1999 Dodge 2500 CTD Build AKA Han Solo

[Luckychase5]

Thanks! Ya I'll call Cummins NW in the next couple days, just ordered new hub bearing assemblies and abs sensors for the front so I need to rebuild the funds a little bit.

 

[Luckychase5]

Just ordered my wood to start my bed system. This thing is going to be huge! Area is giant compared to my old Tacoma. I have 4 sheets of 3/4 inch pre finished birch on the way. These are some pictures if my old set up, the top panel are held in with dowel for easy removal when we weren't moving around. This was used on a 4 month climbing trip my wife and I wend on.
test fitting
first time in the truck with the cap on
loaded up and ready to go

 

[Regcabguy]

Look to see if you have a Cummins dealer near you. The water pump should only be $135 and the thermostat should be about $10. $180 is pretty steep considering it is a very simple design. You'll notice the fins are very different from the Cummins vs. the generic one. It will make a difference in cooling ability. When I used a generic one, it hard a very hard time keeping it cool while towing and it started leaking from the weephole pretty soon after installation. Guy at Cummins said that was pretty standard for those crappy after markets. I learned the hard way having to do it twice. It isn't a hard job, but still a PITA having to do any job twice because the equipment is less than adequate.

My Cummins stock pump was weeping from a slightly torn gasket @ 54K. I got a replacement from a diesel supply place in the South(lost the receipt) that claimed that their new pumps were reboxed Cummins pumps. Made in China like the Cummins dealer issued ones now. A shop I use replaces them all the time on 3rd gens. They have the same luck with aftermarket and install 180* thermostats.

 

[Luckychase5]

Well I plugged in my block heater last night and I got a sizzling sound and a big plumb of smoke, guess I need a new one. Lame

 

[Rot Box]

Nuts. Sometimes you get lucky and just need a new chord. Rubbed through casing and shorted out... Happened on my last two Dodges. You can test the block heater with a multimeter. I think the cords are around $20 good luck

Love your truck by the way. I miss my 01

 

[Luckychase5]

Thanks! Ya just ordered a new cord from Genos Garage, my cummins shop was back ordered for 3 weeks.

 

[Luckychase5]

Just got done routing the wire for my canopy dome light, man how I hate routing wires.

 

[Luckychase5]

Bad news, my vp44 might be fried. Truck died while driving. Got a code for the crankshaft position sensor, changed that out, still nothing. I'm getting 6-7 PSI at the fuel filter at both test fittings. About to crack open the lines and see if I'm getting any fuel. This sucks btw, I'm supposed to go to Cali on Friday but this might be too expensive to do all that

 

[redthies]

That sucks! I'm guessing you didn't get to that FASS or Airdog, did you? Everyone I've ever heard of that buys a 24v is usually told by other forum members to do this right away. Some do, some don't, but I'm always surprised by how quickly those that "don't" have to do BOTH pumps.

Hope it works out for you!

 

[Luckychase5]

Ya, I hadn't gotten to it yet, but this truck has 160k and many VP44 fail at this point between 150-200k anyways. But thanks, dropped it off at the shop today so they can test mine.

 

[Luckychase5]

Well I bought an AirDog 2 100 system, contemplating upping it to the 165 but I don't have a lot of HP yet and at most a really only want a chip, exhaust, intake, and maybe injectors and an intake elbow. Thoughts? I've read on the Pure Flow website that flowing too much fuel can harm the VP. Anyone have more info on this?

 

[redthies]

Have ou joined Cumminsforum yet? There is a section specific to all the various Cummins powered trucks. If you ask these guys, you'll get a much bigger group to offer insight on your particular engine.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/

 

[Regcabguy]

I had a GDP relocation setup on my '99 which used the cheap stock Carter's the truck comes with. I used some dense rubber sheet to isolate the pump mount from the frame to prevent resonation. Cummins had a blowout sale on them for $50 locally and I got a couple and carried them with me. Easy swapout on the frame. Swapping out an Airdog or FASS takes a week and they're too expensive to carry a spare. A fuel pressure gauge went in the little cubby hole and Geno's supplied a Westach setup for that.

 

[Luckychase5]

Well I got 80% of my AirDog install done yesterday and then broke my foot last night. Getting this done is going to be interesting

 

[Luckychase5]

Finally finished my AirDog 2 100 install today, runs great and you can't even hear the thing. Love it, I'll check my MPG gain all post that at a later date.


For anyone who is going to do one of these in the future I would suggest getting some 3/4" #8 self tapping screws to mount the relay and fuse to the fire wall. Looks the best and is in a much better spot for routing the wires than any of the other spots I found