I just bought a 1990 first gen Cummins pick up.

[moparmoynihan]

 110k miles, 5 speed 4wd 8 foot bed. Any pro's and cons on this truck? Non intercooled, can I intercool it easily?? Quick mods to make it scream?? Any help or advice will be awesome. Thanks Johnny 

[PocketThunder]

Which one did you get?  The one one Maryland?   

[moparmoynihan]

It was in Yonkers, NY. Its totally stock. I'm looking to modify this thing ASAP, with whatever is not going to make it unreliable.  Johnny.

[71green go]

I had one.......it was great on fuel, however we went thru 4 injector pumps for the thing in about 250,000 km...for about $1600 a pop...was crazy I sold it off after the 4th pump went

Then we figured time to dump it and bought a brand new Chevy diesel truck...what a total piece of crap....everything went on that motor....and many diesel pumps.....

I hope the newer diesel trucks are better.....I know the Ford diesel in my buddies company trucks are way more reliable and lots of power...thats the way I would Go

[694spdRT]

I would stay away from a Ford 6.0 at all costs. The older 7.3 Ford Powerstrokes are a good engine. I always thought the injection pump problems were mainly because of lift pump failures running the injection pumps dry on the newer trucks.   

I have a early 1991 non-intercooled W250. Mine was converted to a NV4500 5 speed when the Getrag gave out. It has 230,000 on it and the engine has never had anything done except fuel injectors and turbo. The non intercooled trucks have a little bigger injectors from the factory so that helps some. 21-22mpg was common with it back when I was using it all the time. I turned up the pump a little and it would walk all over dad's '97 12 valve dually on the hills. It doesn't have chance against my '05 though.

You can turn up the pump some and get a increased rpm govenor spring to start. Most guys say to put gauges in to watch the exhaust gas temps when you start playing with it. You can intercool it fairly easily if you find a 91.5-93 intercooled truck and rob all the intercooled parts. You will need the grill and (I think) the radiator support as well. I don't think anyone but BANKS was making a kit for them....that may not even be available anymore new.

Good old trucks IMO.

[moparmoynihan]

Thanks 694spdRT! I'm going to look into those mods first. I am going to get an EGT gaudge before I start anything. The intercooler will be done just for piece of mind. I would like a cool set of rims for it as well, any idea's?

[694spdRT]

I still have the factory rims on it yet. I do have another '93 W250 dodge with some aluminum American racing rims and they look good IMO. You might want to check out Summit. They have the wagon wheel type and many others for decent prices.

I forgot to mention...the throttle linkage has been known to not allow full travel as the trucks get older or have higher mileage. When I got mine the truck would top out at around 70mph with my foot to the floor. After adjusting the linkage it would bury the needle and response was much better. I have 3.54 gears BTW. If you have 4.10's top end will be different.

Good luck.

[Highbanked Hauler]

 Excellent  truck, If you aren't already, get on the Dodge diesel resource site. There is more knowledge there than in the library of congress. GET GAUGES FIRST before you do anything else  These trucks respond well to turning up the main power screw and other injector pump mods. If you turn up the fuel you raise the heat  ( EGT). Intercooling  a pre 91.5 takes quite a bit of effort and the guys on the diesel site can tell you how to get the most power for the buck.   To answer your question they are a great truck. I tow a 36 ft. GN trailer with mine and it works hard on a long hills but that's the only problem I have with it, other than that its a great horse.

[moparmoynihan]

Awesome Highbanked Hauler!!! I can't wait to start making this baby perform better.

[Silver R/T]

12v cummins are dependable and last a lifetime

[Highbanked Hauler]

Awesome Highbanked Hauler!!! I can't wait to start making this baby perform better.

Make sure that you have deep pockets as diesel parts ain't cheap. Also be sure that the rest of the drive line is in good condition  as 300 hp. is fairly easy to obtain  and you can start breaking parts .  These trucks are notorious  for funky brakes which will need to be addressed. Mine is proof of that

[moparmoynihan]

My brakes are mushy, I think its going to need a master. We'll see. its been a week now and I'm starting to find all the things that will need attention.

[73rallye440magnum]

Check out www.cumminsforum.com

I am a member there as well. EXCELLENT resource.

Get an EGT gauge before you do any tuning.
Tab your KDP soon.
Might not be a bad idea to change your fuel filter, most people neglect this. Diesels like clean fuel and clean oil.

I bought my '98 12 valve from the original owner last summer. Now has 192k miles. The only thing he ever replaced was the alternator and a battery.
I've replaced some parts since I got it. Fuel line, fan belt, rear axle shaft seals, valve cover gaskets, a u-joint, and I need some front end parts, and a heater core.

I got 20 mpg all winter. I get 21-23 in the summer. The Cummins 5.9 is in my opinion the most proven diesel ever put into a pickup.

[Go Hogs Go]

My advice would to be drive the truck for a while before you spend the money on engine mods. My 96 12 valve had mushy brakes and I thought it just had a bad vacuum pump. It had seen some salt and it turned into new rear drum brakes. Then we notice the front rotors were flaking and decide to replace them. In the process of replacing them the front one-piece wheel bearings came off in two pieces so new front wheel bearings on both sides. Them when we had the brakes fixed and we pumped up the lines the rear brake lines burst so we had to run new brake lines. After new brakes lines we still did not have a good pedal so we ended up replacing the master cylinder and the dump valve. After all that we still could not get a good pedal and it ended up needing front calipers too. The truck is awesome and I don't regret getting it, but if I had it to do over again I would have addressed these issues first before I spent money on accessories and mods.

[Highbanked Hauler]

 WHAT HE SAID!!!!!    Get on the diesel resource site and get on the first generation section and read A LOT before commit on something like your brakes, there are pages written on  1st generation brake problems. I don't know if a 90 has a RWAL valve or not if it does it is likely a part of the problem.  A  KDP  is Killer Dowel Pin and that can cost you a motor if it backs out hence  the need to tab it.