Greetings All!

A veteran vehicle forum user, pardon the general lack of deep research on this forum in regards to my questions; (in lieu of a very pricey uhaul rental and the general need for a reliable van this year) tomorrow morning I'm looking at a nice 1 owner 96 conversion van, 130k miles, V8 (unsure at present whether its the 5.2 or 5.9) mostly highway miles (family vacation style, definitely not a work vehicle).

I'm savvy with 80% of auto diagnostics and repair, though I've mostly worked with Subarus and Toyota (and their forums) for daily drives and trucks. I've kept in the back of my brain that the Dodge 318s and V8 Dodge Rams are pretty solid for pulling weight. Are there any issues to be aware of for this year outside of what one can expect from wear and tear on a well maintained vehicle of this age? The owner has maintained all records, and it sounds like all factory spec services have been followed.

All of that said, any red flags for this year/setup to be aware of, or significant mileage contingent maintenance procedures to make sure have happened?

How are transmissions in these vans, and are there any indicators that the tranny is on the way out before they blow? (Im a rather devout 5spd vehicle owner, as I've had bad transmission luck and its the only thing I've never replaced in a vehicle).

Time crunch to make a decision while away from home and buy one of these for the equal cost of renting one for 5 days (and kind of needing one for some small business ventures) leads me to ask in haste/underresearched.

Thanks a million in advance!

JB

 

Check the plenum. Problem description can be found in the 2nd gen ram section. Basically the plenum gasket blows, allowing oil to be sucked into the intake. Fouling #8 plug, clogging the cat and cracking the head.

 

All due respect to jkeaton, as he is absolutely correct:

In my personal opinion the plenum gasket repair is annoying but I wouldn't pass up a van that passed the following checks:

Rust. these things have no rust protection whatsover, check for roof, door, fenderwells, and rear quarter panel rust and signs of bad repairs that may be covering rust damage in these areas. There is no way to remove rust, you can only slow the progress or cut out the entire section. Most Dodge vans have surface rust so you'll have to use your best judgement here.

Electrical: these are well known for serious electrical issues. make sure everything works and look for poorly/hastily done wiring repairs

Transmission: trans should shift smoothly and quickly into every gear without hesitant, slippage or odd noises. anything weird and you should assume the trans needs replacement

Rear end: do not purchase any Dodge truck with the 8 inch rear end. Make certain it has a 9.25 Chrysler corporate differential. There are ID guides online, find one , they very are easy to tell apart.

The 5.2 and 5.9 are the ideal engine options. The 3.9 V-6 is stronger than expected but has serious well-known issues.

 

The rear Axles are either the 9.25 or the 8 3/8. The 8 3/4 was not employed in Vans. The 8 1/4 does not exist, the 8 3/8 is often called the 8.25 though.

The 9.25 has 12 cover bolts and it shaped like a slightly leaning 6 sided stop sign. The 8 3/8 has 10 cover bolts and is more round.

My 8 3/8 lasted ~185k miles. I now have a 9.25.

It seems the average lifespan of an original transmission in a Dodge is 130K miles, and it seems like many go up for sale right near this point, as the rebuild is basically the same cost as the Van.

 

Not to be argumentative but 8.25 does indeed exist. It may of course measure differently IRL

http://www.ringpinion.com/b2c/DiffLi...&DriveType=RWD

 

I am personally aware of three 46RE transmissions installed in '99 -2002 Dodge vans that are all well past 200k and still working properly. It comes down to keeping them cool, changing the fluid, doing the maintenance and not abusing them. Most of the Dodge vans for sale in SA have 350,000 to 380,000 miles on them with original engine though I assume they are probably on their 2nd transmissions.

 

JB, how was the van? Did you buy it?