Diesels in the snow.....

[jt1]

None of the Cummins have glow plugs, 12 valve, 24 valve, common rail, none. All use the intake air heater. Some have factory installed 120V block heaters.

John

[porsche4life]

The dodge automatic tranny isnt bad... It just needs the fluid changed every 30k and the bands adjusted...


We have one in 1ton. With a BIG service body and bucket on it... It had originally belonged to an electric coop and seen abuse... That tranny still lasted 150k before it shelled.....

[chapo]

funny how Joe is the only one with a 30 mpg cummins. you would think Dodge would have the market cornered with this info.

[porsche4life]

Joe's isnt stock... He has done some mods to get that MPG... However... You can have gobs of power or mileage... when he switched it to gobs of power... he loses that MPG I'm sure...

[chapo]

42 MPG Dodge Cummins Pickup - Biodiesel Vehicles - Vehicles - BioDieselNow - Renewable biodiesel fuel

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by chapo

funny how Joe is the only one with a 30 mpg cummins. you would think Dodge would have the market cornered with this info.

Joe is not the only one who has seen 27 mpg on the highway with a Cummins. He is the only one here with that kind of mileage. After all, my truck is box stock with the exception of the Edge unit and a Raptor lift pump. NO other mods and a two wheel vehicle with 6 speed manual gearbox. Four wheel drive and automatic transmissions both get less mileage.

From your link:

~~~~

I just spoke to Jerry this afternoon. The 42 mpg truck was an 03 Dodge with the Cummins 5.9L common rail. Modifications included performance exhaust, propane injection, turbo mod, electronic controls and a wee bit of hydrogen injection. The rig still had a stock body, stock injectors and was (and still is) street legal. The 42 mpg was done on a track, so there was no "going downhill the whole time?".

All the energy used, including the propane, was accounted for in calculating the 42 mpg rating. Jerry has sold that truck and the new owner gets between 800-1000 miles on the stock fuel tank (35 gal) along with the 8 gallon propane tank, that's between 23.5 and 29.4 mpg in normal (real world) street driving conditions.

Currently Jerry is driving a 2004 1/2 Chevy Duramax with the LLY motor. He has of course tweeked it and is averaging 32 miles per gallon in general use. I was wrong in my first post. Jerry is located in the north Phoenix AZ area. The phone number was correct.

~~~~

Hope you guys like the taste of crow, feathers and all....

[chapo]

no crow, just shows the joke of the mileage comparison. thats why I posted it. Lower my truck, put smaller tires on it, biodesiel, mods, etc, blah blah blah, my jetta gets 30 plus mpg. The truck was made to haul stuff, to a big load etc. Drive it at 50 mph and dont haul anything, have fun. Use it like it was designed, well...

[chapo]

BTW, did you notice the 42 mpg was done "on a track", what a joke. read the link further about mileage of gm and cummins diesels. 20 mpg out of these things is great, dont get me wrong, but there is a lot of bs out there.

[look 171]

So tell me, i have a stock mid 90s Cummins with 90K on the original motor and tranny. I have not been able to get more then 15-16 mpg on the high way doing 70mph. I would be happy with 19 or 20. after speaking to a couple of diesel machanics, they both said to leave it alone and just put fuel in it and drive. No mod necessary to get better milage or power to these earlier trucks. I haven't looked into it since. No additives in the tank but some injector cleaner once in a while. The truck has no problems. I have head about marval's mistry oil in the gas tank to lube the injectors, but have not done so. What do you guys think?

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by chapo

no crow, just shows the joke of the mileage comparison. thats why I posted it. Lower my truck, put smaller tires on it, biodesiel, mods, etc, blah blah blah, my jetta gets 30 plus mpg. The truck was made to haul stuff, to a big load etc. Drive it at 50 mph and dont haul anything, have fun. Use it like it was designed, well...

You smoking something funny before posting this?

I noted the mod that I did on my truck and the mileage I am getting. Its been proven several times by different people. I can get an easy 27 mpg at 65 mph (the speed limit here) with ONE mod on the truck, the better lift pump. Thats with plain old pump diesel and two stroke oil added to the fuel at fill-up. The Edge module is turned off (set at level 1, stock setting) and is used ONLY for me to have the digital gauges in the cockpit.

Please, the only BS coming on this thread is from YOU complaining about people lying and so on when you have absolutely no proof of that happening what so ever.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by look 171

So tell me, i have a stock mid 90s Cummins with 90K on the original motor and tranny. I have not been able to get more then 15-16 mpg on the high way doing 70mph. I would be happy with 19 or 20. after speaking to a couple of diesel machanics, they both said to leave it alone and just put fuel in it and drive. No mod necessary to get better milage or power to these earlier trucks. I haven't looked into it since. No additives in the tank but some injector cleaner once in a while. The truck has no problems. I have head about marval's mistry oil in the gas tank to lube the injectors, but have not done so. What do you guys think?

Try putting some two cycle oil in your tank for a couple of fill-up's. I use just a bit less than 1 ounce for each gallon. My truck has a 38 gallon tank and I let it get down to 1/4 or so, so stick about 20-25 ounces (good sized gatoraid bottle full) of two cycle oil. Said to be good for .5-1.0 mpg and much better for your injector pump. West Marine has it on sale right now, so might check there if you have one close.

If you have an automatic then thats about all you are going to get. What rpm are you showing at 70? 2200 or so I am guessing? Back it down to 65 mph and that should be around 1800 rpm and your mileage should come up. What kind of tires you running? I have 10 ply aired up to 70-75 psi and that helps rolling resistance.

The earlier trucks are not computer controlled like the 1998-2002 and newer versions are, so will never get as high a fuel mileage but I would hope you can bump it up a bit.

Mine loves about 1600 rpm (top of peak torque) but thats 58 mph and too slow for me on the highway even if I do get 28-29 mpg there. Looking at a gear vendors overdrive unit to give me more gears so I can run lower rpm (top of the torque curve) at whatever speed I want.

[Tobra]

Propane injection, now that is pretty crazy. I saw an F-350 equipped with that at Sacramento Raceway that was running low 12's in the 1/4 mile, had a pipe that looked like it would fit a basket ball coming out the hood for an exhaust. 4WD hole shot then switch to 2 once he got rolling, or so he said.

[porsche4life]

I'd like to know how he was switching from 4wd to 2... Unless it has an electric transfer case... Sure ain't no switching quickly in a dodge....


Wait doesn't ford still use manually locking hubs?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Wait doesn't ford still use manually locking hubs?

No.

[TimT]

Wait doesn't ford still use manually locking hubs?

Yes

I ordered my '03 F250 PSD with manual hubs.. because I dont use four wheel drive except for a few times each winter.. I didn't want to worry about vacuum or electrically actuated hubs, not working..

On my truck you have get out and lock the hubs, and then manually shift the transfer case..

You can also order these trucks with an option to just press a button for four wheel drive..

[williecoyote]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Also - Lubey - the red- dye thing. Just FYI, it's not the DOT that enforces red-dye, it's the IRS. It is considered tax evasion. Just a little bit of red-dye makes the whole tank turn red. IRS usually works with DOT to do sampling of vehicles in highway operation because the DOT officers have traffic authority to stop the vehicle. Once stopped, the IRS agent will test each tank, not DOT. The fines are issued based on the existing tank and the "mother" tank if known. If the vehicle operator has a storage tank with red dye on their property, and red-dye is found in their on-road vehicle, the fine is based on the large tank... Fines start at about a grand for the tank on the vehicle and if they prove red-dye tanks on your property linked to highway use, you are in mucho $$$$ trouble. Think 5 figures and up with many fines in the six figure region for gross offenders.

When I was a DOT officer, I worked a case with the IRS guys where the vehicle operator stopped at McDonalds for 99 cent breakfast sandwich. Parked the truck behind the business in public area (fair game for me to initiate action). When the IRS guys pulled the sample from the guys tank, I about croaked... Most of the red-dye samples were somewhat red indicating a dilute mixture. This guy was running straight red-dye - two one hundred gallon tanks plus a 2,000 gallon mother tank with no off-road equipment at all. I think they spent about 2 years on the case and fined the guy $80,000... Very expensive breakfast sandwich.

angela

I know someone who was caught "red handed" putting untaxed fuel from a separate tank which was in the bed of his truck, into his F-350's fuel tank. He runs heavy equipment btw. The fine was $10,000. and he had to submit to IRS audits for a specified period of time.

[chapo]

Wow, a shame the new Dodges only get 10-12 mpg, my concrete contractor has a mega cab cummins. dodge should go back to old school I guess. You would think Dodge would advertise everywhere a 30 mpg truck. It would end global warming. Gear vendors are over rated BTW, had one on a 7.3l non turbo.

[porsche4life]

Ya.. the damned emissions stuff really killed the new 6.7l Cummins...


However in the new trucks you have to get an automatic.... For some reason the automatics get taller gears than the manuals... Don't ask why...


None of the new diesel trucks do as good as their predecessors all the new EPA requirements crippled them big time...