New 600 owner advice needed....

[mikepvg]

I've been waiting a long long time to finally upgrade to an 04' 600 after putting 185K-190K on my old & very beatup 94' 2500. Not sure of the actual mileage since the odo cable broke so many times! Never had any trouble w/ that Cummins engine or P7100 pump but EVERYTHING ELSE broke so many many times & that I finally said UNCLE!



Just read the post by bighammer regarding Cummins initial breakin... & will follow.



When Do I need to change the oil for the 1st time considering breakin?



Any other breakin considerations or new truck pitfalls to avoid?



I have noticed a slight stutter or hesitation in lower rpm's upon acceleration that is small enough to certainly get used to, so I thought I would mention it before I forget. Is this anything to worry about?



Have not had the truck long enough to report on MPG or anything else other than noticing that the 04' 600 Cummins Dodge 2500 is a whole ADVANCED UNIVERSE away from performance & feel of my old 94 !!!



Also, does anyone know at what RPM is the BSFC optimised for the 600? I'm looking for the rpm range to optimise mpg & I know it is very different than what the 94' was.



TIA

Mike

 

[Gonzo 1066]

My new 600 now has 8000 miles of towing on it. I changed the first oil at 4000 miles and will change again with 7500 miles on that oil. Mine did not have any low rpm stutter but has been running MUCH better as the miles go on. Seems as though the harder I tow with it the better it likes it. Mine likes to run below 2000 rpm for best mpg, however I do have a truck camper on it 100% of the time and wind resistance is a big factor. I did run mine light duty for the first 500 miles, just the camper and not the cargo trailer behind. I weigh about 22,000# gcw.

 

[jcarey]

Mike,

I followed that break-in procedure myself. Cummins suggested it; so I figured it certainly couldn't hurt.



I've changed the oil every 3,000 miles up to now (9600 miles), but will probably go to the 3,500 after my next change.



I don't know if that break-in helped with my mileage, but using an EXCEL spreadsheet, I have a total overall MPG average of 18. 4. My last fillup gave me 20. 3 and the one before that 19. 4. That's based on 70% highway, 30% city with highway speeds in the 55 - to just under 70 range, occasionally 75, but rarely.



Jim

 

[mikepvg]

Lets try again.....





When Do I need to change the oil for the 1st time considering breakin?



Any other breakin considerations or new truck pitfalls to avoid?



I have noticed a slight stutter or hesitation in lower rpm's around 1000 upon acceleration, Is normal for the 600?



What RPM is the BSFC optimised for the 600?





TIA

Mike

 

[JWerkheiser]

I highly recommend changing the diff fluid at 5000 miles. Book says 15000, but I changed it at 5000, had lots of filings on the magnetic plug, changed again at 13000, it was pretty clean.

 

[txhawg]

Mike,



Change the oil at 3K the first time. Break-in is a long process, and can take up to 20K. Unless you tow heavy, change the oil again at 10K, and then every 10K after that.



Cheap breakin trick if you don't have a trailer to pull: Go to Home Depot and buy 25-30 40 lb bags of topsoil (they cost about $1 each) and drive around 500 mile with them in the back of the truck. Driving up hills with this load helps.



What the heck is a BSFC?

 

[RKerner]

Lets try again.....





When Do I need to change the oil for the 1st time considering breakin?

Most do their first oil change between 2-5000 miles, I did mine at 2000. I agree with JWerkheiser on the diff fluid change.

Any other breakin considerations or new truck pitfalls to avoid??

Don't drive at one steady speed, so as to promote break-in. Wait 500 miles before pulling anything heavy. Someone may point you to the rear-end guru that recommends a drive/cool down regimen for breaking in the diff during towing. (a search on that subject will get you several threads to read. ) Get the rear inner wheelwells and put them in asap if you live near gravel. Don't buy Dodge molded mudflaps.

I have noticed a slight stutter or hesitation in lower rpm's around 1000 upon acceleration, Is normal for the 600?

Mine had an intermittent soft spot/hesitation when it had a bad injector. It is gone after the injector was replaced.

What RPM is the BSFC optimised for the 600?

If you can stand the slow speed, somewhere between 1700-1850rpms seems to be the sweet spot on most 04. 5s. Mine likes 1700 but I can't drive that slow as I'm two hours from anywhere when I go 'uptown'.





Rick

 

[txhawg]

Oh, yeah, get a spray in bedliner

 

[crobertson1]

RKerner,

What's wrong with the Dodge molded mudflaps? I have em and like em. Do they disintergrate after they get wet or something? :-laf

 

[mikepvg]

I had the bed scratched & dented within 24hrs hauling wood. Next day I got a spray in liner & all is new again. Too late on the Dodge molded mud flaps since I already had them put on. Anything I should watch out for with them?



