Wild and Free

Here is what is mind boggling. Tightening the lash screw starting from the original 10/20 settings, I could go another 0.070" on each valve. That means the intake could be tightened completely up, and then go another 0.060". The exhaust could be completely tightened up and could go another 0.050". I barred the engine 1/4" to either side of TDC and checked the piston contact and it was always an even bigger gap meaning my TDC mark is right on the money.

So that it would already match your rigs spec sheet and so you would not need to flash it after you got it.

Yep as stated above it's just the nature of the CR beast. thats the price we pay for wanting them to run and idle quieter.:)Don't worry about it and don't waste any money trying to flush it. It will be black again after a few hundred to a thousand miles again anyhow.It just makes it easier to see on the dipstick.

Another person felt offended by my cutting down cummins programming of the ecm. The only way cummins can do it is if they have the Dodge programming/tooling. Cummins can not do OEM specific programming as there would be a big legal battle between engine manufacturers and OEM manufacturesr if engine shops were allowed to do dealer specific work. Cummins "Insite" programs will do only Cummins perameters while programming which tells me the other fellows cummins dealer has aDodge specific tooling. Just needed to clear this up so everyone on the forums doesn't think they can run to a Cummins dealer for Dodge programming.

With all your experimenting I am really surprised you have not taken the extra 5 seconds during a valve adjust ment to run down the adjustment screw and see actually how far you need to go before piston the valve contact happens.

There is nobody on the planet as educated on Dodge Cummins ecms as Bob wagner and his boss Marco. You can reflash any 24v ecm regaurdless of year to what year and tranny you have. I just went through this by buying a used ecm. the engine will run but some gauges will not work or options like cruise will not work when swapping ecms. This is where your cummins buddies info lacks. they can get the engine to run but there are OEM options only Dodge DRB can set in the ecm. I feel like a broken recod here.

Year and tranny does not matter when looking for a used one, any year tranny combo can be reflashed to your current setup.

Whats wrong with yours? why don't you send it in for repair if you have one. There are salvage yards. e-bay, diesel forum classifieds other ecm repair companies ect.

Not sure why you want to spend that kind of coin when there are used ones to be had through several sources for 1/4 the price? Call Bob wagner from smartypower.com he carries them on hand and Marco the man who designed Smarty rebuilds the ecms so they have them on habd and will flash them to your year and tranny option. A cummins flash will not work as the ecm is a Dodge flash and must be done at the dealer with chrysler DRB tool. There are Dodge only perameters programmed into the ecm you won't get from a cummins flash.

I noticed the original poster never posted again. I think she got her answer just not the one she wanted.

Pretty simple project. Just watch the order of parts and stack them so the new ones go back in the same way. But its pretty simple. If you want a tighter limited slip you need to keep one friction disc from your old pack. factory stacks them so they slip easier to cure complaints of snapping and popping around corners, you will find steels stacked against steels and frictions against friction so it slips easier. to tighten it up start with steels against the side gear and alternate ending with a steel against the other side gear. There are actually bevel washers inbetween side gear and steel discs IIRC. I think you wind up with an extra steel that will not go back in and it gets replaced with a friction. Been a while since I have done one but you get the idea. This will make it act like a locker and it will snap and pop on pavement in corners regaurdless if it has ls additive in it or not. I always presoak the friction discs overnight in ls additive and gear lube mix before assembling it just so I know they are not dry on assembly.

You can buy spider gear cross and limited slip clutch kits from most gear vendors fairly reasonable. clutch kits are around 40 bucks last time i got one and complete spider gear cross kits are around 150 bucks give or take a few bucks. Limited slip additive is just to keep the clutches from ratcheting but running without it is not detrimential.

Rogan posted a pic of an open carrier, what you friend has is a limited slip carrier. he needs to pull the carrier out. it looks like one of 2 things, the clutch pack is fried and the plates are grinding together and binding it up or the spider gear thrust washers and or the mate shaft is bad, most likely a combonation of both. Now would be a good time to reclutch it so it is tighter but then it will grab and snap around corners all the time like a locker would act. that is how I set up all my limited slip diffs.

