<QUESTION> 1989 Dodge Ram 318 Thermostat
From : chevguy
Q: i e-mailed you but it bounced. e-mail full any way i am having tranny problems and would like to pick your brain. greg .
Replies:
From : tbone
17 thats it puss!!!!!!!!!! says... one of you guys with a plow get up here to northern pa and plow me out! damn we already had better than a foot on the ground now another foot and half. sure is pretty but what a mess! randy 17!!! damn sound like you need my truck mounted snow blower. i normally use a meyers blade but w/ that much ill have to put the blower on. -- bruce grant westminster md 95 2500 club 4x4w/dynatrac manual hubs cummins/auto 265/70rx19.5g .
From : chevguy
i know ive seen it posted here in the past but i lost all my bookmarks and also lost the procedure for overriding the fog lights in a 1998 durango to operate when the high beam headlights are on. can anyone help thanks folks! -- chris http//www.choxnpinz.com remove caps from e-mail address to reply .
From : bryan swadener
stephen harding harding@cs.umass.edu wrote in from experience i disagree that fwd is better. ive driven both for years and i prefer rwd. i have to agree. with rwd if ya know what you are doing you can move the rear of the car with just a tap of the gas. you can avoid a accident or at least lessen it. with fwd you are screwed. i dont deny that fwd is decent in the snow. my wife drives a eldo but it is a damn heavy fwd. also it has blizzaks on it which improved it by about 75% over the factory tires. but get into a slide and you are pretty much along for the ride not so with rwd. but now you are assuming that everyone has the skills to put a car into a controlled skid under a panic situation and that is a complete load of bull. most people in that situation just hammer the brake and in that case front or rear wheel drive makes no difference. yes a skilled driver can make a rwd move in the snow but an inexperienced driver can easily do it with a fwd. as for the tire sizes and the t/a my wifes intrepid rt has the same size tires as my 80 t/a and it has no problems in the snow with them. so we agree it all comes down to the driver. and fwd!! vbg denny .
From : chevguy
my first post to this group...hoping for some helpful advice. am presently pulling a 8000 lb citation fifth wheel with a 99 dodge ram 1500 5.2 engine...got about 9 mpg last summer get about 17 without the trailer. am looking at the following 2 vehicles; a demo 2003 6 speed 2500 ram with cummings manual shift 2 wheel drive for about $36000 canadian or leasing a new 2004 1500 ram automatic 5.7 hemi automatic 4x4 . am looking for any kind of advice or feedback. i may put 12000 kms annually on the truck its used to go back and forth to work approx 2 miles some casual driving and then family travel. for most outings we have a jetta tdi wagon. what advantages/disadvantages re the cummings vs hemi. service wear and tear on both. basically anything you can think of. thanks...peter for towing i would get the diesel! my opinion about leasing is negative. usually you get screwed in the end. cummins will also outlive the hemi put more miles on it etc. however the hemi is fun to drive! 4x4 comes handy in the winter time. in the end i would still go with the cummins. .
From : bryan swadener
diagnostic 82. fair... new plugs 106. $20 at the local auto parts store and about 15 minutes of your time cap wires rotor 189. $70 or so for the parts about 30 minutes of your time throttle body/injector service 198. $5 can of carb cleaner $8 bottle of injector cleaner and about 5 minutes of your time engine decarb service 99. $12 for two cans of mopar combustion chamber cleaner - about 15 minutes of your time serp belt tensioner 249. $80 for the part about 10 minutes to change it. another $25 or so for a new belt might as well front brake pads and rotors 397. $120-$150 in parts takes about an hour to do the whole job. rear brake adj. and clean 89. $5 can of brakekleen and about 20 minutes transfer case input seal 345. input seal usually its the output seal that leaks. if its really the input seal this is best left to a shop/dealership because the transfer case has to come out. well skip that one front diff service 128. $25 in gear fluid $4 for a tube of rtv and about 30 minutes rear diff service 138. see above transfer case service 50. $20 in atf and about 15 minutes total 2070.00 total diy - approx. $450 in parts and a good days worth of time. now i have no opinion either way on the charges the dealership quoted you... just that you or anyone could save more than a few bucks by doing this kind of stuff yourself. the throttle body injector decarb stuff seemed questionable and the rest of the stuff may have been a good idea but seemed overpriced. whaddya think its good to spray out the throttle body/intake every once in a while with a cleaner. the combustion chamber cleaner usually isnt necessary unless you have a pinging issue and suspect the chambers are fouled with carbon. for the fuel injectors just dump a bottle of techron in the tank once every few months - that keeps em good and clean. again with the exception of the t-case input seal theres no reason why you couldnt do everything else yourself. it doesnt have to all be done at once either - spread it out over some weekends. pick up a haynes manual for the brakes if you havent done them before haynes manuals arent any comparison to the factory service manual but for a brake job theyre more than adequate. .
From : bryan swadener
what a rip! i wonder what a differential service is anyway. brought my 99 durango in because it was idling rough and the check engine light was on. dealer found fault code for multiple misfires. he suggested diagnostic 82. new plugs 106. cap wires rotor 189. throttle body/injector service 198. engine decarb service 99. serp belt tensioner 249. front brake pads and rotors 397. rear brake adj. and clean 89. transfer case input seal 345. front diff service 128. rear diff service 138. transfer case service 50. total 2070.00 well that aint in the budget right now. i picked it up and paid the 82. for the diagnostic. went to the parts store for cap rotor and wires 70 bucks and replaced those this afternoon. it runs fine now. i know the brakes will need attention soon and im probably overdue for differential service. the throttle body injector decarb stuff seemed questionable and the rest of the stuff may have been a good idea but seemed overpriced. whaddya think .
From : tbone
i have a 1998 durango with the 360. a while back the gas guage started acting up when the gas level reached 1/4 tank. at that point the guage would alternate between reading 1/4 tank and well below empty not energized. this flip-flop would happen every minute or so. with the low fuel chime sounding every time the guage dropped below empty i was motivated to head straight to a gas station. on one occasion i was unable to pull over for gas. running late i decided to put up with the periodic chime alerts. on that 40 minute trip i developed another problem. i think they may be connected. i suspect that the flip-flopping guage and chime caused an electrical surge damaging another circuit. now my abs and parking brake idiot lights stay on all the time and my speedometer quit working. all this happened in one instant during a flip-flop. later i discovered that the door locks no longer lock automatically at 15 mph. ive checked fuses etc without finding a problem. i replaced the speed sensor but didnt get my speedometer back. anybody seen something similar to this have any ideas im ready to give up looking for the problem. thanks john .