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diesel4life

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Everything posted by diesel4life

  1. How much were you towing again when this happened? Sorry if this is a repeat question I don't recall. From what I have seen of these engines you would really have to have been doggin' it to trash the bearings, but anything is possible. I have always erred on the side of rpm's and dropped to 3rd (I have an auto) to get the horsepower up and egt's down. The engine seems alot happier at 2300+ rpm than down around 1600 or 1700 with a load. What about the chunks you found in the oil filter? Those aren't from the mains are they? Are you going to have the machine shop check the alignment of the main journals while they have it?
  2. Without trying to sound argumentative or derailing this thread from it's original content, there really is no argument as to the advantages of more gears in a transmission. Why is it the 5 Speed was eliminated after 2002? And why did they go from a 4 Speed to a 6 speed in the automatics (and in some cases 8 speed) Yes the Cummins has the torque to manage moderate loads like you or I pull with the wider spaced gear ratios but more gears will always keep an engine closer to it's peak power curve and allow it to operate more efficiently. Easier to get away with with loads under 10k but with the higher tow ratings of trucks within the last 8-10 years a 5 Speed wouldn't survive and be nearly as reliable as they are in the older trucks.
  3. Nope, but it makes getting up to speed a lot easier. Keeps the engine in the meat of the power, more efficient.
  4. Also don't forget to check the acid level in the batteries.
  5. How's she runnin Tom? No news is good news?
  6. Everybody wants a pre emission truck. Hard to afford let alone justify a 60k dollar pick up unless you are using it to make a living, or life is treating you right. Then there is the whole maintenance/repairs end, once the warranty is up the owner is responsible for the repairs and it is getting harder and harder for the average shade tree mechanic to accurately diagnose/repair. So the practical solution is buy something older that is easier and cheaper to maintain. We all know how reliable and durable these trucks are, 10 yrs old is nothing for a Dodge/Cummins pick up. I just used my 16 year old truck to drive to the east coast and haul back a 5 year old SUV with an electrical failure. The only shortfall is time and rust and that is making these trucks harder and harder to come by. I don't see the value levelling off or depreciating any time soon.
  7. The more the better! Shoot I'd be happy with 6 gears at this point...
  8. IDParts is a great place to order from, I've used them to order everything for the TDI. Much better quality then off the shelf aftermarket stuff IMO. Does the kit come with everything I listed above? If so that is a great price compared to what it was 5 years ago.
  9. Malone makes tunes for the Liberty CRD and while I don't have any first hand experience with them in the VM engines they would be my first choice as they are very well known and respected in the VW TDI world. I know a guy who runs their economy tune, he experienced +2 mpg improvement. The tune also came with dynamic EGR and dynamic idle, meaning the idle automatically ramps up when under a certain coolant temp. This is a great feature because the TDIs are so efficient they will NOT warm up at idle and actually have been problematic when left to idle at cold temps. They do also make performance tunes.
  10. Just beware the VM engines utilize a timing belt with 100k mile service intervals. I had a friend with one and he chose to do a little PM while he was in there and found out just how expensive them little engines were! $250 for a water pump, roughly the same for the TB kit, $60 for the stat, $200+ for the serpentine belt and tensioner. This was 4 or 5 years ago and he used all OEM parts, so the prices may or may not be the same but at the time it was an expensive little engine to maintain and parts were hard to come by for them.
  11. Definitely sounds like the ball is hanging open on the return. Pull it apart and have a look. Mine did it once and the ball was actually wedged into the spring.
  12. There are a few companies that make the 3.73 Gears for the Dodge Dana axles but your right they are not OEM. I would love to have a set, I hate my 3.55s but have also had 4.10s in a 2nd gen and they are just a tad too low for my needs. I loved the towing mileage with them compared to 3.55s but empty mileage tanked compared to the 3.55s I have now. Being my empty/loaded miles are pretty close to equal the 4.10s would not be worth the cost to change unless I could find someone willing to swap me straight up, in which case I would probably do it just to ease the strain on the drive train and compensate for my 285/75/17s. 3.73 Would be the perfect combo gear but the price for a 4wheel drive pick up makes it hard to justify the cost unless you work your truck for a living like Caj. I'm sure in his case the gears paid for themselves once or twice over with the miles he put on that truck. Hopefully Caj is ok? I'm sorry to hear he lost his truck, I bet he had some good memories and saw some really neat stuff behind the wheel of that ol' rig.
  13. I can see this being SOP on new trucks as bearing tolerances get tighter in the quest for better fuel economy. What I would love to see is real world tests between 30w and 40w and I would also like to see oil analysis from a pre emission engine using 30w.
  14. I have not seen any HDEO 15w30 on the shelves here but to be honest I don't generally pay much attention to local stock because my stuff gets delivered to my door step. It will be interesting To see how many other companies start making a 15w30 and how soon it catches on.
  15. Are you running a 200 stat during the summer? I ran a 200 stat all winter with the coldest temps in 30+ years and I would say it made a positive difference in a few areas but as soon as we began seeing temps in the 60's this spring I swapped it back for my 190. When pulling heavy I would see temps rise to 202-205. Being the fan locks up at 205, I think it's counter productive to run the hotter stat in warm weather.
  16. As long as they are maintained and not allowed to corrode the cable is more than adequate. 3/16 cable has a SWL of 840 pounds and a breaking strength of over 4k. I lower mine twice a year to inspect the tire/wheel assembly and check air pressure. I also wash the wheel as it gets pretty nasty and spray the cable with a wire rope lube.
  17. "The longest war in American History" and the Muslims are just getting warmed up.
  18. Need to get ahold of another set of gauges and confirm pressure on both sides. This is really the first step in diagnosing a problem as it will tell you alot about what is going on inside.
  19. I just flushed mine last month when I put a hole in my radiator and I used Peak Global Lifetime. It's an OAT formula that meets ASTM3306 (98.5-02 specs). Although I will definitely NOT buy into the lifetime fill I can certainly see doubling my service intervals. I will do annual ph tests to confirm this but I am tired of going through the hassle of changing every two years when there is better technology out there. I buy the full strength formula but also buy distilled water for flushing and filling. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Faw%2Fd%2FB000MIUJMO%3Fpc_redir%3D1410588104%26robot_redir%3D1&rct=j&q=engine%20coolant%20ph%20test%20strips&ei=Y6EVVNK3FsTjsASFl4HwAQ&usg=AFQjCNHsbn8npRIQQN1c17mUFrTgksfgQw&sig2=VnNEUlQziPmdjJG0rbrV7w&bvm=bv.75097201,d.cWc
  20. Does anybody know what the Farmers Almenac predicted for this winter? I saw one forecast model on the news last week that shows the northeast and Great Lakes region potentially getting way above average snow fall again this year. They were very specific about the Great Lakes region saying we could get blizzards that weve not seen in the past 40 years. I generally don't get too excited about long term forecasts but this one has me thinking a little. Our temps have dropped 30+ degrees over the last 2 weeks and we have been getting non stop rain. Hmmm.
  21. The good thing about those is at least they wont rust! Or should I say you won't see the part that will rust!!
  22. Looks good Russ. Wheels don't look bad either IMO.
  23. What did they use to plug the port? I have seen where they used JB weld but that kinda makes me nervous. I just wonder if the oil and the repeated heat cycles would ever break it loose.
  24. How much did he end up refunding you?
  25. http://www.dynatrac.com/products/freespin-dodge/dynatrac-ball-joints.html This will be my next set when my MOOGS wear out.