I hit 500,000 miles on my old Cummins today...

Pulled into the shop this morning and noticed the odometer rolled over to 500,000 exactly on my 1998 Dodge 2500. I've had it for about 12 years now, and it still starts up on the first crank most days. Never done a full rebuild, just regular oil changes and injectors once around 300k. Anyone else got a high mileage engine that's still going strong?

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.emma2mo ago

Half a million is impressive, don't get me wrong, but I've seen guys baby those old 5.9s and still have the head gasket go at 400k. It's more about how it was driven, not just oil changes. You're lucky if you never had to do the lift pump or the injection pump on that thing (they're famous for failing around 250k). I'd be more impressed if you told me the transmission was original too, because those 47REs don't usually make it that far without a rebuild.

danielm802mo ago

That thing about the injection pump and lift pump failing at 250k is spot on. I had a buddy with a 5.9 that went through two lift pumps before 300k miles. What worked for me was just staying on top of the fuel system stuff early. I replaced the lift pump with a FASS setup at 200k and never had an issue after that. And yeah the transmission is original but I had it rebuilt at 350k just to be safe, those 47REs are weak spots for sure if you don't treat them right.

patricia322mo ago

Remember my old buddy had a 1990 Ford F-250 with the 7.3 IDI, he put nearly 600,000 on it before he sold it to a kid who ran it out of oil after a month. That engine wasn't as powerful as your Cummins, but it would chug along forever if you kept the glow plugs working and didn't rev it to the moon. Funny thing is, he always swore by Rotella oil and changed it every 3,000 miles like clockwork, but he never touched the transmission either until the syncros started grinding around 450k. Your 500k mark is something else though, those old 12-valves just keep going if you treat them right.