First diesel. Need help

Hi y’all. First post so if this belongs elsewhere please advise.


Just bought my first diesel. 2000 f650 dump. 5.9 Cummins. 24v. Single axle. 6 speed manual, Eaton I think. Only has 13,500 miles on it. Looks like a brand new truck inside. Got a REALLY good deal. Plan do use it on the farm but more importantly will be pulling a 12k lb mini excavator from time to time. Compression is good. Head gasket is good. No oil leaks anywhere. Engine light is on but starts fine, idles smooth, feels fine around town. Only thing is, it’s a pig on the highway. No torque. Can’t maintain speed up hills.

Just dropped it off to my mechanic. Gonna do a full service, new trans and diff fluid, air filter etc. Gonna install an Air dog system. Plan for an exhaust brake or Jake brake if one is available. Hopefully the lack of power is just a MAP sensor or something but we’ll see.

My question is this. Do I need any more power out of that setup to pull that mini ex? If so, what would you guys recommend? Who could do a tune for it? I had considered maybe an injector upgrade. The big thing is I want it bulletproof. Thanks in advance.

Brian

What is the engine rated at power wise?

Cam, turbo, possibly some mild injectors, and a 100hp or less tune. And "bulletproof?" That term is so damn stupid. $.02

Welcome to the site.

Current horsepower is I believe 235. I’ll post the engine plate. By “bulletproof” I just mean reliability/durability is more of a concern than absolute maximum performance. All I need is “enough” lol.

How do I post a photo?

Cast1 said:

Current horsepower is I believe 235. I’ll post the engine plate. By “bulletproof” I just mean reliability/durability is more of a concern than absolute maximum performance. All I need is “enough” lol.

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235 HP ins't "enough" in my opinion to hold 60-65 uphill in a dump truck with a trailer. Main concern about your tune will be EGT's.

Does going to a p pump get around any of those issues?

Cast1 said:

Does going to a p pump get around any of those issues?

Click to expand...

By itself, no.

Edge comp and an EGT guage is what I’d do on that truck. That’s a lot of truck for 235hp.

What does the truck weigh empty? And does the 12k pound figure mentioned include the trailer weight?

Weight does not include the trailer. I’ve not had it on scales but I would guess somewhere around 12k lbs curb weight.

My advice would be to resolve any issues it may have related to the engine light, then make a test run with the load you desire to haul and base your decision as to how much power increase you need on the results.