the hitch and wiring are pretty easy, but the auxillary trans cooler is all that easy, you can tow without it tho.

with your setup the max tow rating is 4500lbs of trailer weight (as per the 2002 owners manual)

 

the truck has a hitch and wire already. the 4500 is total weight, trailer and contents?

how hard is it to re-gear to the 3.92?

 

Hi folks, I am currently looking at picking up a Durango. My wife has an '01 Grand Prix that just decided to create a hefty repair bill that I don't feel like paying to fix. Wife's dad's mechanic has one for sale, it's an 01 4.7. I am hoping to look at it on Wednesday afternoon.

Just wanted to know what common issues are and what I should look for during test drive / inspection.

Thanks in advance, look forward to becoming an active member here.

 

Pedro: you need to regear 2 axles, gear swaps are something best left to professionals since they are very easy to screw up and very vital to the vehicle remaining usefull.

cornflake, you should read this thread through, it covers most of the important points to check. if you have an specific questions feel free to ask

 

Thanks Shooter.

So basically the only real things to look at are the ball joints and standard PPI stuff?

I am going to drive it tonight.

If I do pick it up PM stuff should be ball joints (will just do all 4), rad hoses, t-stat and water pump with full flush as well as basic tune-up (Plugs, wires, air, fuel filter) and oil change (I always do this on any used car regardless of what po says).

Just want to make sure if there is anything specific that should be looking at it that I don't miss it tonight. I really want to get a decently maintained vehicle or I won't bother buying it.

I had read reports of sludge causing catastrophic engine failures in these motors. I am ASSUMING that this is just lack of maintenance? Is there something I can look for easily to tell if this engine may have excessive sludge build up?

 

sludge is a myth in all of these engines, if it does occur it is due to a major lack of maintance, as for anything specific to check to make sure it was maintained idk how to check for the oil, you could go to http://www.blackstone-labs.com/lemon-aide.php and purchase this kit to do an oil test and see how the engine has been kept up with that way, i cant think of any other method personally

also the 4.7 does not have plug wires, it is coil on plug ignition, i would pull one of the plugs and see what it looks like (personally id pull a back plug thats a little harder to get to bc those are the ones which would be ignored). when you replace the plugs use only champion copper core plugs for best results and gap to .040

 

just got home with it. ended up winning the auction for $650.

driver side caliper was on fire, literally. waiting to cool off to take a look.

here are some pics upon arrival. need to top off some fluids, mainly antifreeze and power steering.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1119025...eat=directlink

 

Awesome! looks like all she needs is a little cleaning up... should be a great ride.

 

looks like you got a decent deal for $650,

also since i noticed your in NJ also, where in NJ?

 

i'm in Roselle.

not exactly sure what happened to the brakes, took the wheel off. forced the caliper to open, then pumped with pedal, did so 5 times. drove it for the next 3-4 hrs, no more issues. also discovered bolted on upper ball joints. both cv boots look great. brakes look fairly recent, rotor looked good and pads had a ton of meat left.

man i loved driving it.

got it filled up, the some wipers, topped off coolant and power steering fluid..

discovered a couple of issues, need to replace one headlight bulb.

the other is that the front hvac fan only works on the high speed setting, any ideas on the problem?