Unreliable Turbo Diesels?

[JTitone]

I just received the latest Consumer Report Magazine's annual auto and truck reviews. It reports that the reliability of all model diesel pickup trucks, is worst than average. It also indicated that Dodge 03's - 06's were especially bad. We pay the largest amounts of money to buy these vehicles and you would think reliability could be at least average. Now, I have to admit that I don't know how they measure the vehicle's reliability, but does that really matter? I used to believe my stock 1998. 5, 24V Cummins was reliable until I thought about it a little deeper. When I'm driving, I have with one eye on the road and the other on a fuel pressure guage. The Oil pressure gauge works when it feels like it. Sometime's the fuel gauge gets stuck on Full. I have a fuel leak a the top of my fuel tank somewhere in the vicinity where all the fuel lines enter the tank. I'm replacing brakes every 20K miles. I've got 96K on the truck and replaced the ball joints twice. I've been through 2 Carter lift pumps and now I'm on a Fass DDRP. On occassion I get a loud buzzing noise and along with it comes wild swings in fuel pressure from 10lbs to 20lbs,without stomping on it. The VP 44 is still going but I fear that any day could be its last. I replaced the exhaust system and I'm on my 3rd set of tires. My 2nd set of tailgate cables just broke. How does this compare with all of you out there? Am I just being a Whinebag?



Jim T.

1998. 5 24V, ext cab, long bed, 2wd, MBRP exhaust, Fass DDRP, Isspro mech fuel pressure gauge

 

[SierraRam]

I dont have any issues I havent brought on myself. I am not sure how they define reliable?

 

[AWeiman]

seems to me for whatever reason everyone's experience with these trucks is different. there are plenty of guys on here with well over 500,000 on the clock without an overhaul. i have had very few problems with my 01 and over 142000 on the clock. my opinion is if i can run this truck for half a million miles or more with out an overhaul, and it costs me a few thousand in repairs along the way it is worth it. to me that many miles without an overhaul is reliable. my ... ... 02 cents.

 

[EricBu12]

I had no real problems on my old 01 for a long time. . Got it in April 2000... It had a 53 block and it cracked at 75,000... . Also rebuilt my 5600 at the same time..... and replaced my Trans. Case later on.....

Got up to about 135,000 and . . oh also replaced my VP-44 toward the end... . got up that mileage and then had big leaks from P/S pump, main seal on trans, (Need another rebuild). . a drip on the trans. case, out of warranty, and then the kicker, had a problem with the dash lights on in the morning, Fuel pump running with no key!!...

stopped that and that night decided to get a new truck. Have my new '09 6. 7 3500 now and love it. . no problems so far. . (knock on wood)

The 6 sp Auto is wonderful, use it like a manual sometimes,. . use the built in jake to slow from freeway saving my brakes. The only thing I have done to the truck drivetrain wise is a larger mag-hytec transmission pan.

 

[JKeith]

have had few problems; power train compputer on my 99; the 06 has throne a few codes but they were phamtoms; if I just could keep batteries in them.

 

[AMink]

I am leery about how Consumer Reports does things. They seem to downgrade trucks because they don't ride like cars. They don't get as good mileage as a Prius. Stuff like that makes me wonder if there are any "truck people" at CR.

 

[TboneMan]

Complete and total BIAS. I've seen the survey's they send to their subscribers, yes, that's their sample base, their subscribers.



Not only is there a huge amount of bias in their sample, but the survey instruments themselves are worded with much bias. I believe little of the information they spew.

 

[Jefff929]

Jim T. , Your brake change interval seems short to me, might be because I have disks on the rear. I have found on the 01, with the way I drive, fronts are needed every 50-60K and rears at ~100k intervals.



jeff

 

[2Rowdy]

90% of my problems have been self inflicted.

 

[RByrum]

I am a 1yr diesel owner (02 ext 8' bed) and I am impressed with the smoothness diesels run, the comfort of my ride with 55# tire pressure, no rattles at 100K, the POWER is impressive but as I read TDR I am learning to keep a keen eye open. I like my truck. Too early in the "relationship" to really know how serious I am.

 

[JMetzger]

I do not put a lot of trust in what Consumer Report say's any way> Have found them wrong on a lot of things. Just my $. 02. Have not had that many issues with my 02.

 

[bheiting]

I am leery about how Consumer Reports does things. They seem to downgrade trucks because they don't ride like cars. They don't get as good mileage as a Prius. Stuff like that makes me wonder if there are any "truck people" at CR.

I've subscribed to Consumer Reports for years and depend on their advise
for cars, not that they are always objective, but the user survey should
be a source for locating trouble spots. I agree, they seem to have little
interest in pickups of any kind. I'm sure they don't like the idea of folks
using trucks as commuter vehicles. Washington DC is not known to be
the land of trucks. They are certainly entitled to their opinion. It would
be nice if they kept it out of the ratings.
In the latest car issue, they rate the new Ram 1500 as a recommended
vehicle. Perhaps it rides more like a car.

 

[RByrum]

do you have tough time finding custom parts for your 02?

 

[MarkStevenson]

reliability

I have a 2006 mega cab the truck has been in 6 times for warranty work,

and 2 times for recalls. And now have a problem with death wobble. So

no i would say that it is not reliable. And out of the 3 dodge trucks i have had

it is the worst one yet. And it only has 40000 miles on it. Yes the cummins is

the best. But if the rest of the truck falls apart and your spending a lot of money on it then its all for not. Dodge has got to pay more attention to quality in all there vehicles if they want to turn the company around.

just my 2 cents:-{}

 

[amsoilman]

I've had three Dodge/Cummins pickups, and each became better, as the years increased. The latest one, a 2003 Quad cab 3/4 short bed, has been the best so far! However, it only has 90 K on it. With that said, I have not had any real bad issues of any kind, other than the one time I experienced the "death wobble"! One ball joint was replaced, and that issue went away. That has been the only problem I've had.



Wayne

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I'm on my 3rd Dodge as well. My current 04. 5 hasn't given me too many fits untill recently. 153k and counting!

 

[rscurtis]

Note that the Dodge was not rated in their latest issue, and the 6. 4 Ford scored poorly. It will be interesting to see how the next test goes with three all-new vehicles. Note that the Ford returned 10MPG to the 13 achieved by the Chevy and GMC. Almost makes the 6. 4 a moot point over the V10.

 

[Skydiver]

People who rate a diesel poorly because of what there nose or ears sence should be ignored. I do not like the smell of diesel or gas on my hands, but hey that's the animal me choose.
I know we do have problems from time to time, but some people will hate diesels no matter what.

 

[rbattelle]

Without a definition of "reliable", the rating seems quite useless to me.

If a passenger side window stops working, is that a reliability issue? What if a cupholder breaks?

Brake job every 20k? Sounds quite reliable to me. You can rely on a brake job every 20k.

Ryan

 

[jgillott]

Don't know about you all, but I have yet to own a vehicle, gas or diesel, that I would consider perfect.