Looking for a diesel truck

Actually I could use a couple.

Turbo charged direct injection only.

I'd prefer one with body damage, rust, etc. to keep cost down. I'm looking for a good engine.

I need a good working engine with complete wiring, ECU, etc.

I didn't put this in $20XX, because I am willing to pay more if necessary. I need a good runner I can play with, not a buildable project.

Body style doesn't matter either. Pickup, van, SUV. Actually, a good sized diesel box van would be perfect.

Prefer the Cummins 5.9L, or the Powerstroke 7.3L, although Detroit Diesel, Cat, International, Isuzu, etc. all work.

OBDII helpful.

Prefer Southeast.

Anybody got anything?

sounds like the beginning of something interesting.

If you want OBDII stay in the relm of normal passenger type trucks and vans when you venture into detriot/ Cat / International truck (powerstoke is same engine but) they use a commercial and heavy duty computer interface, with proprietary software and connectors. To get OBDII contectivity stick to pick ups and vans. That's all I had to add. Maybe a bread truck sold by a ford dealer might still have OBDII I guess it would be worth checking into.

LopRacer has good advice there. Another note on International engines, their version of the Powerstroke (they call it the T444E) has a lower governed engine speed than Powerstrokes in Ford pickups. The Powerstroke is probably your best bet, usually the cheapest one to get, at least compared to a Cummins or Duramax.

LopRacer wrote: If you want OBDII stay in the relm of normal passenger type trucks and vans when you venture into detriot/ Cat / International truck (powerstoke is same engine but) they use a commercial and heavy duty computer interface, with proprietary software and connectors. To get OBDII contectivity stick to pick ups and vans. That's all I had to add. Maybe a bread truck sold by a ford dealer might still have OBDII I guess it would be worth checking into.

Good point. Thanks for re-focusing me.

First stage OBDII would be best, so I'll keep it smaller.

81cpcamaro wrote: LopRacer has good advice there. Another note on International engines, their version of the Powerstroke (they call it the T444E) has a lower governed engine speed than Powerstrokes in Ford pickups. The Powerstroke is probably your best bet, usually the cheapest one to get, at least compared to a Cummins or Duramax.

Yeah, but I'd rather the Cummins if I have my choice.

We are doing testing for products that will ultimately be in OTR trucks, and the Cummins 5.9 is similar architecture to the 12L diesels commonly found on the road.

The Powerstroke has some comparables, so it would be moderately useful.

The Duramax isn't very similar to much of anything, so I'd rather avoid it. Other GM products like the 6.5L won't help me at all.

SVreX wrote: The Duramax isn't very similar to much of anything, so I'd rather avoid it. Other GM products like the 6.5L won't help me at all.

I thought the Cummins and the Duramax were both common rail making the Powerstroke the odd man out?

Similar fueling approach. Dis-similar combustion chamber design to larger OTR engines.

Cummins is almost identical to the larger Cummins engines.

Powerstroke vaguely resembles International engines.

Duramax (by Isuzu) is not an engine favored by OTR truckers. I think they would use the technical term, "crap".

SVreX wrote: Duramax (by Isuzu) is not an engine favored by OTR truckers. I think they would use the technical term, "crap".

I have heard this technical term used often in reference to the Duramax - by tow operators and other local delivery types. I don't want to derail your thread - but as a somewhat satisfied smoke-powered 2500HD owner I'm curious as to the origin. All they ever respond to "Why?" with is "we had one once and it broke". Since there have been a ton of revisions to it over the years... I wonder if it wasn't just a poor rep from teething issues in the early 2000 ones? If there is more to it - I'd love to be in the know before I'm in the poor house as a result.

OTR truckers tend to be very loyal to a particular brand, so take what they say with a grain of salt. If the Duramax was as bad as they say, the problems would be showing up by now.

I have a 97 F350 7.3L and love it. I bought it for $2900 here in Atlanta. I may be getting rid of it soon. I might be going overseas for a year and would plan on just getting another truck when I get back unless I renew my contract and go back over. Its not going to win a beauty contest thats for sure.

Here's a pic that also shamelessly whores out my track toy:

A few things to consider:

1. OBDII Dodge Rams - 96,97, and some 98s are not really OBDII but they do have an OBDII connector. Since they are a mechanically controlled engine, they do not output much from the ECU.

2. Diesel OBDII is not really like gas engine OBDII. Based on my experience with a 96 Ram CTD, 01 and 03 Duramaxes, 2002 Powerstroke, and 2000 K3500 with a 6.5. To do anything with them and see some data streams, you need a highly specialized scan tool. Tech II, EFI Live, Auto Enginuity, MTG-2500, Solus, etc.

