Injectors

First generation Duramax, if that's what he has have injectors that are know to fracture. They do not make new bodies anymore and all replacement injectors use old good bodies which is a good thing because it means they weren't ones that failed earlier.

Without better filtering, your Cummins could be in need of injectors at any time now. It's not uncommon for them to need replacement b and between 175 and 275K. Some go many times that. It all depends on how clean the fuel was over the years and that breaks down to plain luck.
Bosch wanted Dodge/Cummins to use 2~3 micron filtering but they haven't improved it unit recently. The best thing a Cummins owner can do is to add this filtering with something like a Glacier Diesel kit.
I would add the filtering now but be ready to replace injectors sometime in the future.

My relative's work Dodge broke down at 590,000 miles doing light freight work. It needed a head gasket and related kit. All other parts including injectors were within spec. Cross hatching still visible in the cylinders.

Just watch for white smoke at idle, or immediately after a warm start. Caused by an injector dribbling fuel into a cylinder (not seating properly). A leaking injector can also burn the piston, so if you suspect leaking, pull them all and have them tested.

Extended cranking time can be caused by low batteries, but also because the injector return rate is too high and it cannot generate enough rail pressure to fire an injector. The computer requires more than 5k psi before it will start pulsing injectors. If fuel is being bled off by the injector, it will take longer cranking time to generate pressure, if it is achieved at all.

If you don't have white smoke, long cranking times, or shaking/loping at idle, don't worry about it.

On high pressure common rails it will also dilute your oil thin enough to grenade your motor.

I'll assume his Duramax was an LB7 made form 2001 to 2004.5. The eighth VIN digit will be a 1. These had lots of injector problems. GM eventually issued an extended warranty on the injectors.
I wouldn't relate his failure to your completely different engine.

But at 200k you're probably on borrowed time if you only have OE filtration.
As mentioned though, if you don't have symptoms of leaking or high return rates you're still in good shape.

The halo test works also. On a clean paper towel drip hot oil from the dipstick and wait a little bit. If there is raw fuel in the oil it will separate into an outer ring that looks like a halo.
If your oil level is increasing that's another indication of at least one bad injector. Replace them all, will run about $3K.
You are in the target mileage. (so am I)

Yea my dad has an 03 Cummings Ram and he recently had to replace all of his injectors. He is at about 230k miles. He said it really mad a difference in how the truck started and ran. I would start noodling some cash away for a new set. The way I see it, it's not if, it's when.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Good friend of mine had a injector crack on his LB7 and dealer quoted him $7,700 to change all 8. He ended up going to a non dealer mechanic who did the job for $4,400 with the injectors themselves being $1,200 of that cost.

I run 3 micron Baldwin filters on my truck and if I run waste motor oil it's filtered down to 2 micron before going in the tank.

There's no G in Cummins btw ;)