Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
The truck is an '03 Dodge 2500 4x4 5. 9 Cummins, w/ BHAF, MBRP 4" exhaust turbo back, and an edge juice w/ attitude. NV 5600, w/ south bend Con OFE. It has about 120K+ miles on it. The truck also has a Kelderman 7" lift w/ Skyjacker coils, 37" BFG KM2's, etc.
Anyhow, the truck was coming out of Craig, CO running 65mph empty, cruising down hill, when it blew a big cloud of white smoke. So the driver pulled over to investigate, but the truck was billowing the white smoke out of it to where traffic couldn't see around him. So he shut it down. Now the truck wouldn't start back up to get it farther off the road. I had to take a trailer from southern CO, and do an eight hour round trip to load it up. Thank God the winch pulled it up the trailer. So what could this be?
FYI, this truck has a nasty reputation for the past year. So here is the long story: At the end of last July, pulling a skid steer up a small pass, the engine started to knock heavily. So we hauled it home on a gooseneck trailer. Edge Module was turned off. So we took it to a diesel mechanic who pulled the oil filter and found a ton of bearing material, and recommended that we take it to the dealer. So we did and they found that the engine had spun a rod bearing and collapsed the piston into the head. (Isn't this highly unheard of for a Cummins?) So I got on e-bay and found a reman and had the dealer put it in. At the same time we went ahead and had them install a CON OFE clutch as the stock one was slipping. This was the first of October. As soon as I started it up at the dealership, I noticed the truck was growling at the clutch. The noise would stop when I pushed the clutch in though. I took it straight to the mechanic and he said it sounded like the input bearing was bad, but he just put in a new one, so he said to let it break in. Three days later the new engine started knocking erradically, the engine leaked oil like crazy, and the clutch noise was worse, so we took it back in. They thought that the rear main was leaking, but when they started to take the oil pan off, they noticed the pan gasket was folded over, so they assumed that was the leaking problem and they fixed that. They also diagnosed a failed injector(they were all supposedly brand new on the reman engine) and they replaced it. And they found a gear missing a tooth in the NV5600, and thought that was the transmission noise, so they replaced that gear, and a couple more bearings inside the transmission. We picked it up again, and the clutch noise was still there. They said to let the clutch burn in. So we did. This was the first of November. Three days later, driving down the road, the transfer case fell off from the dealer over tightening the bolts to the Skyjacker indexing ring into the aluminum transfercase and stripping out the threads. So the truck got towed back to the dealer for a new case. At this point we were concerned about a tweaked driveline, and u-joints, but were told that everything checked out ok. Now it was December. Truck still had considerable engine noise, and clutch noise. We gave up on the dealership at this point and spent a lot of time finding a reputable shop to take the truck to. So we took it in, and they found that the valves were WAY out of spec, so they adjusted them, and fixed the engine noise. They also found the South Bend clutch was bad and the good guys there sent a brand new clutch, (thank you south bend) I guess they tried a new bearing or something and it was too rigid, and transfered major vibration or something. Anyhow, the clutch noise was gone now. Took truck back, two weeks later the engine started to knock again. Took it in again to find #3 injector failed. We replaced it. BTW, truck is running great in between trips to mechanic now. One week later the u-joints fail from the initial t-case drop. So we replace them. So now the truck seems to be running well until the beginning of April when one of the brand new u-joints lets go at 75mph on the interstate and takes out the transfer case. Truck gets towed 100 miles back to mechanic. He fixes t-case and drivelines. We get the truck back again last week, and now the problem w/ the engine at the beginning of this post just happened. I tow truck home 8hr round trip at night. We called the mechanic and he said he thought it was another bad injector. Also, when we try to start it, it just kind of boils little puffs of white smoke out the tailpipe, but it won't fire. Plus the tailpipe is moist w/ black, and it smells like diesel. Also, the truck still leaks oil really bad, and the new mechanic says it is most definately the rear main. We have placed a warranty call , as the engine is still under warranty
Summary:
Truck paid off June '07
truck dies July '07 at 115K miles
$16,000 + into it since then, and now... ... ... .....