Look at the top side of the t-case where the 2 case halvers meet at the top passenger side, the sealer that is used is known to crack and it will weep out the top as thats where the oil is slung to and it will run down the back side and look like what you describe. I have been needing to pull mine apart to reseal the case halves also, doesn't drip on the ground but leaks just enough to keep it wet and collect dirt.

Looks good and nothing to worry about with an 05. I personally think its about 5k overpriced but if you are one who thinks all the add ons add to the overall value then its a good buy. Again I personally believe add ons do not increase the overall book value but thats just me. I paid that price for my 05 4 years ago with only 24k miles on it with many extras on it as well. granted mine isn't a Laramie 3500 dually but it is an SLT 4X4. which isn't going to make for a big price difference. I don't care for all the extra painted pieces, makes it look goofy but again just voicing my opinion.

Take it apart and get the bearing # and go to bearingsdirect.com to get the bearing.

Down to 3.93 as of yesterday In New Salem ND.

Pull the injectors and recalibrate reset pop pressures and clean them or replace them. In my opinion this should be done every 100k regaurdless for optimum performance/economy along with valve adjustments. If he doaen't want to spend any money on it he will just have to live with the mileage he gets. So its your duty to inform him how much more it will cost him to drive with low mileage than the wee bit he will spend to have the injectors gone through or replaced. If its an auto he could be getting some inefficient performance through it if it hasn't been serviced properly also.Has he added mudflaps bug degflectors running boards since adding to the drag over the years? All things you need to ask since milage has gone down over the years and not all of a sudden.Is the radiator plugged solid with oil from the breather and the fan clutch is staying engaged full tilts due to lack of air flow? Just need to start with the stupid simple basics here if it is the way you say and he checks nothing.

The tranny will not shift into OD until the engine gets to 140*f also IIRC.

3.97 as of today at closest town to my house, finally headed in the right direction. 1.25 / gallon here we come..................................:banghead:

Yep there are 4 surface lignite coal mines in my area and I have worked at 2 of them currently and just recently as in a month ago got a promotion to shop foreman at the one I work at now. Energy production is huge where I live in western and south central ND. 4 coal mines with a 5th in the works 1 coal gasification plant 1 oil refinery 7 coal fired power plants with a possible 8th in the works. 3 or 4 ethanol plants several wind generator farms scattered accross the state. And the oil boom getting bigger by the day in western ND. There are plans to start up uranium mines and one other rare earth mineral mine I can't think of right off the top of my head. And with ag commodities through the roof our farmers and ranchers are having a great time now also. this is the reason ND has a 2 billion dollar surplus in its budget and growing in a big way mostly due to the oil boom. Things are going gangbusters here economy wise. They are all great ways to make a living as most of the energy jobs yield 70-80K annually on average. With any ambition 100K+ is easy.

I think you have an electrical issue. In this case it would be well worth a few bucks to have the dealer hook up the DRB tool and watch whats going on.

Just sat through a meeting with cummins reps at work for a new 2500 Hitachi excavator we are buying with a cummins QSK 50 and cummins is going with it on some engines next year and everything as of 2014-2015. Here is a link to the excavator we are getting to give you an idea of what i work with. http://www.hitachi-c-m.com/au/products/excavator/large/ex2500-6/index.html Cummis already uses it on some applications, they have not had any issues as of yet with it but I know a guy at work with a brand new 2011 duramax had issues with the fluid getting too thick and freezing up and not pumping like it should in cold temps but GM is fixing the issue I guess. Cummins said with the scr system there is no more calalytic converter so that is a plus.

Down from a high of 4.23 to currently 4.099 as of yesterday here in central ND.

I just had one fail on my 02 yesterday and I will be getting one from Napa today at $246 just for time reasons as I nned it on the road but I noticed the other one has not much life left and I will be ordering a cheap one from this web site and I will then disassemble the hubs and find replacement bearings and rebuild mine for spares. We will see how the 246 dollar stacks up against the 99 dollar part over time.