Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) 24-Valve Love

[JR]

diesel4life hang onto that truck, you don't hardly ever find 2nd Gens that clean and pampered anymore! By the looks of the pics it is being taken care of.

AWeiman I have always wondered why Cummins set up the blowby tube that way. I think they started that in '99 or 2000, my 24V has the blowby tube coming out of the back end of the tappet cover which is the same place as on a 12-valve.

Thanks Vaughn i do try to take as good of care as I can of it but at the same time I use it for what its designed for. I dont have the need to pull mega loads like alot of others do so a 3/4 ton is sufficient but i regularly have something hooked to it. Whether im hauling cars for my cousin who does classic car restoration for people up and down the east coast or oilfield equip in the spring for my good friend or hauling the 4wheelers in the summer on our annual trips down south or family summer getaways i manage to keep er busy. Only downside is not having a mega cab my needs are growing more and more for one if the day comes i spring for a 4th gen there will always be a place in my driveway for my 98.

 

[BarryG]

Well I bought my 01 new in Dec of 00. 280k later it is my favorite vehicle I ever owned. I thought about buying a new one a few months ago and similarily equipped was in the 50k range. Cant justify spending that much coin on a weekend warrior when the old one still works great. Sure it is starting to show some age but 50k can do a lot of repair work and now that it only gets about 10k a year put on it it should be good to go for a while. All in all still in really good shape. It has gone through 4 VPs and a few lift pumps. I had gone with the RASP lift pump when they came out after the second lift pump then when I put a cam in it I switched it over to a 12 valve lift pump since I now have the lift pump lobe on it. The rasp and the 12v pump have been flawless. Had to rebuild the transfer case at 186k, Ball joints at 182k at which time I did the outer axle joints and the axle seals. I di have Bill K up at DTT do my trans at 105k. It was still working but was towing heavy at the time and wanted to take care of it on my time. Within the last couple months I replaced the steering gear and the ps pump as well as fixed a vac pump seal leak. Last fall I had a rear caliper drag and trash my rotor so I went ahead and replaced all the rotors and calipers. Been through a few fuel sending units until I replaced it with a capacitance type sender. A couple of carrier bearings. One brake light bulb. Other than that just normal wear items. Well aside from the goodies that I have added over the years. Which I really dont want to add up the $'s spent on those because I just dont want to know it is immaterial at this point and the truck is better suited to my needs and wants . It has consistently got me 20mpg on the highway (except when towing heavy) and 18-19 for driving around town. In mid 06 when diesel at least around here was $5 gal I bought a little honda fit for my commuter car (which is a fine car for what it is but I hate driving the thing it is like riding a skateboard down the freeway) however 40mpg I can suck up my manhood a bit. Have been on the website since early 01 and while the content on here has changed over the years it is still a valuable resource. Way back there was a lot more testing and figuring out what was going on than there is today. However the diesel performance industry has matured significantly since then and not nearly as much testing is required these days I suppose.
I absolutely love the power and torque this thing has and cant imagine not having it. It has been and will probably continue to be fun to work on though now I suspect instead of goodies it will be replacing worn out items.

 

[Moe]

Over time Ive had 3 12 valves before I got my 2000 24v 3500. Theyve all been good trucks with few problems. Ive had to replace the vacuum pump once since it blew out the bottom and pumped all the oil out. Im still fighting a 1693 code that comes and goes plus a no start condition and very high fuel pressure. Once I bleed the pressure off it fires right up. This will be my last truck only because Im keeping it till I pass on and my son will take it. Love my CTD.

 

[AClayton]

Well, here is my story: Bought my 01' from my BIL... . paid top dollar for it in 05' @$18k with 94k on the odo. The truck was stock except for a 4" exhaust and BHAF. The truck always got much better mileagethan my old gasser towing my 12' utility trailer. I joined TDR and read all the action I was missing and quickly set out for modding. Added 100hp sticks, a Bully Dog Torque Dog(still on it) and an old style B-1 turbo. That combo worked good to pretty much end the transmission at about 100K miles. Bought an ATS transmission and it lasted for abt 18mos. No warranty! said I beat on it too much and killed it early. Thought that was what I could do with an $8k transmission... oh well. Put a Goerend in and added the Smarty and Mach 4's. Great combo until I got tired of the egt's being high. Bought a 40' Toyhauler in 2010 and quickly decided that a turbo upgrade will be necessary. Bought the BD towing turbos and exhaust brake and have been satisfied for over 2 yrs now. Aside from the normal 2nd Gen issues..... dash, front-end, rear brakes and rusting of the doors... . the truck has performed flawlessly. Got it repainted early this year and have been offered as high as $16 for it..... won't sell it! Love the mileage while towing and unloaded! Great machine!

 

[SnoKing]

I bought our 2001. 5 new in June of 2001. I has 101K on it now. VP-44 at 52K. Have had an Airtech fuel pump on the frame for 4 years. See sig for details. Has been a good truck and I have been able to fix things myself.



