Potential CTD?

[jeepkid05]

Heres the info from the AD:
1995 DODGE RAM 2500 4X4 CUMMINS DIESEL
ABS, pb, ps, 4X4, 5 spd std, 6 cyl, CD, diesel, 5 spd, 3:73 gears, runs & drives excellent, new tires, trailer package, 8' bed, 20 MPG, dark metallic green, $6500.

And he says its got 230k.

http://www.PhatServer.net/Jeepin/50_1171328718.jpg

http://www.PhatServer.net/Jeepin/52_1171328784.jpg

http://www.PhatServer.net/Jeepin/23_1171328811.jpg

http://www.PhatServer.net/Jeepin/38_1171328829.jpg

If you are sneaky, in this pic you can see a yellow powerwagon in the backround on 35's I think.
http://www.PhatServer.net/Jeepin/50_1171328860.jpg


This guy lives in my town and hes definitely a Mopar guy.

Im gonna have my dad call him and go take a look at it.

[Carroll257]

I'm a southern boy, but that looks kinda rusty... What's it look like up close?

[jeepkid05]

I havent seen it up close yet...

[xj_man_646]

doesn't look too bad. wait and see how it actually looks and drives...and check for the obvious stuff...leaks and what not. i'd try to get him to keep it cold before you get there, so you can see how it behaves on a cold startup. that shoulda been a warning for me...when it kinda hesitated on the initial startup when i went to check out my truck...but oh well. look at the smoke. a pull of white smoke on startup is considered normal for an older diesel...its un-burnt fuel. alot can be a bad thing though (usually when glow plugs do not work, but since CTD's use manifold heaters, i don't know if you this will be an issue). black smoke is partially burnt fuel if i remember right, and blue is oil burning smoke...but im sure you knew that. either way, with a cold startup, all the smoke should clear in a few seconds.

while driving, if it has excessive black smoke when you hammer on it, especially if the revs are up, that is usually a sign of it losing boost somewhere. check the clutch too....rev it up, and dump it in 5th going relatively slow (~30 when i tested out my audi) and see how much it slips.

thats all i can think of for now. hope this helps, and good luck.

[MBood82]

I'm a southern boy, but that looks kinda rusty... What's it look like up close?


rusty, where?? that thing looks mint to me....

[Hoofmann]

hell yeah, 230k that engine is just broken in. Since it's a standard transmission, I think everyone can agree that the NV4500 is a strong tranny. Watch for 5th gear going out tho, I hear it's a common problem, but a relatively easy solution.

[Hoofmann]

bumper is a little rusty, but nothin a ranch hand couldn't fix.

[GPSflyer]

If you buy it, make sure you pull the front cam cover and fix the "killer dowel pin", Ive had 2 let go and its not pretty. Pulling the camshaft out of a 6bt in the truck is not fun....

[DIRTBIKES987]

sell your slob. i mean saab, and buy that.

[mcamish01]

buy it, spray in a bedliner and throw a hula girl on the dash and call it good, looks like a good no non-sense truck.

x2 on the cold start up test

[Aidan]

looks like a good choice to me, but it does sound like the quintessential work truck, so make real sure its not been beat all to hell.

[bbaCJ8]

Buy it, roll it, and send me the axles. Hell, I'll take the rest of the drivetrain too while you're at it.

[Carroll257]

rusty, where?? that thing looks mint to me....
I just saw the rust on the bumpers. I'm not dissing the rig... I love mine. Just don't know how badly salt has hurt it (if any). Otherwise it looks to be in good shape

[phillyzj]

on problem i see is that it's a regular cab. personally i wouldn't want one, but that's just me.

[Phil]

Nice looking BR

[J.D.]

Ok. Here are some things to look for on that year and all other 2nd gen 12 valves. The following things to look for were given to me by Oregonpharmer from cumminsforum.com : Some of which are things you should check after you buy it if you do.

You can expect the normal wear and tear on the front axle, so keep an eye on the steering joints, the outer drive joints, and the front wheel bearings.

The unique items that fail on the Dodges made from 94-2002 are the track bar end where it mounts to the frame on the driver's side, the spring seats on the front coils crack where they mount to the frame if the truck is used extensively on rough roads or pulls a heavy stock trailer where animals are allowed to walk around freely, and the sector shaft that connects to the pitman arm on the bottom of the steering gear develops a wobble that will tear up the box.

Windecker Machine Ltd, makes about the most cost effective fixes for the track bar and the sector shaft - there are others, so shop around. The spring seats are the subject of a hidden warranty, so beat on a dealer if you find that problem, or just use a wire welder and fix them yourself. Most often once the track bar and steering shaft are repaired the knocking around stops so the spring seats never break again.

