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Cummins, Duramax, Powerstoke?

Which Diesel is best?

  • Cummins

    Votes: 106 45.7%

  • Duramax

    Votes: 65 28.0%

  • Powerstroke

    Votes: 16 6.9%

  • CAT

    Votes: 31 13.4%

  • Detriot

    Votes: 12 5.2%

  • Other

    Votes: 2 0.9%
  • Total voters
    232
I'll chime in as an actual DMAX owner (okay, he got the DMAX, but I use to "own it")

Actual Engine issue's

92K 2 injectors went. They replaced all 8. Drove the truck home, and ended up going through 3/4 tank of fuel in the 32 miles it took to get home. Looked in the rear view on the way up the hill- diesel fuel all over the hill.

Oil pressure guage was runnin low, like 20psi under a load. didnt go any higher. only went to zero when letting off the throttle.

Called dealer- had it towed back.- explain to me how good it was for that fuel to be blown threw like that? Not very

2nd set of injectors had 1 bad one. Again, swapped all 8.

Thats really all we've had with actual engine issue's, and I know that they changed the design in the newer rigs. Ours- ER HIS is an 01.

Its got 132K on it now, and he's going to trade it. He felt he should have gotten at least 200K out of this truck before having to do 1/16th of what we've done to it

At the 1st oil change- 1K miles, we switched to Delvac 1, and have run synthetic since at 7500 miles.

He tows the Tractor, the trailer with 8 quads, and moves his brothers boat around for him.

I've driven a 04 Powerstroke, and a 96, and 01 Cummins (all his brothers trucks) I like the ride of the Chevy best, and the sound of the powerstroke. LOL I towed the tractor on the flat bed with the pstroke, and also the dmax, and the dmax seemed to work less going up my hill. The added bonus to the dmax is you get the allison with it. That transmission is incredible, though we've had trouble with that too.

Gesh after posting this im glad he got the dmax and I got the brand new rig LOL

Brandy
 
Well down here the guys go with the caterpillar for serious duty...like for dragging sea bottom all day long,fishing lobsters etc, etc. A captain i know just bough a 400hp cat(low speed) for his boat:75 000$. Thats a long term investment and the motor will still be running in 15 years.

Then come the John Deere motor...Tuff,reliable,easy to work on, low running cost.

Then i dont know i guess all guys think they have the best diesel engine!

That was my first two picks out of the bunch.
 
The engine waranty from cummins

in our 18 wheelers is 500,000 miles. The engines seem to be good to 900,000-1,000,000 miles before requiring overhauling. That's an N-14 engine, not the P/U engine though.

Fred
 
MudNurI said:
I'll chime in as an actual DMAX owner (okay, he got the DMAX, but I use to "own it")

Actual Engine issue's

92K 2 injectors went. They replaced all 8. Drove the truck home, and ended up going through 3/4 tank of fuel in the 32 miles it took to get home. Looked in the rear view on the way up the hill- diesel fuel all over the hill.

Oil pressure guage was runnin low, like 20psi under a load. didnt go any higher. only went to zero when letting off the throttle.

Called dealer- had it towed back.- explain to me how good it was for that fuel to be blown threw like that? Not very

2nd set of injectors had 1 bad one. Again, swapped all 8.

Thats really all we've had with actual engine issue's, and I know that they changed the design in the newer rigs. Ours- ER HIS is an 01.

Its got 132K on it now, and he's going to trade it. He felt he should have gotten at least 200K out of this truck before having to do 1/16th of what we've done to it

At the 1st oil change- 1K miles, we switched to Delvac 1, and have run synthetic since at 7500 miles.

He tows the Tractor, the trailer with 8 quads, and moves his brothers boat around for him.

I've driven a 04 Powerstroke, and a 96, and 01 Cummins (all his brothers trucks) I like the ride of the Chevy best, and the sound of the powerstroke. LOL I towed the tractor on the flat bed with the pstroke, and also the dmax, and the dmax seemed to work less going up my hill. The added bonus to the dmax is you get the allison with it. That transmission is incredible, though we've had trouble with that too.

Gesh after posting this im glad he got the dmax and I got the brand new rig LOL

Brandy
Click to expand...
That unfortunately seems to be a problem with the early Dmax's. Our turbo supplier also sells a lot of performance products for diesel pickups and said 17 of his Dmax customers had the same problem as you mentioned above. Regardless....thats over with since they corrected the problem.
 
1-ton said:
CAT is the best, but you cannot get one of those in a passenger truck (at least any passenger truck that I am familiar with).
Click to expand...
I agree.
I voted cummins cause I figgured this was for passenger truck.
 
rjfguitar said:
That unfortunately seems to be a problem with the early Dmax's. Our turbo supplier also sells a lot of performance products for diesel pickups and said 17 of his Dmax customers had the same problem as you mentioned above. Regardless....thats over with since they corrected the problem.
Click to expand...

I dont think the problem is over. There are thousands of early dmax's out that havent had the problem yet. Doesnt mean they're not going to. The hardest part bout it is if it happens after the 100K mark, these owners are going to have to pay. The 2 times it was in for injectors cost GM about 6K for our truck.

Just because they redesigned it doenst mean the new ones are going to not end up with the same or similar problem.

