Where to start?

[richlars]

Just a little back story, my granddaughter lives with me and my wife with her son, my great grandson. Sadly, her father, my ex-SIL took his own life and left her his 2007 2500 with a 5.9 Diesel. Along with a title loan that we can't track down. She drove it home just fine filling the tank along the way.
Last night she went to go somewhere, backed the truck out into the middle of our cul-de-sac, went to put it in drive, and it died. She had warmed it up pretty well. After a few attempts she called me to see if I could come and help her. Its the first time I had even seen the truck.
I jump in, fire it up (which it does quite nicely) go to put it in drive and the first thing I notice is the linkage is all kinds of messed up. You cannot get it into the D position. Going past the D and into 2, as soon as you do that the truck lurches forward and dies.
Wondering if it is some 4WD gear I grab that selector and soon find out that it is not connected to anything. Goes all the way forward and back without grabbing anything.
I try a few different things, slowly lurching it back into my driveway. I find that if I lightly feather the throttle and brake, it will go further. I got about 20 feet out of the last attempt.
It was snowing very hard so I didn't attempt to crawl under it, so for now that is about all I can tell you.
So, long and short is that I need to find out what amount the title loan has on it and then try to diagnose the transmission problem. Then we can see if it is worth trying to get going.
Any tips on where to start would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Papa Red]

Welcome to the forum.

Red

 

[gofishn]

Welcome to the forum.

Your Issue:

If truck is actually in 2nd gear, possible dying behavior is from being starting off, at idle, in 2nd gear and engine being bogged down.
Possible might need a Tune Up too.

Since the gear selector cannot be trusted, Will need to get underneath the truck and maually adjust transmission, through the gears and align the linkages, so they perform correctly. Might want to see about the Transfer case selector linkages, as well, while down there.

Do not do anything to the truck until you have established Legal Ownership.
Simply laying Claim to Assets, due to Genetics, is not sufficient.
Assume your State has Probate Laws,, like most others,
which prevents folks, from running around & claiming, "Mine! Mine! Mine!",
like a bunch of animated cartoon Characters.

No sense increasing the value of someone else's Vehicle.

Imagine your Granddaughter has other, more pressing, Needs.
That could actually help her, once done.

 

[06 Dodge]

Welcome to the forum.

Your Issue:

If truck is actually in 2nd gear, possible dying behavior is from being starting off, at idle, in 2nd gear and engine being bogged down.
Possible might need a Tune Up too.

You missed the part where he said it was a 5.9L Diesel....

 

[richlars]

Welcome to the forum.

Red

Thank you very much!

 

[richlars]

You missed the part where he said it was a 5.9L Diesel....

In full disclosure I am not very familiar with Rams. IS a 5.9 not so good?

 

[richlars]

Welcome to the forum.

Your Issue:

If truck is actually in 2nd gear, possible dying behavior is from being starting off, at idle, in 2nd gear and engine being bogged down.
Possible might need a Tune Up too.

Since the gear selector cannot be trusted, Will need to get underneath the truck and maually adjust transmission, through the gears and align the linkages, so they perform correctly. Might want to see about the Transfer case selector linkages, as well, while down there.

Do not do anything to the truck until you have established Legal Ownership.
Simply laying Claim to Assets, due to Genetics, is not sufficient.
Assume your State has Probate Laws,, like most others,
which prevents folks, from running around & claiming, "Mine! Mine! Mine!",
like a bunch of animated cartoon Characters.

No sense increasing the value of someone else's Vehicle.

Imagine your Granddaughter has other, more pressing, Needs.
That could actually help her, once done.

Thank you so much for the advice. I am hoping tomorrow I can get under it and take a good look. We went from a foot of new snow on Tuesday/Wednesday to mid 60's tomorrow. Luckily the truck is mostly over cement or it would be mud. Yeah, this guy had a whole different definition of the word "legal". There is some thought amongst the daughters that the registration sticker was stolen. Unfortunately the Utah DMV will not release any information until 30 days after his death.

 

[06 Dodge]

I owned a 2006 2500 with the 5.9 CTD for 15 years, it was a good running engine and I got great fuel mileage when running empty, that engine will last along time so long as its service properly and left stock as in no power add on programmers...

 

[Smokeybear01]

Welcome to the forums Mr. RichLars. In my humble opinion that 5.9L Cummins is one of the best engines ever built if you take care of it. They're like a loyal dog that will work hard for you and still give you a nice wet lick. If it's an auto trans it won't stall out from being in second gear. (I'm going to assume it's an auto because you mention putting it in "Drive". Did it show any codes before it died out? Is the fuel filter full of water and needs a bleeding? Does it have oil in it?
Now, before you get started, make sure you or your granddaughter have legal right to the vehicle and then go slow. Sort the main linkage out and skip the 4WD for now. If she drove it home and then it started and idled for a long time before dying, odds are it's something minor, possibly even electrical. Good luck and sorry for you loss, Smokey

 

[RamCares]

Welcome to the forum. We see that you have received some great advice from your fellow forum members! However, if these suggestions do not address your concern and you decide to visit your dealer, our team would be happy to offer additional assistance throughout that process! We're available via private message.

Callie
Ram Cares

 

[Tulet]

Before all this diagnosis, be sure she didn’t put gasoline in the tank instead of Diesel fuel.

 

[Dusty]

Just a little back story, my granddaughter lives with me and my wife with her son, my great grandson. Sadly, her father, my ex-SIL took his own life and left her his 2007 2500 with a 5.9 Diesel. Along with a title loan that we can't track down. She drove it home just fine filling the tank along the way.
Last night she went to go somewhere, backed the truck out into the middle of our cul-de-sac, went to put it in drive, and it died. She had warmed it up pretty well. After a few attempts she called me to see if I could come and help her. Its the first time I had even seen the truck.
I jump in, fire it up (which it does quite nicely) go to put it in drive and the first thing I notice is the linkage is all kinds of messed up. You cannot get it into the D position. Going past the D and into 2, as soon as you do that the truck lurches forward and dies.
Wondering if it is some 4WD gear I grab that selector and soon find out that it is not connected to anything. Goes all the way forward and back without grabbing anything.
I try a few different things, slowly lurching it back into my driveway. I find that if I lightly feather the throttle and brake, it will go further. I got about 20 feet out of the last attempt.
It was snowing very hard so I didn't attempt to crawl under it, so for now that is about all I can tell you.
So, long and short is that I need to find out what amount the title loan has on it and then try to diagnose the transmission problem. Then we can see if it is worth trying to get going.
Any tips on where to start would be greatly appreciated.

Although I'm not very familiar with the Cummins motor, I think in those years the transmission was cable shifted and the cable known to be a problem over time.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 87183 miles.

 

[Marshall]

I was also wondering about the fuel as well.
I would not touch the truck until the legal stuff is finished, and be carefull messing with shifters when under a truck, if / when you go that route.

 

[Danny Phillips]

The 5.9 is one of the best engines Cummins made. The transmissions are terrible. I had a 1998 that I gave to my brother 7 years ago with 150,000 miles and it's still going strong.

 

[06 Dodge]

The 5.9 is one of the best engines Cummins made. The transmissions are terrible. I had a 1998 that I gave to my brother 7 years ago with 150,000 miles and it's still going strong.

The 48 ref in 06 & 07 does well if every thing is kept stock once you add power to the engine is when problems come up...