3. The state of tune of a cheap used diesel light duty truck is going to be suspect at best. Unless you are catering to the lowest common denominator of over-the-road drivers running around with trucks with 15 year old engine technology, worn out injectors, and low compression on two cylinders, any test data you get from your typical $4,000 1999 Powerstroke would not have a real strong corollary effect.

81cpcamaro wrote: OTR truckers tend to be very loyal to a particular brand, so take what they say with a grain of salt. If the Duramax was as bad as they say, the problems would be showing up by now.

If your customer is OTR truckers, you'd better take what they say as the Gospel, whether or not it is true.

93gsxturbo wrote: The state of tune of a cheap used diesel light duty truck is going to be suspect at best. Unless you are catering to the lowest common denominator of over-the-road drivers running around with trucks with 15 year old engine technology, worn out injectors, and low compression on two cylinders, any test data you get from your typical $4,000 1999 Powerstroke would not have a real strong corollary effect.

You are right, but we are pursuing 2 different paths at the same time.

Actual scientific comparisons are being done in bench tests, combustion bombs, large scale dyno testing, and engine labs.

At the same time, we are developing some market information approach for our customers. The truth is, from a marketing perspective, an F-250 communicates more to some people than combustion bombs or engine labs.

In reply to 93gsxturbo:

I understand the limitations regarding diesel OBDII. For this purpose, we really only need easy readouts of instantaneous fuel consumption. OBDII seemed pretty easy.

See any issues with that?

Yes, I know it is a pretty inaccurate form of measurement.

Anti-stance wrote: I have a 97 F350 7.3L and love it. I bought it for $2900 here in Atlanta. I may be getting rid of it soon. I might be going overseas for a year and would plan on just getting another truck when I get back unless I renew my contract and go back over. Its not going to win a beauty contest thats for sure. Here's a pic that also shamelessly whores out my track toy:

How the hell do you get it arond the track with that giant friggin trailer??!!!!!!

/ as you were, continue.

Next possible idea I had was surplus school buses, can't imagne why as a bus mechanic it didn't pop right to mind some are outfitted with lager or more OTR type engines line Cats and international DT466 engines that share architecture with bigger engines. They can be bought pretty cheaply at auction when they are put out to pasture. Example is GovDeals.com has a section for buses as well as trucks.

I like it. I'll keep buses in mind.

Is it fair to assume they do not have OBDII's? What do they use for port/ scanner/ software? Proprietary?

Unfortunately not OBD, The scanner/software is generally the stuff used by the chassis builder example Freightliner or International.

12 valve Dodge's wont report anything, OBDII or not.

The rest will, accuracy is gonna be OK.

But if you were using a 12 valve Dodge for your research, you are SOL. That's so old-tech that its not even remotely relevant to modern OTR diesels. But don't let me discourage you, statistics can be used to prove anything. Just look at the Pontiac Aztec.

In reply to 93gsxturbo:

The B-series has similar combustion chamber design and burn characteristics to the M and N series, which are the most common OTR engines on the road.

They are not similar to new tier 3 and 4 engines (of ANY manufacturer).

But lots of older designed vehicles still exist, and we are working on different technologies for both of them.

There's a lot of territory out there. There are old vehicles and new ones. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

BTW, even 12 valve Dodges can yield quite a bit of info if you are using accurate independent dataloggers and sensors, dynos, or measuring the actual weight of the fuel consumed or the NOX emissions. In some ways they can be better, because there is less noise from all the other systems/ noise like EGR, urea injection, or the detailed engine management systems in newer vehicles.

Depends on what you are looking for.

I can't tell if we're talking about 18 wheelers or not.

I've always had a secret erection for turbo diesel pickups.

Always wondered what was the cheapest way to get one that was reliable.

Never looked out of fear of spending $$$$$$$$$$$

The products we make will ultimately be marketed to 18 wheelers and medium duty trucks (delivery, buses, etc).

But smaller vehicles (that give you a hard on) are a good test platform for a lot of the stuff we want to know, and significantly cheaper and easier to work with.

So, I am currently looking for a non-CDL turbo diesel truck (under 24,000 GVWR, no air brakes).

The school bus idea isn't a bad one. If you can find a pre 2003 model they still had the 7.3L engine, later models have the DT466 6 cyl. Also, look for Ford van based vehicle (van cab but different body) like church vans, shuttles, etc, quite a few show up on CL with Powerstrokes.

I was looking at a Volvo truck a few months ago according to Indiana state police you can drive a truck with air breaks with a regular liscence as long as it is non commercial use. Haul a paying load then that is a whole another thing. Personal use no problem.