98 1500 5.2

[palmerjp]

Hey all,

New user here. Been looking at a 98 1500 5.2 with 118K on it. I've seen some posts asking what to look for on the 5.9s and was hoping you could tell me what to look out for on that year/motor.

thanks!

 

[Stegs]

Hey all,

New user here. Been looking at a 98 1500 5.2 with 118K on it. I've seen some posts asking what to look for on the 5.9s and was hoping you could tell me what to look out for on that year/motor.

thanks!

first off welcome to the forum.

I too have a 98 with a 5.2, so thumbs up for that! And with 118 on it is a low mileage score


the number one thing you will hear about with these motors (5.2 and 5.9) is the plenum gasket.

signs of a plenum gasket will inlclude knock/ping under load (what i had) Also oil consumption and a few other signs

Dont let this scare you, hughes makes a delete plate that will fix the problem or you can upgrade your intake to a hughes or a mopar m1 (i personally did the mopar m1)


You may hear about weak cylinder heads.....I never heard of anybody personally have one go bad....


these motors are great, i know of a few 318s and 360 with well over 200k on them with no issues


On your truck, whether you know the history of it or not, plan on doing a good full tune up with good parts (dont go cheap with parts)

cap/rotor, good wires, autolite or ngk plugs

id take a good look at the water pump also....plan on new in the future


Enjoy the truck, take care it and it will take care of you!!

post pics of it too, we like pics here!

 

[palmerjp]

Thanks Stegs - any concerns with the transmission?

 

[Stegs]

Thanks Stegs - any concerns with the transmission?

this is where you get into a crap shoot

my uncle has a 94 (one of the first for the 2nd gen body style) and has never had a issue ever with his truck. His biggest repair was a new radiator a few years ago


my 98 has zero issues also, but some people replace them every other year....


First thing i ever did to my truck was a trans cooler with the check valve removed.

Now, Im good friends with a guy who owns a trans shop (he did my new valve body and shift kit)

he told me that alot of the bad transmissions are just converter failures. The trans itself is fine, but the converter goes out and the trans shop will sell you a full rebuild b.c it makes them money.

I replaced my oem converter, not because it was bad, i just went with a different stall


If it were me buying the truck, first thing is a trans cooler...and i mean asap.

From there do a trans filter and fluid change (do not flush it ever!!) just drain and refill......


Drive it for a few months and do it again...now you didnt force crap back into your system...its caught in your new filter

 

[palmerjp]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Stegs]

Thanks for all the advice!

pics!!

 

[dapepper9]

When you do the plenum go ahead and pull the fan and shroud off so you can stand in the engine bay and do the timing chain and water pump while you're there and have it apart. Chains stretch over time and water pumps crap out so it's easier to do everything while you're already there than do it later in a rush or under bad circumstances. Stegs is right on about going with a tabby cooler (I didn't add one as mine came with one) and delete check valve. When these trans die if it's not the converter another common part is the governor pressure solenoid (borg warner from cascade transmission). Super easy to do and you can do it while you're doing trans fluid and filter.

That's just my 2 cents from my own personal experiences and from what I've seen around here

 

[MagSport]

When you do the plenum go ahead and pull the fan and shroud off so you can stand in the engine bay and do the timing chain and water pump while you're there and have it apart. Chains stretch over time and water pumps crap out so it's easier to do everything while you're already there than do it later in a rush or under bad circumstances.

+1 to that I would've done it when I swapped my intake but I was already in a rush so I put it off until I have a lot of time to do it.


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