My newest Mopar, not an A body

[Mopar to ya]

I needed a truck to haul my boat and ATV and didn't want to spend much money. I just got rid of my old Tahoe that my daughter smashed up, but needed an open bed to haul the ATV. I found this on Craigslist, 14 miles from my house. It's a 98 Ram 1500 4X4 with a 360 and best of all - a long bed. It does have 200K on it. It has a little rust starting here and there - not too much though. Mostly the bottom of the passenger door and the right rear fender arch. It has the 360 and the motor is dry. Just a very small leak starting at the valve covers, but very minor, just seepage. The tranny lines are dry. He got stuck turkey hunting this spring and the 4WD went out, and after rocking it back and forth it developed a miss and the check engine light is on. It feels like a wire arcing and they look original. It shakes a little at idle but smooths out under higher rpms. He just put in axle u-joints and the seals are dry front and back, the diffs and t-case are dry as well. It has a 2" receiver hitch and electric brakes. The brakes have a pulsation but the pads are newer. The interior is a little dirty on the carpet, but otherwise perfect. All I have to do is figure out the misfire, throw some rotors on it, and fix the 4WD. Would you believe $1300?
View attachment New truck.jpg

 

[sr71mopar]

Good score. Super easy to work on and find parts for.

 

[daredevil]

Should be able to click the key on and off 3 times and on the 3rd time leave it on and the codes will appear in the odometer window. google the code and you will know which cylinder is missing.

 

[Mopar to ya]

Should be able to click the key on and off 3 times and on the 3rd time leave it on and the codes will appear in the odometer window. google the code and you will know which cylinder is missing.

You old time dog, you! I am sure it has a misfire, but if it were only that the CEL would be flashing. I am hoping it has a misfire and the resulting rich exhaust set an O2 sensor code that is keeping it on steady. I work in a shop. I am picking it up Wednesday night and will drive it to work on Thursday. I'll scan the codes and diagnose the driveability issue and slam on some brake rotors after close. If I have time I'll look into the 4WD but I'm in no rush on that. It's springtime in Minnesota ... who needs 4WD?

 

[Mopar to ya]

Wow, I just checked online with our supplier. Rotors are less than $20 each. I'm liking this more and more!

 

[Mopar to ya]

The plugs looked good, the wires were crap, the cap worse, and the rotor horrendous. I changed them all and it still misses. It's probably the intake gasket sucked in but I need to do a compression check to see if I have a bad hole. God, I hope not. I get to the brakes and someone had pad slapped it. The rotors were paper thin and it looked like they were grinding and someone threw pads at it anyway. I put on new pads and rotors and it stops perfectly smooth now. Got a stereo in it tonight. I have driven it two days now, and it seems to do alright except for that misfire on cylinder 5.