PIECE O' SH*T TRUCK! I have had to replace the engine and transmission both on a diesel truck with less than 85000 miles! The engine had a 53 block, which is known to be prone to cracking. Sure enough, it did and I had to have the engine replaced at my cost of almost $5000. This truck has been taken care of, oil changed, maintenance done. It's ridiculous that I had to pay for a defect that Dodge knew about and refused to fix. Luckily, I knew in advance that it would fail, so I had some money (not enough it turns out) set aside to fix the problem.

I have universally believed and been told that Cummins made the toughest and finest diesel engines in the universe - and that the 5.9L was the best of the best. Only to have the block crack on mine, and to find out that a large number of them have had the same problem down to the size and location of the crack. Obviously, there was a casting problem in the plant in Brazil. It's disconcerting to find out that the Cummins community seems to keep this major defect on the down low, but also to find that this allegedly "perfect" engine is as mortal as any other, and apparently worse - inasmuch as you hardly EVER hear of a cracked block since the 50's.

I'll not risk another 5.9L. It has cost me dearly and disappointed me tremendously. Also, the fact that Cummins doesn't care (albeit the engines are old now, but not always high mileage, as in my case) about the matter is disturbing. I am not one of those who feels a car should be warrantied for life by the manufacturer - but when there is a universal identical failure of such a component as an engine - I expected more from the 'perfect engine company'.

I bought the truck with 104K miles on it. Come winter time when i needed heat we checked the obvious, thermostat...the thermostat was modified (the top was cut). We replaced it. Then it started over heating and there was antifreeze everywhere. After further research and about $250 worth of antifreeze we found that the #53 block had a manufacturer defect and would crack. I had to call straight to cumins and talk to them directly and all they did was cover the price of the block which was about $1800 i cover the rest which was about 5K because i didn't have a warranty.