So if all goes well, I will be selling my 04 QCSB Hemi tomorrow and I will be getting a 2004.5 2500 QCSB with 87k on the clock. I'm no mechanic but I know my way around a gasser but I have never owned a diesel before. I MAY have been spending a majority of my time at work researching diesels and reading on this forum and others to start learning. If you Cummins Gods could give me a quick crash course on daily diesel ownership that would be much appreciated. Things like not to let it idle to warm up, change fuel filters, dont shut her off when the turbo is spooled etc. Just little things that differ from a gasser.

Welcome Kyle, where about in Tampa are you? We have a group of guys that get together every now and then and at the local truck and tractor pulls. I would check for blowby after the truck is at operating temp. Front end parts could be getting close to the point that they need to be replaced because that little 6 cylinder is HEAVY!

I live in Brandon now, just off of 60. Excuse my lack of knowledge but blowby being the tube that runs down the engine on the drivers side? I did a quick check on the basics when I looked at the truck and nothing seems to be too bad. The way I look at it is thats half the fun of owning a truck, learning how to fix stuff lol. I actually just remembered this though, I have read that the lift pumps are always a problem. I have also read that you should avoid the in-tank pumps. Is this because of the cost or are they bad? The guy I'm buying the truck from had Dodge put the in tank pump in when his lift pump went bad.

Yes the tube will have some vapor coming out but you don't want to see a ton of white smoke coming out. After the truck is warm, pull the oil fill cap and turn it upside down on fill hole while the truck is running and make sure it does not blow off. The problem with getting one of these truck with blowby is a rebuild is expensive, not like an old chevy 350. Couple guys live in Brandon or Riverview. If its an 04.5 it came factory with the pump in the tank and they are decent pumps. This is no good

Welcome to the site. On your model year, the things to look for are worn out front suspension, blow by (which was described nicely earlier) and the thing I would do to find a bad injector was to open the drivers door to the first stop and rev the engine to 1700 rpms and hold it there. Then watch the door to see if the door rattles or vibrates. Also on the test drive if you can find a hill where you will be putting a load on the engine, drive it so the engine is around 1750 rpms and listen for a knock similar to a 12 valve cummins. As far as other stuff, I run my oil at least 7500 miles, I also use regular rotella (I don't believe in synthetics) also use a good fleetguard filter, don't use any cheap filter because they have been known to break up and blow up engines. Also look into either a airdog/fass with filters or an inline filter setup. Getting clean fuel to the injectors is crucial, the stock lift pumps hold up actually really well on a stock truck. And if you ever have the stock one go out, you don't have to worry about taking out the cp3 since there is a small pump in the cp3 to draw fuel to lubricate/cool it in that case. Do as little idling as possible. The best way to warm your truck up is to start it and wait for oil pressure, then drive it. If you have an auto, you might have the high idle feature enabled through the cruise control that will raise the rpms if you have to idle, to put a load on the engine. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. If you have anymore questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Alright thanks for the help. I checked the basics on the truck when I looked at it and it was solid and I brought it to my mechanic who works on diesels and said everything was good to go. It comes with a bullydog power pup which I've heard mixed reviews on. The only mods I am allowed to make right off the bat are gauges since I was able to convince the boss, ahem, wife that they are good for me and truck. Is it worth selling the powerpup and getting a nice tuner with guages or keep the bullydog and just get an A-post with guage cutouts and install them?

Its totally up to you but I am not impressed with the bullydog products. They had their day but now they are way behind on the times. If you decide on something I would go with a smarty since you will have gauges. As far as gauges, egt/boost/trans temp. Autometer makes some factory match ones but I am not impressed with the quality. I used to use dipricols but they went out of business. Another gauge that I have installed is glowshift, they are in my opinion the same quality as autometer but they don't cost that much. Oh and by the way, plant your money tree now, because I always tell people, if you wanna play like a trucker, your gonna pay like a trucker.

Yeah that seems to be the consensus. I'll probably just end up selling it for a few bucks and picking up a nice smarty. Now if I do get one, I won't need to get gauges because the smarty will have them correct?

No, you will still need gauges, that's the only downfall to a smarty. Its just a programmer so you put in the program, unhook and throw it under the seat. I suggest getting gauges no matter what chip/programmer people get.

Okay so the gauges on the tuners aren't always as reliable?

Ya I have seen too many read wrong or stop working and then all you got is a fancy screen with buttons to change power levels.

Alright, since I'm new to the forum I can't navigate it very well. Is there a DIY for gauges on here? I've never excelled with electronics and wiring and such.

Gauges are fairly simple to hook up and the all in one monitors are usually just a couple plugs that plug directly into the trucks factory sensors.

Okay that doesn't sound too bad. I figured I'd have to install the gauges plus the sensors but if it just plugs in all the better. How much do gauges usually run?

Depending on the gauges you want and the brand you go with or a monitor. I bought my gauges from http://dieselmanor.com/ because their gauge kits are complete but Jacob at http://www.dieselautopower.com/ might be able to give you a better price and make you a kit.

Okay sweet deal. From the reading I've done, I know the pyro and rail pressure is necessary, but what about boost, tranny, and fuel pressure? Is being able to monitor them all ideal or are some not necessary?

I like to monitor them all but if money is tight and your just trying to get started, I would go for egt, boost and rail pressure if your running a programmer. If no programmer, I would do egt, boost and fuel pressure.

Yeah that is what I'm planning on. Start off with three on the A-post and eventually get fuel pressure and tranny gauges on the dash

My buddy has an 04 and recently put in all the gauges your wanting and it looks great. He got isspro ev2 and likes them, I will see if he will send me a few pics.

I run a smarty jr and the edge cts for gauges. The single gauge in the a pillar is for my airbags.

Here she is... Damn I can't get the pictures to attach, well here is a link to another forum I posted it on http://www.ramforum.com/f67/my_new_baby-36998/#post608138