Cummins 600 early engine failure?

[MoparToYou]

The Jeep dealer in our town sells GM trucks instead of Dodge. Because of his Jeep dealership he watches the Chrysler dealer auctions every week to pick up used automobiles to sell at his dealership. And he tells me that there are 5 to 6 Cummins 600 powered Dodge trucks per week that are on the auction block from Chrysler because they have been "bought back" due to early engine failure. I have looked through this site for any threads related to early engine failure, but have not seen any. So is there this big of a problem with the 600 HO engines in these trucks?



Any input on this would be really helpfull. I am in the process of deciding between an '05 GMC Sierra with the Duramax/Allison drivetrain, vs an '05 Dodge with the Cummins 600 / 48RE drivetrain. I have driven both trucks and it looks like six of one vs half a dozen of the other to me at this point. I like the looks of the Dodge better, I like the look of the leather seats in the Dodge better, and I like the dash in the Dodge better. But the GMC seats are more comfortable, and the GMC definitely feels more powerfull (unloaded), compared to the rather sluggish feeling Dodge.



Thanks in advance for your responses.



Mopar To You.

 

[klenger]

Were his lips moving when he was telling you this? Did he tell you Ford owns Cummins?

 

[swexlin]

Were his lips moving when he was telling you this? Did he tell you Ford owns Cummins?

My sentiments exactly. That guy is talking out his, uh..... anus.



Please. Tell him to go troll The Diesel Stop.

 

[barrfishe1]

I would say 6 of one and 8 of another!

 

[GCrowell]

Early failure???

I have one of the early assembled 600s ( engine built 12-19-03, truck built 1/13/04) and with about 8500 on the clock, absolutely NO hint of any 'early engine failure'. I tend to believe your dealer is trying to pump his flagging sales of the other brand using a little bashing of the leader



George

 

[MoparToYou]

I could have sworn his lips were moving when he told me this. In fact, we were in his office pricing out a Sierra 3500 crew cab at the time, and he actually pulled up the Chrysler auction site on his computer and showed me one of the trucks being sold as a repaired "buy back" truck, and he says there are 5 to 6 a week of these. For all I know there may be just as many on the GM auctions that he didn't tell me about though.



I don't want this to be a brand bashing thread. I am non-biased when it comes to brands, and my last five trucks have been: '93 Ford F-350 big block V-8; '98 Dodge 2500 V-10; '98 Dodge 2500 Cummins; '02 Dodge 3500 Cummins; '03 Chevy 2500 Duramax. It is just time for a new truck, and I am checking into both of my favorite brands. I had priced out a Dodge 3500 earlier that same day. The "buy back" issue with the 600 HO trucks made me concerned enough to at least ask the experts. Thanks again.



Mopar To You.

 

[moel]

Re: Early failure???

Originally posted by GCrowell

I have one of the early assembled 600s ( engine built 12-19-03, truck built 1/13/04) and with about 8500 on the clock, absolutely NO hint of any 'early engine failure'. I tend to believe your dealer is trying to pump his flagging sales of the other brand using a little bashing of the leader



George

i have approx 4500 on the clock - no problems here other than the "clatter" noise at light throttle pressure as noted in previous threads - appears to be a normal sound for the "600"

 

[stevenknapp]

There was some issue with a freeze plug in early 600s... I forget the detail, but there was some test, if your truck failed the test I thought they just offered up a new truck. Trucks that weren't sold got new motors.



The problem didn't seem that complex. In my eyes the fact that they owned up to it I saw as a positive that outshined the problem itself. I'm not brand biased, just like good customer service.



Also they knew what vehicles were affected. So a new truck, or one not in their VIN range would not have the problem. I work for a Tier1 supplier, we've had a time or two where something broken gets out, we can trace what the root cause was, and can ID which modules were affected. Say a lot of components are bad, we track which modules those components go into, and DCX would then track which vehicles get which modules.



Maybe these trucks are from that recall?



Here is more info:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100630

 

[Coonrod]

They could be the trucks that had problems with the freeze plugs blowing out. There is plenty of info on here about that recall.



Other than that I havn't heard of any problems.



I have 13,000 on my 600. No problems so far.



I am not bias to any brand either. And have no experience with the Chevy's. My last truck was a 99 Ford 3/4 ton diesel. The ride of the Dodge is so much better.

 

[ACerf]

In response to the 600 engines going south. I don't think So! But why would you want a Duramax over a Cummins? I don't care what anyone says, Aluminum Heads on a diesel is like putting S**t on your toast in the morning!



My slogan says it all!!

 

[jmeehan]

5 to 6 used Dodge Cummins a week at auction? Why doesn't he pick them up and start selling used Dodges?

I'm not brand biased, I'm just engine biased.

 

[rashwor]

I haven't heard of anything major. Freeze plugs is about it, and those were not that serious or that many.

 

[akiren]

If he pulled the info off his computer the old saying is "garbage in garbage out"

 

[RankRam]

Originally posted by ACerf

In response to the 600 engines going south. I don't think So! But why would you want a Duramax over a Cummins? I don't care what anyone says, Aluminum Heads on a diesel is like putting S**t on your toast in the morning!



My slogan says it all!!

Now that is funny!!!!

 

[vagabond]

I have a 04. 5 and just turned 22,000 this last trip. The truck is used to haul two cars as well as being a family vehicle. I would have nothing but the Cummins and have out run a few powerstroke's and duramax's. I don't know where he got the info or at what auction but the dealer's I haul for couldn't verify the info for me. What auction was he useing? We may want to buy a few.



Vagabond

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

There are MANY potential reasons for dealer buybacks - we HAVE seen a few of them reported here, and the VAST majority are NOT because of engine failure - where does that salesman get actual proof as to WHY a specific truck was returned to the maker?



And you are undoubtedly correct in stating that you could probably see as many or MORE GM and Ford stuff sold on the block after dealer buy back!



Buy your truck because of what you actually value most in it from various aspects and your own needs - take what ANY salesman tells you with a grain of salt - most are FAR more focused upon their own agendas and billfolds than they are YOURS!

 

[Tomscreek]

Some salesmen are really something. We were trying out a new Toyota for the wife and the salesman who also sells Ford was trying to talk me into "upgrading into the big Blue Oval V8 diesel".

"Ya know that Cummins only has 6 cylinders". Oh really?

"Yup... . old technology" "Not even in the same league as the Ford"

Thanks for the info but I'll just keep the ol Cummins. Not even worth the air to argue with him.

 

[yogibear]

I may be out of place here, as I don't have a "600", but I do have an 03 with 153+K miles on it, and no problems. I do have a good friend that I tow with a lot that is on his 3rd 04 trk. since last Sept. , the first 2 were Durmax, and now has an 04. 5 Dodge auto, and he is finally happy!!



Larry

 

[Spooled-up]

he actually pulled up the Chrysler auction site on his computer and showed me one of the trucks being sold as a repaired "buy back" truck,

We toured the Cummins plant a while back, and I asked about the "Lap of Indiana" trucks that I see around here pulling goosenecks loaded to max weight of the combination with a big plexiglas wind break on the front. Our tour guide confirmed that these were Cummins test trucks and that they put around 150000 on them in this configuration. I asked what happens to them when they finish the test, and she said they go to auction.



Can't beat getting a truck that was owned by the engine maker!

 

[TX Gooseneck]

I've got 53,xxx miles on mine, no problems.