New 2015 Ecodiesel owner

[67_Valiant]

1st time eco owner here- my previous truck was a 2001 Ram 2500 with a Cummins. I just didn't need a 3/4 ton, and the registration for that truck was pricey.
I wanted a 1/2 ton, and i have been intrigued by the ecodiesel for some time now, but didn't want to take my chances on such a big investment; so I bought one at auction. It's a 2015 Lonestar 4x4 with the 6.4' bed and ~78k miles on it.

It had an engine fire which someone doused with about a bag of kitty litter! Just the cleanup of the litter has been a huge task. My goal is to get this thing running for under $10k total. So far, I'm into it for about $8,200 including:

Actual auction price ($4700)
Auction fees ($1082)
Transport ($1700)
Used intake manifold ($200)
Used engine harness ($175)
Engine cover ($70)
Cowl cover ($65)
Used turbo charge tube ($100)
New floor mats, ($75)
5 Glow plugs ($45)
Jack and tool kit ($20)

I'm expecting about $500 for DMV fees and another $200 for brake and lamp inspection. I've got the intake off, and I'm now cleaning underneath where this is still a ton of litter and crap. I noticed that 2 of the glow plugs heads were loose, so I tried to take them out and ended up breaking one.

I'm very excited about this project, and looking forward to sharing what i learn, as well as gaining knowledge from this forum.

-andy

 

[BoostN]

Interesting project for sure! Welcome to the site, glad to have you here!

 

[67_Valiant]

I thought I would give a quick update on this for those who are interested in purchasing a salvage and rebuilding.

I had hoped to be able to smog the truck with the broken glow plug (mentioned in the original post), but I've learned that the glow plugs are critically integrated to the rest of the engine management system, so I ended up needing to replace the left cylinder head. This required the purchase of some special tools I wasn't anticipating (for cam timing and injection pump timing). I also had to replace the DPF (found a good used one) which I think became plugged up due to running it too long with an inoperative glow plug).

Since doing all this, I was able to pass smog, brake and lamp inspection, VIN verification, and all the other hoops you need to jump through in California, and put about 1k miles on it. The only other problem was the tube from the air filter to the turbo intake popped off and tripped a couple codes, but that was easily remedied. I've taken it on a 500+ mile trip and got close to 25 mpg, including some towing and around town driving.

With the extra parts, I ended up at just under $12k total cost, so I exceeded my budget a bit, but still feel it was a great deal. I have to say I love this truck, and in spite of all the work, it was totally worth it!

I should add that the key soft tools for this project were AlphaOBD, and AllDataDIY