'94 Dodge 2500 Cummins...Good/Bad?

[Wilson]

I'm looking for a new tow rig, the duramax was nice while it lasted, but is now becoming a full-time company truck . I came across a '94 Cummins, is this the old style engine? Is it a turbo? Is it still a good truck? What should I be looking for when I go look and test drive it?

[The Jerk]

is it an auto? depending on the milage and shape id say go for it if it meets your needs. when i go to get a 2nd gen dodge i want 96+ jsut because 94 is the first year of change which means things were addressed in teh later years.

jiMMy

[freds40]

If It's a nice truck and in good shape I'd say go for it. Like was said, you might find a couple of problems but they are still solid trucks. Auto trans might be a problem but like everythung else, it can be fixed. I have a '97 and I love it.

[stone]

i have a 94. it will be the 12v turbo. the easiest and cheapest of all cummins to modify. if it is auto you can plan on doing a tranny in the time you have it. the motor is rock solid and you should never have a problem with that. i just went through a tranny fiasco but that is mainly because i took it to a place that was not as advertised with reguards to any diesel tranny. i cant tell you of one single thing to look at when you go drive it. but the basics would be smart. look underneath to see how much oil/tranny fluid is under it. see if its dry. look to see where the tranny cooler is located. there was a recall to have them moved off the frame rail so make sure thats been done. see if the check valve on the tranny has been eliminated or not. when you drve it make sure to notice if it needs ball joints. very common problem people over look. when you drive it look to see if it burns clean. it should almost no blackcloud at all. stockers like that run fairly lean. the paint on the hood will prob be bad. in 94 the hood paint and rook paint has faded and flaked on most 94 non repaints. other than that i think you will like it.

[Wilson]

It is a 5spd and I thought the smoke cloud was a dodge thing? I'm going to call on it at work today and get some more info. It's advertised as "hi-mileage" but not sure what that means since it is a diesel.

[freds40]

If it's producing a bit of smoke you might ask if anythng has been done to the motor. Definately see how tight the trans feels as around 150k they either have been or will need to be rebuilt. Depending on how good of a deal it is, up to 200,000 still isn't too bad on the mileage end.

[GOAT1]

I have a 94 CTD 5 spd. I bought it used with 140K miles. The motor and trans is solid but the rest of the truck was improved upon throughout the years. I got a smoking deal on it so it is worth any potential problems or upgrades. The 94's were pre EGR and pre Catalytic coverter. You will have a Dana 80 rear and a 60 front if it is 4wd, the earlier fronts were only 30 spline, but not a problem for me. Later on they added a rear sway bar, changed the shifter for the 5 spd so it has shorter throws, moved the cup holders to the floor (get the Geno's garage console cup holders) and they upgraded the panhard bar end but the later ones are not much better. The paint on the earlier ones has problems and you may want to check the 5th gear nut. There were a few chassis/interior problems that were recalled being a first year model. See if the upgrades were performed, mine had a steering column recall and some reinforcements on the front coil buckets.

[ddestruel]

94 12v 5spd with smoke. probably timing has slipped or never been checked and there is a good chance the valves havent been adjusted. those two things probably will alleviate that but verify if its white smoke or blue.

[TornadoTJ]

By the way, there are no non-turbo Cummins Dodge trucks.