Now we are wondering if the truck should get parted out.....
It is killing us as a business truck right now, what should we do? Please help!!
Anyhow, the truck was coming out of Craig, CO running 65mph empty, cruising down hill, when it blew a big cloud of white smoke. So the driver pulled over to investigate, but the truck was billowing the white smoke out of it to where traffic couldn't see around him. So he shut it down. Now the truck wouldn't start back up to get it farther off the road. I had to take a trailer from southern CO, and do an eight hour round trip to load it up. Thank God the winch pulled it up the trailer. So what could this be?
FYI, this truck has a nasty reputation for the past year. So here is the long story: At the end of last July, pulling a skid steer up a small pass, the engine started to knock heavily. So we hauled it home on a gooseneck trailer. Edge Module was turned off. So we took it to a diesel mechanic who pulled the oil filter and found a ton of bearing material, and recommended that we take it to the dealer. So we did and they found that the engine had spun a rod bearing and collapsed the piston into the head. (Isn't this highly unheard of for a Cummins?) So I got on e-bay and found a reman and had the dealer put it in. At the same time we went ahead and had them install a CON OFE clutch as the stock one was slipping. This was the first of October. As soon as I started it up at the dealership, I noticed the truck was growling at the clutch. The noise would stop when I pushed the clutch in though. I took it straight to the mechanic and he said it sounded like the input bearing was bad, but he just put in a new one, so he said to let it break in. Three days later the new engine started knocking erradically, the engine leaked oil like crazy, and the clutch noise was worse, so we took it back in. They thought that the rear main was leaking, but when they started to take the oil pan off, they noticed the pan gasket was folded over, so they assumed that was the leaking problem and they fixed that. They also diagnosed a failed injector(they were all supposedly brand new on the reman engine) and they replaced it. And they found a gear missing a tooth in the NV5600, and thought that was the transmission noise, so they replaced that gear, and a couple more bearings inside the transmission. We picked it up again, and the clutch noise was still there. They said to let the clutch burn in. So we did. This was the first of November. Three days later, driving down the road, the transfer case fell off from the dealer over tightening the bolts to the Skyjacker indexing ring into the aluminum transfercase and stripping out the threads. So the truck got towed back to the dealer for a new case. At this point we were concerned about a tweaked driveline, and u-joints, but were told that everything checked out ok. Now it was December. Truck still had considerable engine noise, and clutch noise. We gave up on the dealership at this point and spent a lot of time finding a reputable shop to take the truck to. So we took it in, and they found that the valves were WAY out of spec, so they adjusted them, and fixed the engine noise. They also found the South Bend clutch was bad and the good guys there sent a brand new clutch, (thank you south bend) I guess they tried a new bearing or something and it was too rigid, and transfered major vibration or something. Anyhow, the clutch noise was gone now. Took truck back, two weeks later the engine started to knock again. Took it in again to find #3 injector failed. We replaced it. BTW, truck is running great in between trips to mechanic now. One week later the u-joints fail from the initial t-case drop. So we replace them. So now the truck seems to be running well until the beginning of April when one of the brand new u-joints lets go at 75mph on the interstate and takes out the transfer case. Truck gets towed 100 miles back to mechanic. He fixes t-case and drivelines. We get the truck back again last week, and now the problem w/ the engine at the beginning of this post just happened. I tow truck home 8hr round trip at night. We called the mechanic and he said he thought it was another bad injector. Also, when we try to start it, it just kind of boils little puffs of white smoke out the tailpipe, but it won't fire. Plus the tailpipe is moist w/ black, and it smells like diesel. Also, the truck still leaks oil really bad, and the new mechanic says it is most definately the rear main. We have placed a warranty call , as the engine is still under warranty
Summary:
Truck paid off June '07
truck dies July '07 at 115K miles
$16,000 + into it since then, and now... ... ... .....
Now we are wondering if the truck should get parted out.....
It is killing us as a business truck right now, what should we do? Please help!!
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