Dodge Cummins Truck Generations and Pumps

Dodge Ram Truck Generations and Cummins ConfigurationsSeems like we get daily questions regarding Dodge Ram Cummins trucks and the various "Generations" or how they were equipped. Since we answer this question so often, we decided to make a quick reference table.

1989 - 1993 : First Generation : 5.9L Cummins : 12 Valve : VE Pump
1994 - 1998 : Second Generation : 5.9L Cummins : 12 Valve : P7100 Pump
1998.5 - 2002 : Second Generation : 5.9L Cummins : 24 Valve : VP44 Pump
2003 - 2007 : Third Generation : 5.9L Cummins : 24 Valve : CP3 Pump Common Rail
2007.5 - 2008 : Third Generation : 6.7L Cummins : 24 Valve, CP3 Pump Common Rail
2008 - 2016 : Fourth Generation : 6.7L Cummins : 24 Valve, CP3 Pump Common Rail

12 Valve vs. 24 Valve

12 Valve: Old school all mechanical design that is incredibly durable.  Mechanical lift pump and the timing is NOT continuously variable, it has all mechanical adjustments. This is arguably the best for relatively cheap power. No ECM's, no computer chips, just good old under the hood adjusting. The 1st Gen 12 valves ran from 1989-1993 and were very reliable but had a mechanical VE Rotary Pump. The 1994-1998 was the 2nd gen 12 valves and had a P7100 piston style pump. The VE in Bosch VE pump stands for "Verteiler" which is German for distributor or divider. Here is a link detailing the VE Pump:  VE Pump Details. You are not going to get the monster power from a VE pump that you can out of a P7100. You also need to know that the VE pump was in the first gen body style. The Piston style P7100 pump was available in the 1994-1998 trucks with 12 valves and 2nd gen body style. Many people now consider the crown jewel to be the 1998 Dodge Cummins 12 Valve Extended Cab truck because it had the "new" interior, the extended cab rear doors, but still retained the 12 valve P-Pump engine rather than the 24 valve VP44.

24 Valve: A lot of new or redesigned stuff from the original 12 Valve design. The 1998.5-2002 2nd Gen trucks used the VP44 Injection Pump which are often considered to be prone to failure which is usually due to Lift Pump issues so a fuel pressure gauge is a must have add-on for these trucks. The VP44 pumps have continuously variable timing, are electronically controlled, and were the first Cummins engines in Dodge trucks to accept aftermarket performance computer controllers such as fuel or timing boxes. These engines can make big power and a lot of noise. There are some headaches with this year range of the 24 valve engines but the engine is still a Cummins and essentially never quits.  For 2003-2016, the Dodge Cummins trucks are still equipped with a 24 valve cylinder head but over the years a lot of technology changes worked their way into the bottom end, pump, and injectors and things like galley cooled pistons came on scene. The 3rd gen trucks have the same electronic lift pumps overall with some on the engine like the 2003 and then later models were mounted in the tank. Later models have a CP3 Pump Common Rail injection system. In the Common Rail system, a CP3 pump pressurizes a common fuel rail that provides fuel to all 6 injectors. The injectors themselves are electronically controlled which allows for multiple injection events per combustion and highly optimized burn which is becoming very important for fuel economy and emissions regulations. The Common Rail 24 Valves are capable of incredible power. Performance programmers on these trucks can address pretty much every aspect of tuning from injection duration, rail pressure, and timing to highly sophisticated transmission control. The CP3 has proven to be FAR more reliable than the VP44 and are much quieter than all previous Cummins equipped trucks.