Tows our 12,200 5er just fine and gets 11. 5-12. 5 MPG. Gets 19-20 on the highway. Love my exhaust brake and will now love the Max Brake trailer brake controller.



Only down side, is the RV Resort people will not let me go for donuts on Fridays at 6AM. #ad




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Snoking

 

[David_VT]

My 99 was purchased new after moving from Puyallup to Vermont in my under powered 91 Suburban and being passed by those darn Diesel dodges towing monster campers for the entire cross country trip.

My business trips to Mountain View and this website got me connected with Nowel and his band of HP friends in that area. BPINE and others are still around the TDR, wonderful folks I met only because of the TDR.

Because of my love of the green monster, I bought the URL for turbodieselram but never did much consistently with it other than to help folks find their way to the TDR. I hosted some videos for folks on one of my sites davidvt before utube got rolling. Most of those links have broken but there used to be some great burn outs from PIERS and others.

I replaced the lift pump twice and the original VP has held just fine. I remain happy with the drivetrain despite some aging issues. (I have a spare 24v with 27k on a pallet but it has sat now for years. )

I look at the New York site. Usedcumminstrucks from time to time wishing to replace my beast with a cleaner version but my heart is not in dumping the truck just yet.

My 99 is on life support due to the salt. Ironically the old 91 Suburban rests in the field with far less rot. .

 

[Ram4Sam]

Hard to believe I have had mine for twelve years. I must admit I bought with a little angst as I had a perfectly good 91. 5 Dodge Cummins at the time. It was a reg cab, but with the adoption of a six year old boy, we needed more room.

I pretty much did all the mild bombing(see sig) in the first couple of years. After that, just the needed maintenance, a couple of lift pumps, a vacuum pump seal(which is leaking again), two sets of tires and a set of batteries. Due to the exhaust brake, still have about half of the original brake pads left, the windshield is toast. Paint still looks great and still no dents..... except for one little oops... .

Had a little issue with mother nature and she blew my fifth wheel over. A used bed fixed that right up.



Just starting the second hundred thousand miles.



Sam

 

[rasteck]

Bought my '00 Jan 16, 2000. Just turned over 150K last month. Went through a couple Mopar rebuilt 47RE's between 107K and 125K, should be set for a couple hundred thousand now. Love the truck and will use it till I can't cram the kids in the back seat anymore. Then I hope to keep it as a toy and get a mega-cab for towing duties.



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[Fireman Dave]

I ordered my '01 in February of 2000 and took delivery on April 17th, 2000. What a great experience. It's highly unlikely I'll ever order a brand new truck again. The comparable new truck today would be $50-$60,000. now? I'm coming up on 140,000 miles before long. I still drive it to work every day and pull our camper with it in the non-winter months. I still enjoy working on it - it's so simple! I'm on my 4th lift pump. On the 4th one, I finally got around to relocating it to the frame by the tank. I'm still on my oriiginal VP-44 - thanks in large part to my fuel pressure gauge telling me when the lift pumps have failed. The only work my original transmission has had are my annual fluid and filter changes. I'm still running stock power. I believe this has been the key to the longevity and reliability of my truck - along with proper maintenance. It has never left me stranded. I replaced the original batteries at about 5 years. The replacements are stock Mopar batteries that now have about 7 years on them. I got 99,000 miles out of the original front brakes. The rears are still the originals. I straight-piped the truck with a 4" exhaust from the resonator back in 2001, so it sounds real nice. That's a fond memory - doing that job down at JohnRV4's place in Kenosha with HSmith and some other fellow TDR members. I think Blackcloud may have been there that day, too - R. I. P. Glenn!



I couldn't ask for a better truck. I've more than gotten my money's worth out of it. Good thread, Vaughn.

 

[JR]

diesel4life hang onto that truck, you don't hardly ever find 2nd Gens that clean and pampered anymore! By the looks of the pics it is being taken care of.



AWeiman I have always wondered why Cummins set up the blowby tube that way. I think they started that in '99 or 2000, my 24V has the blowby tube coming out of the back end of the tappet cover which is the same place as on a 12-valve.

Hey Vaughn, did you install a tappet cover from a 12 valve? My 98. 5 is like all the other vp trucks where they vent down by the radiator. Ive not done anything to modify it yet as my radiator is spotless. My engine has virtually no blow by (yet) so all Im doing for the time bieng is keeping an eye on it until something changes.

 

[Houser]

Bought mine new in 02 Still goin strong @ 141K

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I ordered my '01 in February of 2000 and took delivery on April 17th, 2000. What a great experience. It's highly unlikely I'll ever order a brand new truck again. . . .

Fireman Dave the first new vehicle I ever bought was my '01, which I no longer have. . . it was ordered in Feb 2000 and took delivery March 10, 2000. Was a beautiful 70F day driving it home. Had it only 3 years but put almost 90k on it. Enjoyed the truck but it had a couple nagging issues and I decided I wanted a 3rd Gen and traded it off.