900 mile report: Fuel mileage is up to 14mpg. Dam truck handles & rides like a dream! Power everywhere & with a 1000-lbs of work supplies/tools loaded in the bed, you don't even notice it. According to the computer the mpg didn't even drop with the load.



Only potential problem is a small power steering pump noise when turning. Service claims this is normal for a new unit due to air bubbles. After 900 miles noise remains the same.



BSFC is brake specific fuel consumption. This a specific point in the rpm band where the CTD will run the most efficient. On my 94 it was 1600. Not sure what it is on the 04.



Any tips on mounting points for a brake controller so it's not an eyesore on the underdash? Any tips on a cool looking brake controller at least?



Mike

 

[Schicken bone]

prodigy. looks cool and works great. good luck finding a spot.

 

[Boonieman]

Most (but not all) brake controllers on this site seem to be mounted in the space to the right of the steering column. That's where mine is too. Not a whole lot of options. There's several pictures of some installations on here. My 2003 get's the best mileage in the 1800-2000 RPM range. My 2001. 5 was the same, it liked it under 2000 RPM's for best mileage, but it had 3. 55's in the rear, which made that easier to do. Above 2000 RPM's and milage starts falling off dramatically on mine.

 

[crobertson1]

mikepvg,

I mounted my Prodigy in the little useless cubby hole down on the right in front of the shifter. I didn't want an eyesore either. I really like it there. Another benefit is, if there is an emergency and I need my wife to apply trailer brakes manually, while I'm busy driving, it's within her reach. I'll try to put a picture in my reader's rigs in a day or two.

 

[RKerner]

RKerner,

What's wrong with the Dodge molded mudflaps? I have em and like em. Do they disintergrate after they get wet or something? :-laf

crobertson1, the negative for me is that they do not stop rocks from hitting the paint behind the rear wheel opening and the rocks coming off the front tires are removing the paint off my running boards. :{ The good thing is that they are short enough when 4 wheelin' that they don't get backed over too easily. They do go on easy also. I just need to get off my butt and find something a little wider and longer but not quite as large as some described in another thread.

 

[crobertson1]

Rkerner,

Oh I see. The bottoms of my MOPAR nerf bars deflect most of the rocks away from the truck from my front tires and I had the bottoms of the quarters behind the rear wheels "clear bra'd". When I tow my TT, I put on a huge set of mudflaps on the hitch to protect the trailer. All in all, the protetion from the MOPAR mud flaps is, uh , limited.

Craig

 

[mikepvg]

Prodigy is on the way... I see that I won't even have to splice any wires. Just a plug & paly affair... very cool.



I can see where the Mopar mud flaps are not real serious. But w/ the kind of loads I carry I can not go real fast anyways to throw up that kind of mud & rocks. I've been thru deep mud already but like I said due to slow speeds that I'm limited to the Mopar flaps offer enough protection to keep mud & rocks off the paint... so far anyways



Doesn't Geno's carry something HD?

 

[ACoyle]

A caution with the Prodigy install. I have and like mine. When installing, I used the Dodge supplied Harness and soldered it to the Prodigy harness. Whne passing it across under the dash the plug touched the dash metal and blew a fuse. The plug pins on the Prodigy are not completely shielded. All is OKm when installed.





P. S. It is a strange fuse and probably comes from Dodge. I had to re-engineer.



AC

 

[JWerkheiser]

ACoyle - had the same problem when installing mine - had to replace the fuse. I found them at Autozone. I don't remember exactly what the name of the fuse type was, but they had them on the shelf.

 

[MLee]

ACoyle - had the same problem when installing mine - had to replace the fuse. I found them at Autozone. I don't remember exactly what the name of the fuse type was, but they had them on the shelf.

Why don't you guys installing these controlers use a auto-restable breaker??? I have one on mine, and I have piece of mind that it will reset when it cools down enough. When you need your brakes you have them. Try replacing your blown fuse while driving.

just my penny's worth.

Marv.

 

[mikepvg]

Why don't you guys installing these controlers use a auto-restable breaker??? I have one on mine, and I have piece of mind that it will reset when it cools down enough. When you need your brakes you have them. Try replacing your blown fuse while driving.

just my penny's worth.

Marv.

Hey Marv, I for one do not know about this "auto-restable breaker" & would like more info on what this is, who makes it & where I should buy it?



THANKS!



Mike