What did you do to/with your second gen today?

[Yeret]

Water pump blew up on the way home from work. Fortunately, it happened near the end of the week!

Haven't done a water pump since my old Buick some 15 years ago, and this was my first go doing one with a mechanical fan. Not too bad, but damned messy! Drain the cooling system all you want, you pull the hoses and still get a big splash of forbidden Mountain Dew. Lots of kitty litter was used.

 

[Matt Bell]

New tires, fluids/filter, band adjustment, and some wipers.

 

[TXd150]

I’m well into doing an engine install. The old engine is out and the new engine is on a stand getting whatever parts I’m gonna re use. Of course I’m cleaning everything with parts cleaner before it goes on. I managed to get the valve covers, timing cover, distributor, oil pump/pickup, and oil pan on today. Tomorrow I’m putting the waterpump on and getting the engine ready to drop in. I’ll put the intake on after the engine is installed. Hope to be done by the end of the week. I’m doing this in my spare time and after work.

 

[Yeret]

Transmission oil cooler just up and started leaking like a *******. Of course, you can't just replace the cooler, you have to replace the whole, damned radiator. If I had time and wasn't leaking a quart plus per day, I would have just bypassed it and gotten a sweet aftermarket cooler, but at nearly $10 a quart down here, ATF+4 is kinda expensive to leak, and mail order would've been at least a week out. Oh, well, at least I got a new radiator out of it.

Next up on my "fix the damned leak" list is the power steering pump. After that, it's a fun game of "find the ******* coolant leak," said leak only occurring when I'm NOT actively looking for it.

 

[Yeret]

Replaced the heater hose and power steering pump, and for the first time in the last few years, my truck has no active fluid leaks! Now, neither of these jobs were difficult but holy Jesus, was it a bumpy ride anyway!

The highlights: replacement hose was too short, I somehow broke the pigtail from some ground wire at some point, I absent-mindedly left the tap open on my coolant jug while mixing a batch and managed to spill a quart of concentrate onto the floor before realizing it, Hercules himself wouldn't have been able to liberate that pump pulley from the pump, and I managed to shock myself after touching the disconnected negative battery terminal with my left arm while leaning over the fender and using my right hand to screw the pressure hose fitting into the new pump.

After dealing with this and a few other unexpected jobs over the last couple months, I've really gained a lot of respect for people who wrench on vehicles for a living. You folks must have the patience of a ********* saint!

 

[justtruckn]

well didn't do it today... but went to Montana and picked up the 62 dart wagon
love my dodge. been all over the country dragging stuff home with not one going bad.

 

[Yeret]

Today I learned there was such a thing as a Dart wagon. Neat car!

I also learned that I haven't posted anything here in a damned long time. What to say since my last post...

I cleaned the throttle body for the first time since I installed it. I really need to keep up, because that bugger was way dirtier than I expected! Off-the-line throttle response smoothed out a surprising amount.
The original alternator finally gave up the ghost. Replacement took something like twenty minutes. Amen for easily accessed accessories!

I replaced my junk factory radio with...a refurbished factory radio! It would've been cheaper to buy a new plug-and-play touchscreen one, but screw it, I wanna fiddle with the thing without having to look at what I'm doing, not navigate a friggin' menu just to adjust the volume.

I spent an entire day checking/cleaning just about every electrical connector I could find in an attempt to clear any of the numerous, random electrical bugs (fuel gauge randomly reading zero, air bag light randomly coming on, seat belt light randomly coming on). I'm happy to say...it made no difference! At least none of the bugs are actually stopping the truck...for now...

And today exactly, I replaced the tailgate bushings. Much less wibble-wobble and it's much quieter to open/close. I replaced the worn striker pins as well. It's not exactly functioning "like new," but it's a helluva lot better than before.

Keeping the ole girl running's a pain in the ass, but it's satisfying at the same time. Seems fewer and fewer old trucks running around my area such to the point where a couple of my co-workers are somewhat amused that I've kept a '99 up and running this long.

 

[Rob2gen]

I agree with Yeret that these older Gen 2's are becoming a pain in the *as to keep on the road. That's why I bought a new one but just haven't been able to let go of the 2001. All I've done to mine in the past two weeks is move it about 40 feet and charge the battery. Wife loves the new Warlock but what's not to love about a new Ram? It's when they get to be 20-30 years old and you know where almost every scratch, ding, and chip is from... And doing the math on all the aftermarket upgrades... I will never break even on this truck if I ever decide to sell it. So for now, it's a driveway ornament until I can find another use for it, or bring myself to "give it away "

 

[Yeret]

Changed the spark plugs for the first time in about 4 years. All were pretty uniform in color and wear and were around .048", so definitely not too soon to replace them, LOL (new ones went in at .040"). I had forgotten how crampy 5 and 7 are (brake booster) and was even worse this time thanks to the one header tube turning around right over top of them. If it weren't for the dust cover thingies, it wouldn't have even been a factor though. Would I be out anything just yanking them out? Then again, I'm planning on having the long tubes installed soon, which should open up some clearance.

