94 dodge ram2500 diesel code reader

From : dave com

Q: im surprised my dodge-dealer battery is still working...about 5 years now. i dont know what brand they use but i just had it inspected by an auto parts store advance autoparts. how reliable is their test all i know is he hooked it up to a few meters and said its good i guess he wasnt trying to sell me a new battery!. still i probably should replace it before i let it sit for 8 weeks in the winter right given that its almost beyond its life-expectancy....and theres a decent chance that it would be dead because of its age after i return from my trip and i dont want to hassle with that after a 30 hours of flying/travelling. that would be a huge hassle actually because in my specific case when i do replace the battery the whole cable has to be replaced also due to a few years ago...the cable head is essentially frozen on to or permanently stuck onto the battery terminal...for reasons i dont want to write anymore about....except for saying its related to alot of chemical build-up and deterioration which was removed a few years ago with part of the terminal and cable head eaten away. thanks for any comments and any recommendations on batteries or where to get a battery i have a 98 dakota v6. ooops im letting it sit it for 8 weeks...ive let it sit for 6 weeks in the past and all i do is top off the gas tank and add extra air to tires and sometimes change oil either before or after.. and thats all i plan to do now...i dont even disconnect the battery. but i dont know if long-term damage i.e. life-expectancy etc was caused by letting it sit for 6 or 8 weeks. just curious how would you know if its causing a problem or not since i would think any problems would not show up for maybe a year or 2 or 3... later i would think its very analagous to smoking...seems like no problem... until 20 years later. with a car i would think that it would be very hard to tell cause-effect problems if things like internal rust result from letting it sit and small cracks then eventually....etc.... mac even eight weeks wont hurt it although your battery may go dead in that time. many times we have a car on our lot that for some reason just doesnt sell and it can sit for eight weeks and even longer with no detriment. check your pdc and see if you have an iod ignition off-draw fuse if so pull it. it disconnects the radio memory etc. and keeps the battery from goind dead due to small drains from the computer. a battery will self-discharge over time though so when you return it wouldnt hurt to give it a charge before driving. mike i have about 80000 miles on my dakota but havent driven much in the past few years. i got a cooling system flush about 2 years ago but only drove between about 10000 or 12000 since then. the manual says to do it every 2 years or x number of miles...i think it says about 30000 miles....is it a good idea to change it before winter even if only about 10 or 12k miles but 2 years. im not sure how important the time factor is. i do plan to let it sit in a garage for about 6 weeks this winter when i travel overseas. a related question is some people/mechanics say to change the oil before letting it sit some say change it soon after returning instead. mac my .02 is to change the coolant every two years regardless of use and mileage. your coolant will likely retain its antifreeze properties much longer than this but the corrosion inhibitors do wear out with time. imho antifreeze is cheap and cooling systems repairs aint! did i mention i own stock in prestone ;^ as far as the oil goes six weeks is no time at all..... many cars sit on our lot for much longer with no adverse effects. if you were going to be gone six months or longer now thats a different story. if you want to change it though i would probably do it before you lay it up. mike .

Replies:

From : dave com

on wed 03 nov 2004 045738 gmt fmb fmbb@sbcglobal.net wrote i do have a rattle that showed up somewhere behind the dash today somewhere between the radio and the right side vent. no amount of holding anything would make it quit. it sounds like a metal tab of some sort vibrating when im at idle but it goes away after im gone up the road. ive not had the oportunity to take anything apart on this truck as yet it is still very young and im not too tempted to get my fingers into it right away. so far the plan is to pull the radio and see what i can see from there. any suggestions after that 2003 2500 laramie ctd 4wd with 52k miles not after that but before.... turn the radio up... its a dodge truck and its gonna rattle... .

From : tom lawrence

tbone wrote i have been running mine at 30 - 32 for the last 10000 with no problems including 4 round trips between jersey and nc. youre driving a 3/4 ton with load range e tires jerry im driving a 1/2 ton with e range tires but they didnt come original equip. well my 300 pound friend a e rated tire is probably in order for anything ya put yer wide ass in or on. bfg roy denny i sure left my backside uncovered for you and mac on that one... you sure did all of it. roy denny .

From : tbone

lights come on and stay on until i restart the engine. it seems to continue to run fine though! anyone else have this issue or have any ideas why thanks thats definately a strange one - but the first thing that comes to mind is the wire and connector going back to the rear-wheel abs sensor on top of the rear differential. that could be a loose connection and it could be flapping around in the wind causing an intermittent condition that gets the abs computer all upset. check out this connection clean the contacts grease it with some dielectric grease and tie-wrap the wiring down tight against the e-brake cable to prevent it from moving around. of course... this is assuming your 24v cummins engine is in a ram pickup chassis... not one of those neons or avengers or caravans equipped with a 5.9l diesel engine .