02 with 5.9l gas dependability

Greetings all, I am looking at purchasing a 2002 Ram 1500 with the 5.9l v-8 gas motor tomorrow that has 147000 miles and has been well cared for its entire life. My question is are these good reliable motors and how are they for towing things. I haven't owned a Mopar product since 1977 at which time i had a 1969 Dart swinger 340 4-speed that was a bad *** little car. In any case any advice would be greatly appreciated, I will be towing a 26ft enclosed car trailer with a hot rod and sometimes an airplane but not very often, a couple of times a month and not very far, will the transmission hold up?? Give me your thoughts.

The 5.9 gas is a great engine if you expect great gas mileage it won't but pull it will . Don't know about the third gen transmission I had a 2nd gen but pull it will and the 5.9 is really a reliable engine .

5.9 is a great motor. A little bit of a boat anchor stock but very durable and dependable.
Very modifiable. Tons of parts available for beefing up HP.
Has a drinking problem.

The tranny is adequate. Not great.
Doesn’t like to be abused. Will work almost forever if you are kind to it.

Thanks for the input just what I was hoping to hear. Not too concerned about mileage it is what it is. What type of modifications are available for the 5.9 and where do I look, I tried searching this site but didn't really find anything, seems like most everybody has the hemi. I assume there is a chip or program for it??

hemidann said:

Thanks for the input just what I was hoping to hear. Not too concerned about mileage it is what it is. What type of modifications are available for the 5.9 and where do I look, I tried searching this site but didn't really find anything, seems like most everybody has the hemi. I assume there is a chip or program for it??

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As a 5.9 owner it's a solid engine previous owner didn't do regular maintenance on mine and it never showed spark plugs were almost non existant. I wouldn't mind giving it a little pep but not sure about the cost tbh

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190K miles on mine so far, it was used as a work truck till 170K that pulled heavy loads before we bought it but it was taken care of.

We have done our fair share of hauling with it and it has been pretty good, however!

The engine has a bit of a lifter tick at the moment, I run a 10w-30 high-mileage oil and have great oil pressure, but the tick isn't getting any better. When you load the engine up in the lower RPM's it likes to ping, a lot! I do not have a plenum leak as of 4 weeks ago, and wires are routed as per service bulletin, I probably need to replace the PCV valve and add a catch can.

I replace literally everything in the cooling system, Expansion plugs, pump, radiator, rad cap, gaskets, hoses, thermostat, it all came crashing down around 180k miles.

I changed out the torque converter and all fresh fluid 5k miles ago and it was running great, but then I went to the car wash and my TPS and IAC died during the washing process. Everything was dry under the hood but I replaced them and now it runs, but shifts like **** and idle sucks ass. No clue what is happening there.

Torque converter didn't want to unlock sometime, now with the new TPS it pretty much never wants to unlock after it locks up and tries to stall the motor. I'm going to warranty it again, this is the 3rd BWD sensor that failed on me in less than a year. . . Pretty sure this TPS will kill my trans with the way its acting. Redid all my grounds just 2 months ago so that's not the issue.

Overall it has been an ok truck, nowhere near as reliable as my 92 Cherokee with 180k, or my friends 01 Silverado with 370+k city miles (used for landscaping).

With my experience I would opt for a Hemi or 6.0 Silverado, but I really dislike the Chevy interior!

The 5.9 will pull a house. Tranny can be a problem if high miles. I have 192k on mine and it still runs like new. Lost my tranny last month, so now it has a rebuild. Should last another 100k. Mileage when pulling medium loads is not bad. I average 12mpg pulling and 14mpg regular driving.

They are dogs in stock mode. Get a superchips tuner and it is a whole new motor. This really is The only motor that will gain 50hp from a tuner. That is because the stock tune is so detuned from the factory. Trust me, it is night and day difference. The 02 will not allow tranny tuning, so no reason to spend money on custom tuners.

Maintain the truck and it will run forever. If it is high miles, plan a tranny rebuild, if it has no been done.

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I agree with bulride8 mine passed 200k a while ago its a damn tank I've not abused it more than necessary Hope to get another year or two out of it

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They are dogs in stock mode. Get a superchips tuner and it is a whole new motor. This really is The only motor that will gain 50hp from a tuner. That is because the stock tune is so detuned from the factory. Trust me, it is night and day difference. [/QUOTE]

I have the stock Magnum 5.9 ...so where would I purchase a superchip tuner for this engine?.......what is required to install?....50 hp will definitely help my
lack of muscle towing!

Look on eBay or on the for sale stuff on this site. Should be able to find an older one for around $100-150. You can go online and update the software on it.

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thirsty af but run forever