 

[Tank Guy]

I stopped at Autozone this morning and purchased a new alternator for my 98 Ram 2500 with a 12 valve Cummins. The one I'm replacing has been in the truck doing its thing for nearly 28 years. That's a darn good run as far as I'm concerned. I plan to send it out and have it overhauled, then I'll keep it as a spare. This is the first significant part I've had to replace since I purchased the truck that wasn't a tire, a brake part, or a battery. This is by far the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned and the best purchase I ever made. With any luck I'll keep driving it until I'm too old to drive.

 

[Rob2gen]

Fixed the coolant leak I've been plagued with for almost a year... 4 of the intake manifold bolts were at least 1/4 turn too loose (supposed to be 144 in lbs /12 ft lbs), close to the water jackets. Changed the oil, draining about a gallon of lost coolant out of the oil pan. Top off coolant and with fresh oil and filter it started right up. Ran it in the driveway about an hour... No more coolant leaking. These gen 2 trucks are tanks... Glad I use ethanol-free fuel only in it as the fuel was about a year old in the tank.

 

[Bigblockpaulie]

I gave it a bath and wax. Last week Bilstein shocks, a power steering support bracket and energy suspension swaybar bushings. Now it’s not a ice cream truck.

 

[Rob2gen]

Well... Decided to take advantage of unseasonably warm weather and cleaned the Softopper on the 2001 Ram. It's holding up well for being about 5.5 years old, and I don't take it off nor have it garaged. I used a pressure washer, a soft bristled brush and 303-brand tonneau cover cleaner. Pretty happy with the results and the topper. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[DodgeLady]

Finally got my front bumper straightened with the help of my neighbor. It’s been slightly or not so slightly askew for years. Neighbor Bill couldn’t see any bent brackets so he loosened the bumper bracket bolts and jimmied it into straightness!
1997 5.9L is at the mechanics now getting oil change, new transmission cooler hoses and a new radiator!
370,000 miles and still runs great!

 

[DodgeLady]

It is good to read about others and their old trucks. I’ve been hanging out on Sr Citizen forum and we don’t even talk about trucks over there! Lol!

 

[DodgeLady]

New radiator!
New transmission cooler hoses!
New oil!
Drives like new!

 

[DodgeLady]

How many Gen 2’s out there with the ORIGINAL cup holder!!!

 

[DodgeLady]

New starter..
It’s been an expensive month for The Dodge!

 

[Yeret]

How many Gen 2’s out there with the ORIGINAL cup holder!!!

Oooh, still got mine! It got broken a couple years ago when a filled laundry soap jug slid from the center console and fell into it (thanks, mom!), then sat around in one of the barns. I randomly pulled it out last summer and realized that, aside from one of the hinge tab thingies being broken, all I had to do was tweak it a bit to get the posts to slip back into them, which required prying off the cover, if I remember it right. At any rate, I "fixed" it, reinstalled it, and no longer have to keep the can of whatever I'm drinking nestled in my crotch. Of course, I still find myself doing that before I remember that, you know, I have a cup holder.

As far as more recent stuff goes, I lost comms from the ECU a couple months ago (no start, No Bus), so I pulled the computer and very gently (LOL, yeah right) opened it up to look for anything obvious. There were a couple of loose chips just kinda rattling around in there (damned if I could figure out what they did), so I bought a re-manned one. Installed it, power on, still got no ECU. Looked around under the hood and noticed that the seemingly random ground wire that I broke while replacing the power steering pump and Jerry-rigged back up wasn't exactly tight. Long story short, turns out that was the main ground for the ECU! Cut off the broken pigtail, crimped on a new one, then properly fastened it to the accessory bracket. Take a guess what happened when I turned the key afterwards?

Wasn't all for nought, though. With the new ECU in place, I noticed that my headlights/interior lights/gauge cluster lights no longer flicker when the engine is running, and my fuel gauge no longer randomly reads "empty." Still don't know what those broken chips in the original ECU were doing, but I have to assume they had something to do with those (former) issues. On the down side, I'm back to the factory tune, which I had forgotten how much sucks lemons. Feels like I'm dragging a damned boat anchor under heavy throttle! I would unlock my X3 (still "married" to the original ECU) and repurchase the same tune, but it's expensive and gonna be redundant anyway once I install my Air Gap manifold...

 

[DodgeLady]

My cup holder is original but I have to confess I don’t use it. It’s strictly for looks!