The 12 valve engine has not even reached mid-life at the miles you list, but you do want to drop the pan and inspect the oil nozzles that cool the undersides of the piston crowns. Make sure they are the metal versions and installed with red LocTite so they do not work loose, and also make sure they are all open. One lost or plugged will cook a piston.

All the pan, engine manifold cover plate, and valve gallery tin cover bolts will be loose, just clean them and torque them tight and then drop a dab of the green wicking type LocTite on each one to hold them in the future.

The rubber hose from the intercooler to the intake air horn will likely have a crack right in the ball where the metal ring holds that absurd shape where it changes sizes. Just push hard and inspect it carefully. If you replace it, get one of the aftermarket hoses.

Have the timing set. The gear nut works loose, unless they were reset by someone along the line, and allows the injection pump timing to back off and that costs power and economy.

Inspect the oil drain hose from the turbo, and make sure it is not the OEM unit, and replace it with a silicone replacement from Cummins or Detroit (they are a standard size and Detroit sells them for less).

Pop the pressurized side of the turbo plumbing loose and inspect the impeller for end play and slop. Also look for any evidence of oil seepage. A rebuild on the turbo is inexpensive, but plan accordingly.

Inspect the fuel heater carefully. The electrical connectors develop air leaks where the material is bonded to the housing, and they all eventually leak air and cause starting problems. Also, change the screen in the fuel heater, because most people forget they are there and they rust nearly shut and create performance gremlins that are hard to identify.

If you are not an experienced diesel guy, it always pays to take a rig to a Cummins Service Center and pay the couple hundred for a through inspection of that engine. The 12 valve seldom breaks, but if it does it is expensive to repair and the repair price will be more than the truck likely cost you in first place.


Getting him to keep it cold and then start it is a good idea. If you go to start it and it doesn't start right away it could be a few common things. The fuel lines that go from the hardline on the frame rail to the P-7100 fuel pump will oftem times become brittle and develope very small holes. The holes are so small that fuel won't leak out but air will leak in. When that happens you will have either slow starts or excessivly smokey starts or both. It is a very simple fix by just replacing the soft fuel line with new. Also something else that can cause more smoke on startup is your fuel pump timing will have likely slipped away from factory specs. It can be easily adjusted back. A common performance trick is to advance the timing for some free power. Some other random things could happen that will make it hard to start such as bad glow plugs or bad grid heater but those are a pretty simple fix. It sounds and looks like a decent truck though. Just besure to check out all of the underside for rust problems and all of the brake hardware. If you want more info on some more indepth things to look for let me know and I will dig up some more stuff or go checkout cumminsforum.com or cumminsdatabase.com :driving:

[J.D.]

If you buy it, make sure you pull the front cam cover and fix the "killer dowel pin",

x2. Very important thing to check. http://cumminsdatabase.com/read.php?id=111

[xj_man_646]

thats alot if info, JD. that is alot of good stuff to look for.

[phillyzj]

Ok. Here are some things to look for on that year and all other 2nd gen 12 valves. The following things to look for were given to me by Oregonpharmer from cumminsforum.com : Some of which are things you should check after you buy it if you do.




Getting him to keep it cold and then start it is a good idea. If you go to start it and it doesn't start right away it could be a few common things. The fuel lines that go from the hardline on the frame rail to the P-7100 fuel pump will oftem times become brittle and develope very small holes. The holes are so small that fuel won't leak out but air will leak in. When that happens you will have either slow starts or excessivly smokey starts or both. It is a very simple fix by just replacing the soft fuel line with new. Also something else that can cause more smoke on startup is your fuel pump timing will have likely slipped away from factory specs. It can be easily adjusted back. A common performance trick is to advance the timing for some free power. Some other random things could happen that will make it hard to start such as bad glow plugs or bad grid heater but those are a pretty simple fix. It sounds and looks like a decent truck though. Just besure to check out all of the underside for rust problems and all of the brake hardware. If you want more info on some more indepth things to look for let me know and I will dig up some more stuff or go checkout cumminsforum.com or cumminsdatabase.com :driving:

glow plugs huh, my 4BT doesn't have those :chug:

afik 6bt's don't have em either.

[J.D.]

glow plugs huh, my 4BT doesn't have those :chug:

afik 6bt's don't have em either.

Hmm. Oops. My bad. I guess its just the grid heater that cycles in the morning then. Learn new stuff everyday. :wned:

[xj_man_646]

yeah, all CTD use manifold heaters AFAIK. they are nice, because once the engines are warm, you don't even need to wait for anything to heat up (if you don't wait too long between starts)

[phillyzj]

Hmm. Oops. My bad. I guess its just the grid heater that cycles in the morning then. Learn new stuff everyday. :wned:

no prob, i thought they had glow plugs too for a while :thumbsup: