92 Dodge Dakota SLT extended cab long bed 4x4 3.9 V6 & 5 speed

92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV AWD

One or the other of the 86 Ford F250 6.9 diesels.

 

Well, got 'er home today. Flew down to Sacramento yesterday morning, checked 'er out, took 'er for a test drive, paid the man & hit the road about noon. Stopped for the night in Albany Oregon, and hit the road again this morning. 14 hours total drive time to cover 750 miles. Excellent opportunity for a "shake down" run. Here's the skinny on the good, the bad, & the ugly...

Turbo works just as advertised - runs 2-5 PSI at 60-65 mph (depending on load & throttle). Boosts up to 10 PSI on longer uphill pulls where I have to my foot in it.

EGTs in the 600-750 degree range most of the time - never climbed above 900 degrees even going over a 4300 ft. mountain pass.

Temp gauge is rock steady in the 190-200 degree range all the time.

Oil pressure steady at 40 PSI on the highway and 15 PSI at idle.

Aftermarket oil pressure, temp, EGT, and boost gauges already installed.

Drives great, pulls strong. Ran over 10 hours straight on Saturday and over 4 hours straight today somewhere in the 3000-3500 RPM range the whole time, and never seemed to mind at all.

Also has a sunroof installed - that wasn't even mentioned in the ad.

Pretty much all the stock gauges except the charge indicator have something wrong with them. Fuel gauge is all over the map for BOTH tanks. Oil pressure and temp don't even seem to be hooked up. Tach isn't hooked up - sender wires are both cut/broken off.

The 4.10s in the rear end have GOT to go. First gear is like granny-low. Useless for anything but rock crawling or uprooting tree stumps. At 65 mph (measured by GPS) the speedo shows 77 mph. Not sure what the RPMs are at that speed, but I'm pretty certain they are well over 3000 RPMs - maybe Dave can tell us with one of his spreadsheets. Definitely too high for my taste.

Tranny is probably going to need to be rebuilt or replaced. Growls in all 3 lower gears but not 4th. Loudest when not under load - like when you coast or lift off the throttle. I'm thinking some kind of issue with the counter shaft (a.k.a. jackshaft). Probably not an easy in-the-rig type of fix. Maybe I'm wrong, and if so, somebody please tell me so (before I yank it out).

Something started making a noise under the hood after about 300 miles. The sound is kind of a combination of a squealing/squeaking/whistling sound. Its pitch and frequency varies with RPM, and kind of sounds like it may be related to the turbo, since it doesn't even start until RPMs get somewhere above 1000. At first I though it was a turbo bearing, but given the RPM that the turbo spins, I can't imagine it lasting 7 hours (around 400 miles) with the engine running at a steady 3000+ RPMs the whole way. A bearing would lock up and fail a LOT quicker than that, wouldn't it?

Glowplugs are toast. It has a push button, and the PO recently put a set of Bosch plugs in it. They appear to be burned out already. The good news is he gave me back $100 cash to buy a new set

Sunroof leaks very slightly

The UGLY:
Fiberglass fender flares need repair (I knew this from the ad)

Driver's seat isn't in the greatest of shape. Not terrible, but not great either.

Speaker grill in the center of the top of the dash is all cracked and some pretty big chunks of it are actually missing.


So, I've got my new project home, and now its time to get to work on fixing all its little problems.

 

HEHEHEHEH.... sounds like you picked up and AWSOME project!!! I LOVE duallys!!!

Luckily for you the 4 speeds are eazy to come by and mostly bullit proof....

The upgrade to a 5 speed might also be a good one... had seen a few Diesel ZFs on craigslist in the WA area... Have some good info about clutch options for SMF and ZFs if interested... did not send you the 4X4 info as I figured you will not need it anymore

Good luck! cant wait to see some pics!!

 

even though cheeper you have to do some tweeks on it ,it still is a nice looking truck though. i think after a few turns of a wrench and it will make you a nice ride. wish i could come across a deal like that, i know were a couple are but the owner wont turn loose of them, they would rather see them rust to pieces than sell them. oh well go figure. lots of luck with the new truck.

 

You may be right about the whistling sound being turbo/intake related. Check any hoses and clamps on the intake. If a clamp looks/feels bad, replace it.

The sound may also be comming from the airbox if it's not sealing tight around the filter.

You can cover the holes where the speaker is with an old 6x9 speaker cover. Looks better than the holes and cracks

 

I thought you were being a little quiet the last couple days.

Doesn't sound like it's too bad, it got you back home anyway.

 

Cheaper, I have a Banks turbo on mine and it whistles as it spools up. Maybe that's what you're hearing.

 

Are you sure the noise isn't the alternator straining under too tight of a belt...
The PO may have just tightened it 'cause it "didn't look good" slapping around from
the impulse load of the vacuum pump...

Just a thought, -Tony

 

Not completely sure what the noise is. It started up about 200-300 miles into the trip home. Kinda' doubting the belt thing - since it didn't do it initally and started doing it without any changes to any of the belts. But anything is possible I guess.

Kinda' thinking/feeling the same way about the filter/hoses whistling idea. Not quite sure how it could have started with nothing having been disturbed. On the other hand, if it were the turbo spooling, I'd expect it to have done it all along - instead of going a couple of hundred miles and then starting to make noise.

I don't know what it is or what caused it to suddenly start. Part of the problem with diagnosing it is that the noise doesn't even start until the RPMs get up pretty high with the engine under load. That makes it a lot more difficult since it won't do it at idle or even if I rev it up in neutral. I'm sure it will take a little investigating, but that I'll figure it out with you guys helping....

 

Were you possibly pulling a grade when you started noticing it?


So how fast did it top the test hill?

 

Wondered when you'd chime in Dave. Now that you have, would you mind punching a few numbers into one of those spreadsheets of yours? I'd like to know how many RPMs I was turning at 65 mph with stock 235/85/16 tires, a 4 speed, and 4.10 gears in the rear end.

In answer to your questions, no, the first time I noticed it was not when pulling a hill, it was after making a fuel stop.

As for the test hill, I haven't tried it yet, because I haven't actually brought it home to my house yet. My wife went along with me buying it, but only on the condition that I get at least two rigs out of the driveway (a.k.a. sell them) before I can bring it home. Right now it is at my buddy's house about 25 miles from here.

I have no doubt that it will top the hill at more than 55 - which is the best my old NA has ever done. Though until I get the 3.55s in the rear, it really isn't a fair comparison....

 

2900 RPM at 65 MPH.
Not to good for fuel economy.

3300 RPM would be 74 MPH.
2450 RPM is 55 MPH.

If it had winter blend fuel in it originally and you happened to get straight #2 at the fuel stop, the turbo would spool better with the #2.
Or if you dosed it with Diesel Kleen, you may have cleaned out some deposits so it was getting more fuel.

 

Oh yeah, I'd been "dosing" it with Diesel Kleen all right. I bought a 96 ounce jug at WalMart and gave it a double dose (2 ounces for every 3 gallons fuel) every fill up all the way from Sacramento to Seattle.

I knew the RPMs had to be somewhere up there in the 3000 range. Calculating by the speedo's trip meter I was getting about 14-15 mpg, but of course the "real" mileage was only 12-13 mpg....