I tried killing the VP44 on the '01 once, the lift pump failed in the boondocks of central Oregon but I kept driving it hoping to limp it in to Madras. It was so weak I had to drive on the shoulder awhile and I kept pushing it when I should have stopped, truck was barely going then finally conked out for good. I had limped it a good 40 miles. After a new lift pump it ran great, went another 20k with no problems, don't know how the VP survived that much fuel starvation.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hey Vaughn, did you install a tappet cover from a 12 valve? My 98. 5 is like all the other vp trucks where they vent down by the radiator. Ive not done anything to modify it yet as my radiator is spotless. My engine has virtually no blow by (yet) so all Im doing for the time bieng is keeping an eye on it until something changes.

That's interesting diesel4life, yours is the only '98. 5 I've heard of with the front vent. I had another '98. 5 and it was off the side, as well as some other '98 24-valves I've seen. Maybe it was a late year switchover or something, who knows? My first '98 had an engine build date of 12/27/97 and this one 1/21/98 so both were early 24-valves, especially my first one. I sometimes wonder the first build date was for a 24V sold to the public.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Fireman Dave the first new vehicle I ever bought was my '01, which I no longer have. . . it was ordered in Feb 2000 and took delivery March 10, 2000. Was a beautiful 70F day driving it home. Had it only 3 years but put almost 90k on it. Enjoyed the truck but it had a couple nagging issues and I decided I wanted a 3rd Gen and traded it off.



I tried killing the VP44 on the '01 once, the lift pump failed in the boondocks of central Oregon but I kept driving it hoping to limp it in to Madras. It was so weak I had to drive on the shoulder awhile and I kept pushing it when I should have stopped, truck was barely going then finally conked out for good. I had limped it a good 40 miles. After a new lift pump it ran great, went another 20k with no problems, don't know how the VP survived that much fuel starvation.

Wow - you got yours fast, Vaughn. Mine was assembled on March 10th, but it took another month to get it to WI from St. Louis. It was like waiting for a new baby to be born. LOL



Yeah, my second lift pump took a dive on the interstate in TN late one March night when I was towing our '64 Belvedere home from FL. Never would have known if not for my fuel pressure gauge - no difference in the way it ran. We went a little ways like that until we found a suitable hotel to stay in that night. I have always carried a spare since the first one died, and that paid off. I changed it out in the hotel parking lot the next day and we were on our way.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

on the road repairs is something I don't relish, only had to do it once thanfully (story above). I just did some math and between my CTDs I've logged 349,000 miles since I bought my first '98. 5 in October 1999. I have only broken down on the road twice, the lift pump issue and a broken fuel line on my '96 in far western Nebraska (in the boondocks on a Sunday night of course!).

 

[SMcGrady]

I've had my 1999 since January of 2008. It had 50k miles then and now I am knocking on the 100k door. My Sig. tells the tale of the Mods I have done. I love this truck more than any other vehicle I've ever owned. The only complaint I have is about how I can't get it out of the driveway when it snows... 2wd is good for gas economy and makes it easy for my 4'9" wife to climb into it, but I think I would have been better off if it was a 4x4 considering where I live.

 

[CrewCabDiesel]

I have owned mine since 2002, Lost the VP44@ 240000 miles, NV4500 blew 3rd gear @ 220000. Other than that, just regular repairs, radiator, brakes, tires etc. Now got her up for sale, got to get an automatic, knees completely fried and pushing a clutch hurts too much. New knees not and option, have other medical issues so new truck needed.

 

[JR]

I've had my 1999 since January of 2008. It had 50k miles then and now I am knocking on the 100k door. My Sig. tells the tale of the Mods I have done. I love this truck more than any other vehicle I've ever owned. The only complaint I have is about how I can't get it out of the driveway when it snows... 2wd is good for gas economy and makes it easy for my 4'9" wife to climb into it, but I think I would have been better off if it was a 4x4 considering where I live.

A good set of meats in the rear with 1000 lbs of sand bags should cure that We have been known to get some wicked lake effect snow living right off Lake Erie and only very few times has it gotten nasty enough for me to grab the short lever on the floor. I have always run an aggressive tire, do quite a bit off road in the spring and early summer. Of course thats easy for me to say because Ive got that lever if I need it... tis better to have and not need than to need and not have :-laf

 

[nascar]

Just turned over 100,000 miles a couple of weeks ago. Ordered in February, '00 and bought new 5/18/2000, but it's a 2001. Injection pump replaced at 68,800 miles. A/C evaporator had to be replaced two summers ago. Driver's heated seat went out last winter, but thanks to the TDR, I found and fixed the problem. Replaced alternator back in April. Other than normal maintenance, truck has been fine. Picture taken this last summer.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

SMcGrady, how do you like the 75hp DDP injectors? Are they very clean?

I've had my share of 2wd trucks and have managed to get around OK in the snow for the most part, each had limited slip and some weight in the back. Have had trouble getting stuck a time or two but part of it is driving ability. Snowy roads with hills trying to get going from a stop doesn't work too well though.