Newly acquired truck: Need guidance

[Jon Miller]

I recently inherited my brother's 1993 Dodge Cummins with just under 200K miles on the clock. The truck is in San Jose, CA. It's in overall very clean condition, but has been parked for over two years. I want to get it started and back on the road, but first I have to address the problem of two-year-old fuel and a battery that is probably beyond recovery. I've ordered a manual, but until it arrives, I am a true newbie. Any sage advice will be appreciated, but I have four specific questions:

1. Are there likely to be clumps of coagulated fuel in the tank? How can I get it empty? Can I drain the fuel with a tank siphon pump?
2. What is an appropriate replacement battery? I see that some owners use two batteries in series. Is that a good idea?
3. Discussions of the Killer Dowel Pin are a little scary. Should I have that replaced before I make any serious use of the truck.
4. Are there reliable services in the San Jose area that I can call on if I encounter serious problems?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies. This is a gorgeous truck and I look forward to putting it back in service.

Jon Miller
Altadena, CA

 

[NIsaacs]

Two year old fuel should be fine. I would charge or replace the battery and start it without touching it. That way you know it runs before you start changing fuel filters and such. Warm it up good and change the oil and filter, quality 15w/40. Now you can change the fuel filter. You will need to prefill it and then use the primer lever on the lift pump, on the side of the block, drivers side. When you feel resistance it should be good to go. Some times you might need to rotate the engine some, to get the lift of the cam off the pump, for it to work.

The battery is a group 31 in about 1000 cca. If you don't have records I would start changing all the fluids as time allows.

 

[RedD250]

Diesel doesn't really go bad like gas, although it can get algea in it. But if it's only 2 years old, it'll probably be fine, as long as there wasn't an issue with water in the fuel when it was parked.

The owners manual for my '93 calls for an 1,100 CCA battery. You will likely need to order one, no parts stores will have it. At least none around me did. You would probably be fine with a single 850 CCA battery that is more commonly available. However, if you will be using the truck where it gets cold (40s or below), you will want that 1,100 for the grid heaters.

It is possible to run dual batteries in the stock location if you turn them sideways, but you 'd wire them in parallel, not series (negative to negative, positive to positive). Depending on what group # batteries you get, you may need to put something under them to elevate them over the lip on the tray so they'll sit level. I did it on my truck, and I had to take off all of the accessory power wires and run them on a separate lead because they wouldn't reach the terminal after I turned the battery sideways. You'll also need to modify the hold down, or make a custom one. Overall, if I could do it again, I'd have just ordered the correct battery. That's what I'm going to do when these die.

I read an article a while back somewhere, I can't find it now, but it said that Cummins estimated that approximately 20% of 6BTs were likely to have a problem with the dowel pin coming out. If it does come out, it'll either fall harmlessly into the oil pan, or get caught up in the timing gears and cause catastrophic damage. I'd go ahead and tab it. It's a cheap and relatively easy, if not time consuming and aggrivating process. Here's the best tutorial I've seen for doing it: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.genosgarage.com/downloads/InstallPDF/TST_DowelPinKit.pdf

Can't help you with a shop in San Jose, unfortunately. Might want to join some of the first gen cummins groups on facebook. That's where most of the activity is for help with these trucks nowadays. Everything has moved from proper forums to facebook. Plenty of help there. But if you start looking for parts, beware of scammers. Pretty much every single post you see advertising parts, or every reply you get to a post inquiring about parts, will be a scammer.

 

[RWherley]

These guys are on the money, fuel should be fine. I've had had no issues running a single group 31 battery at 1000 cca in PA at temps down to 20, I have had issues at sub zero temps but your not liking to see those where you are. Putting 2 batteries on the factory tray can be done but if you run the truck on rough roads a lot the extra weight will start to break stuff. Sadly Red250 is right this form isn't as active as it used to be but I would trust any one here over most of the jokers on the book face. If you need information you can PM me and I'll do my best to help you.

 

[Bluebird]

1 commercial use battery from NAPA, correct application will do it. Drove my rig as daily driver 22-years, now weekend warrior! MagHytec trarny cover, if auto and diff covers enhances servicing/maintenance. Max 4500 miles between oil & Fleetguard oil filter changes, the crankcase vent pipe leaves a $0.50 size coin oil drip after a good up to average engine temp run. Change fuel filter at recommended intervals. Yo truck will serve you well with good care&feeding. Folks on this site are generous, and like minded people! You got a heck of a deal on your CTD, Values continue to increase, see Haggerty.com. Blessings All the Way. Patrick in Southern California

 

[Jon Miller]

I've appreciated all of these comments? We replaced the battery and turned the key. It fired up right away and clacked away like it was glad to be awake. We'll do a complete service and detail, and it will soon be on the market. I wish I had a good excuse to keep it, but alas... I'll post it here when it's ready to move.

Jon Miller
Altadena, California

 

[RedD250]

I've appreciated all of these comments? We replaced the battery and turned the key. It fired up right away and clacked away like it was glad to be awake. We'll do a complete service and detail, and it will soon be on the market. I wish I had a good excuse to keep it, but alas... I'll post it here when it's ready to move.

Jon Miller
Altadena, California

Do you really need an excuse to keep it? Just drive it and enjoy it. You can get collector car insurance on it for next to nothing. They're cheap to maintain and cheap to run. Take less oil than a modern diesel, get better fuel economy than a modern diesel, and less things to go wrong that a modern diesel. Plus, it's a cool classic that you rarely, if ever, see on the road. I've owned mine for 16 months now, and I think I've seen maybe 5 other first gens on the road in that time. It's my daily driver, 60 miles a day to and from work.

 

[Jon Miller]

If I had the space to store this truck and the time to really make use of it, I would love to keep it. Alas, it's not possible. I've listed it on the Hagerty website (link below) and will also list it here after I get my pictures in order. It's a handsome example and I hope it goes to someone who will appreciate it.

https://www.hagerty.com/marketplace...Ram-D250/a035777c-588e-4adf-94ca-0bc4fa9d086f

 

[Jon Miller]

As someone new trying to get a handle on a reasonable value for this truck, I looked at the two most recent sales of similar trucks recorded by Hagerty. One sold for around $27K and the other for close to $22K. I decided to post mine between the two and settled on $24,000. After consultation with friends more familiar with the market, I have now revised that asking price to $20,000 or best offer.
I'm glad to respond to questions or comments about the truck, either here on the forum.