I love the power of the dmax, and the way the 2500HD rides....but I dont think many dmax owners, who have had the injector issue, will be buying another one. take into account we were without the dmax for a total of 5 weeks during this stint, and its a work truck. Luckily we had more than 1 work truck, but some guys- this is the only truck they own...hate to see how much money some of them lost not having a rig

Brandy
 
MudNurI said:
I dont think the problem is over. There are thousands of early dmax's out that havent had the problem yet. Doesnt mean they're not going to. The hardest part bout it is if it happens after the 100K mark, these owners are going to have to pay. The 2 times it was in for injectors cost GM about 6K for our truck.

Just because they redesigned it doenst mean the new ones are going to not end up with the same or similar problem.
Click to expand...
1. I meant the problem is over because the injector design has been redesigned. Obviously, the guys with the early trucks still are not off the hook.

2. The new LLY engine will not have the same problem at all. The LB7 engine had internal injectors where as the LLY has external injectors now.
 
MudNurI said:
I dont think the problem is over. There are thousands of early dmax's out that havent had the problem yet. Doesnt mean they're not going to. The hardest part bout it is if it happens after the 100K mark, these owners are going to have to pay. The 2 times it was in for injectors cost GM about 6K for our truck.

Just because they redesigned it doenst mean the new ones are going to not end up with the same or similar problem.

I love the power of the dmax, and the way the 2500HD rides....but I dont think many dmax owners, who have had the injector issue, will be buying another one. take into account we were without the dmax for a total of 5 weeks during this stint, and its a work truck. Luckily we had more than 1 work truck, but some guys- this is the only truck they own...hate to see how much money some of them lost not having a rig

Brandy
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, the newer Cummins common rail motor uses the same (or very similar) injector as the D-max (manufactured by Bosche). If you buy the CR cummins over the D-max because of injector reliability, you have bought for the incorrect reasons...
 
Leadfoot said:
If I'm not mistaken, the newer Cummins common rail motor uses the same (or very similar) injector as the D-max (manufactured by Bosche). If you buy the CR cummins over the D-max because of injector reliability, you have bought for the incorrect reasons...
Click to expand...
I'm sure it's a different injector. Besides, Dodge doesn't have the same problems with their injection system on the Cummins. If there was a problem we would have seen it a couple of years ago when the ISBE was first introduced.

Regardless, no one should buy a Dodge or Ford to get away from leaky injectors since GM fixed the problem 1.5 years ago anyway.
 
I've got a 95 powerstroke F350 with 268K on the clock and have only changed the oil fuel/air filter service transmission and had to replace the AC compressor a few times. Its an automatic with an E40D (not the best transmission) I have a few freinds with diesels one with an 01 Duramaxc and a freind with an 04 2500Cummins 4X4. My little old Powerstroke outpulls both. All i've done is ad a chip and 4" exhaust and a tranny cooler. I get 15MPG city and 22Hwy. Towing I get 10City and 17Hwy. I've never been on the Dyno but I cant imagine its producing more than 350Horse and 375PF tourge.

In Texas and in the horse/cow business you see 90% powerstrokes becuase they last and pull hard. The 1999+ Powerstrokes have better transmissions and stronger electronics and do pull harder than mine. The Super Duty truck comonents are based off of a commercial grade 24ft box truck. Built ford tough only reins true in the truck category. There every day cars and small trucks blow.
 
It's a 95 powerstroke 11 years old made in October of 04, stock numbers were 250HP and 325LBft tourge. They are newer and suppoed to be better.
 
Doesn't matter if yours is bombed. Chip will push it a lot more than you think. You think in reality you could beat them if your numbers only went up a little bit? Impossible. Your numbers are near equal if not surpassing now. 7.3 was a pretty good motor, even if it was IDI. One thing they don't have to worry about but you do........glow plugs.
 
True glow plugs are something I know I will be investing in shortly and when its under 40 here. Damn its a bitch to start. The chip is only a 50HP chip. We couldnt go to heavy as we use this thing soley for towing.
 
For a pickup, I think cummins has the best bang for the buck. Dodge trucks on the other hand, suck. They're the only diesel I've heard of being swappped into another brand. Guy named DWitcher over on Towrig would be good to talk to. He might be on here too.
 
Which Diesel?

I worked at a Ford/Dodge dealer as a tech, and those "Powerchokes" are nothing but headaches, and parts cost a fortune. Damn things can't go around the block without something going wrong with them. Cummins, on the other hand, I rarely saw any problems with at all, and thier owners absolutely loved them. I saw a few come in that needed lift pumps, but usually we could attribute that to the owner just not keeping up on the maintenance. Regular oil changes are the key with diesels. As for the Duramax, I've heard good reviews from the owners of them, and the techs working on them say they can be a little hard to work on, but otherwise they're pretty good though. Still, overall the Cummins still come in at #1.

What's funny is I've heard that FORD actually owns Cummins, but because of contractual obligations in place when they bought them, they can't put them in Ford's yet, and have to still make them for Dodge. The Powerstrokes are made by International, and the Duramax by GM/ Isuzu.
 
I voted that the D-Max is the best. I actually think the Cummins is the best, but I voted for the D-Max because of the truck as a whole and due to the Allison Transmission. I think the best combo is the D-Max/Allison combo.
 
i voted fot the isuzu. since i work at the isuzu dealer.
the rumor is in 06 the dm will have a 6speed allison auto.
which i will be buying.
 
my DD is a '96 5.9 dodge cummins, and I Love it..... I can't wait to add some hop ups to it, but don't have the $$ right now.... it gets better milage than my dad's '00 powerstroke.............. the only downside to dodge trucks from this era is the the junky auto's that the engines are mated to.... I've yet to have any problems with anything on the truck. its 132,000 and goin strong.
 
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