Oftentimes, we would have an adhesive formula that would fail on the ford/GM spec material, but would pull the galvanizing right off the Chrysler samples. They simply used cheaper material, and the owners would pay for it in earlier rusting. Is it still the same today? Dunno as I am out of that racket, but I would not be surprised, based on history.

 

[woodskiff]

I own the Ram Cummins 2500 Quad cab 2004.5 and I would never sell the truck. It is a towing beast but they do share the same issues.
Weak spots I have dealt with.
Lift Pump..filter mounted and can fail without warning and not much service life, Ball Joints..only 2 grease fittings in the front end....Air Conditioning compressor clutch failures common....also the vent mixing doors under the dash break off and are a pain in the ***** to fix,...wiring bundle in the rear door pinches, I have the Quad cab and this can be expected in every truck period...lucky though, very easy DIY fix. FYI if you don't have them on this truck Dodge offered inner wheel well liners for the rear bed...I have them and they were worth the low cost option at the time.

 

[PapaPerk]

I own the Ram Cummins 2500 Quad cab 2004.5 and I would never sell the truck. It is a towing beast but they do share the same issues.
Weak spots I have dealt with.
Lift Pump..filter mounted and can fail without warning and not much service life, Ball Joints..only 2 grease fittings in the front end....Air Conditioning compressor clutch failures common....also the vent mixing doors under the dash break off and are a pain in the ***** to fix,...wiring bundle in the rear door pinches, I have the Quad cab and this can be expected in every truck period...lucky though, very easy DIY fix. FYI if you don't have them on this truck Dodge offered inner wheel well liners for the rear bed...I have them and they were worth the low cost option at the time.

How many miles on your 2004.5? I have around 82,000. My biggest weakness has been u-joints. I have replaced both front one in the knuckles and the on at rear diff. Also had rear calipers seize. But that's been about it.

The lift pump failure concerns me.

 

[kenmac]

I'm not Chris, but I have seen the issue. In my past I did a bunch of testing of adhesives for auto body work. We had 3 main specs in those days (it's been 20+ yrs...) for Ford GM and Chrysler.

20 yrs ago , A lot of things have changed in 20+ yrs ,,Ford makes/has the worst Diesel engine on the market.. Who wants to pull the cab off their truck to work on it ??
I have owned dodges for yrs and have never had a rust issue,, Never had rust issues on any GM vehicles I have owned...Only owned 1 Ford in my life. Will never own another. One was enough

 

[dstig1]

Kenmac, True, which is why I noted it has been a while. But then those are the kinds of details that reputations are built (or destroyed) on. Chrysler skimped on the steel, so it rusted early. Not surprisingly, people said Chryslers rust fast. Is it still true? Dunno, but they made their own bed here... I still have an old friend working in that area, so I should ask him if it has changed or not. Never thought to ask.

Ford had a couple bad diesels in the 6.0-6.4. They also had the legendary 7.3 to balance. There were a lot of problems in that era due to the stupid regs, but they seemed to have it the worst. Is it better now that they make their own? Also dunno, but I consider that a step in the right direction. Bringing things in house is almost always better in the long run as you learn more and can build on it.

In my case, I had a couple Chrysler products (not Cummins trucks) that did not serve me well, so I now avoid them. Amazing what a car or two will do to your attitude towards the brand, isn't it? My Fords have been mixed - some great, some so-so, nothing awful. Hondas have been similar - one has been so-so and another is doing great so far (newer). My Chryslers were not good. I have a friend who is a die-hard Toyota guy. His experiences have been mixed too, though he would not admit it. He has had major tranny problems and a block crack, but "toyotas are great". I try to be a bit more objective. Some on here are on the "my choice" is great program. I try to call it like I see it, but like many folks, I have only limited experience as I have not owned 200 vehicles. Ford has been pretty decent to me. I would buy more. Same with Honda. My bad experience was more about the OP maintenance than the brand, I think. I like what works, and I know what works (that I have had). Hard to argue with that in the end.

 

[woodskiff]

How many miles on your 2004.5? I have around 82,000. My biggest weakness has been u-joints. I have replaced both front one in the knuckles and the on at rear diff. Also had rear calipers seize. But that's been about it.

The lift pump failure concerns me.

Hello PapaPerk, My Cummins has 92,000 on it. Funny, I too had the rear calipers seize up at around 50k if I remember correctly. The Carter Lift pump is around $125 bucks and very easy to swap out. I keep a spare in the truck tool box just in case, but it's not something to dwell on and I enjoy truck. The Dealer would replace the original lift pump if it failed and locate the new lift pump into the fuel tank. I didn't want them to modify or touch my truck so I kept it original. By the way, the OP should know that you can check the original HOURS on that motor and compare the miles with engine Idle time. It's a Key on/off hold trip A type of check, but the hours are logged in the system module for that engine.

 

[kenmac]

Kenmac, True, which is why I noted it has been a while. But then those are the kinds of details that reputations are built (or destroyed) on. Chrysler skimped on the steel, so it rusted early. Not surprisingly, people said Chryslers rust fast. Is it still true? Dunno, but they made their own bed here... I still have an old friend working in that area, so I should ask him if it has changed or not. Never thought to ask.

Ford had a couple bad diesels in the 6.0-6.4. They also had the legendary 7.3 to balance. There were a lot of problems in that era due to the stupid regs, but they seemed to have it the worst. Is it better now that they make their own? Also dunno, but I consider that a step in the right direction. Bringing things in house is almost always better in the long run as you learn more and can build on it.

All the manufactures had to deal with the same emission regs. they added nothing extra to ford/ navstar. others were able to deal with the regs better than Ford / navstar.. The new ford diesels are no better. My son is a medic and drives the Ford built diesel rescue trucks. He says the Fire Dept has already stated the next rescue trucks won't be a Fords due to the many problems they have had with their rescue trucks. I forget what he said it cost every time the truck goes to the shop to have the cab pulled just to work on the engine , but it isn't cheap.. Pull the cab just to work on the engine ????? Now that's a better Idea !!!!. The only good diesel that ford built was the 7.3...That 1 good engine hardly makes up for the many bad diesels ford made.... Like I said , I've owned many dodge cars/ trucks over my life ...Never a rust issue... If I had had the rust problems that many here mention, I wouldn't have owned as many Dodges as I have owned. I currently also own an 07 Toyota tundra... I haven't had any issued with the Toyota. I've own several Chevy / Dodge vehicles as service vehicles... No problems. As previously stated,,, I will never own another Ford , as 1 was plenty

 

[RickB]

The only good diesel that ford built was the 7.3...That 1 good engine hardly makes up for the many bad diesels ford made..

Just to clarify, Ford bought every 7.3 from Navistar.

 

[RobertN]

Interesting how that is; no advertising of that really. Not a secret, but not advertised with the Powerstroke. Cummins on the other hand,is clearly stated with Dodge.
The GM's were that way too; didn't Detroit make some of the 80's/90's GM diesels? A buddy had an 80's Blaser with non-turbo diesel. Ran good, but not a powerhouse...

Just to clarify, Ford bought every 7.3 from Navistar.