Does Cummins Co. ever visit this site?

[RCotte]

Since I am a newcomer and have read about sooooo many problems with this Cummins/Dodge product I was wondering if someone who actually works for Cummins or at Dodge has becomed interested in our worries?



Do we have members who can actually give sound authoritative technical advice?



I have not read a thread about anyone from Cummins trying to help us out with the bad designs in their product.



Honestly, I purchased my truck hoping to have a really bullet proof work rig. After having several problems with brakes that wear too fast and perform poorly, horrible off road performance (vehicle is too heavy up front to descend on muddy or slippery terrain), torque converter lock up woes, crazy ECMs, poorly designed fuel delivery system, fuel gauges that stay FULL and the list goes on. I feel trapped.



If you try to look somewhere in the Internet for help outside of TDR there is nothing.



Don't get me wrong. I feel good that at least some of you have replied to my request for help with my truck. But, most are just guessing the same way I would do. I know there are a lot of you that enjoy tinkering with your engine and install a lot of aftermarket equipment even on a new rig!!



But there are us that just are trying to make a living using these beasts for work. And it is incredible that we have to go through so much hassle to get the damn thing running.



I own a 1996 Subaru Outback with 110K miles. Now that is a fine little car. No problems up to now. These are 110K miles of stop and go traffic in our hilly island. These are not 110K of freeway driving as a lot of you guys enjoy.



And, I get in this super monster truck with a diesel and all an it has left me stranded twice. And the dealers don't know much too.



Too bad we don't have that information before buying.



I read people here wondering which new model RAM truck to buy. I guess they don't know what they are doing or just don't care.



Well, back to my subject, I guess people from Cummins may read these posts. Then maybe they do not show up out of guilt. :rolleyes

 

[klenger]

It sounds like all of your problems, with maybe the exception of the ECM, have been Dodge problems. From what I hear, that's usually the case.



Good luck

 

[Lurch]

I can't speak for your particular situation. But the only Cummins "problem" I can recall has been the dowell pin, and when you consider # of failures to # of engines out there, it's not really a big one. Everything else seems to go back on Dodge, and when I need a perspective adjustment I just go read a few threads on the Chebby or Dorf board. We really don't seem that bad off .

However there have been some lemons, hope yours isn't one of them, good luck.



Lurch

 

[HC]

I don't know this for a fact, but I believe that Dodge and Cummins do read this information from time to time. However, they are unlikely to respond to "problems" reported here, because to do so would expose them to legal liabilities. Just imagine, what if they said, "yes, the steering gets loose - here's what you need to do to fix it... " Right now, probably less than 10% of their customers will come in and complain about the steering. Of those 10%, probably more than half will pay for the repairs just to get it fixed. So Dodge only has to pay for <5% of the fixes. But if someone from Dodge officially discussed the issue on this board, then 100% of us would DEMAND that our trucks be fixed at no charge, so Dodge would end up paying BIG BUCKS.



So are they listening, and trying to fix the problem in the next generation truck? My bet is yes. But don't expect to see them log in and officially answer a question. I don't like it either, but that's probably the truth of the matter. In the meantime, everyone here will help the best they can.



P. S. - Some types of questions about the Cummins engine WILL be answered by the folks over at the Cummins website. So if any of your problems are with the engine, check out

http://www.cummins.com/na/pages/en/products/trucks/questions.cfm

 

[Roger rodbolt]

After the Dave's Diesel Rally in Muncie, some of us went to Columbus and toured the Signature 600 plant and the 5. 9 plant (after hours). The tour guide at the 5. 9 plant was a very knowledgable, committed, Cummins/Dodge warranty rep. and yes they are aware of this site . I confirmed the cooling nozzle plugging problems due to oil filter failure and he said this problem is not limited to the "B" engines. Unbeknown to them at the time, sorry oil filters caused cylinder scoring even in 1rst generation Dodges. Cummins pays so little for the Carter lift pumps that I'm ashamed to reveal the price. Even as of last June, Carter had made several revisions to the pumps, in one case they made the rotor vanes harder and it DECREASED durability. He told us that lift pump problems are twofold. One is that the filtration in the fuel tank is substandard (Dodge problem) and the Carter pumps were not meeting life cycle specs. I believe he said that the newest ceramic vanes were doing well. He knew that we were BOMBing these engines far beyond design and told us of the engineering changes Cummins made during the 160, 180, 215, 235, 245hp versions, sobering stuff..... We also saw a new block casting for the next generation engine, which will be quieter. The side covers (now insulated on our engines) are no longer needed as the block is cast solid, to reduce noise. The oil pan will be coated to reduce noise and common rail fuel injection has been tested but no timeframe was mentioned for implementation or horsepower.

 

[SLightfoot]

In reality... not that many problems...

You mention "sooooo many problems"... .



Let me say this... . if you read ANY site dedicated to a particular product, guess what 80% of the posts are gonna be about???



Problems of course.

How many times have you read posts that say their truck is running fine at the moment.

Mine is running perfectly, but I don't post it.



This is a site with LOTS of members, and seeing 50 members posts of problems in a total of 9,425 members may look like a massive problem when you open the forum list, but in reality this is a VERY small percentile... . , like half a percent.



This actually better than many other products on the market.



Now, I'm not saying it's perfect, since nobody is, but as I've said before on this forum, take the problems you read about in context of the sheer number of members, and people post problems 100 times more than reporting things running fine (cuz when it's running fine, no one cares. )





I've been very impressed with the low percentage of problems out there with these trucks. Many of them have been pulling for years, and are still on the road running fine.



Dodge and Cummins already have a network in which problems get reported and repaired.



This forum , from their point of view, would not be one that they could "trust", since it would be difficult to work back every single problem ever reported by some joe blow on the internet.



I'll tell ya one thing, in all the vehicles I've owned so far, this one is by far the most reliable.



Shawn

 

[RustyJC]

What Shawn said.



I've been out on my own and purchasing vehicles out of my own pocket since 1970. I used to be a dedicated Ford man until they burned me too many times - since 1970, I owned seven (7) and had four (4) more as company vehicles. I've also owned two (2) Volvos - currently have an 850 GLT with 70,000 miles.



So, what's my point? The most reliable, problem free vehicles I've owned have been:



1996 Dodge Ram 3500 V-10/automatic (the first Dodge I ever owned)

2000 Dodge Durango SLT+ 360/automatic

2002 Dodge Ram 3500 ETH/DEE



The 1996 Ram had 2 warranty problems while I owned it (sold it in September, 2001) - an oil pressure sending unit failure and a battery failure.



The 2000 Durango has been back to the dealer for 1 warranty problem - a squeak in the left side of the dash that was present at delivery.



The 2002 Ram, although I only took delivery on August 15th, hasn't had a single problem to date.



Guess I can't really throw rocks at Dodge given my experience with their products up to this point.



Rusty