Wow, you guys were right. I think I made a mistake. I had only read the battery charger manual half way through lol.

I had charged the battery to like 11.8 volts (took an hour). I thought in my head that would be enough since it was "close" to 12. I assumed 12 was as much as it went up to - you know 12 volt battery an all.

The manual has a lil chart though that says

- under 12.2 - discharged
- 12.2-12.7 needs charging
- 12.8 and over - charged

So i guess i had charged the battery enough to finally get all my electrical components to run. And it even had enough juice in it to make a couple of feeble attempts at starting the motor. But obviously not enough.

So I've got the charger hooked back up to the battery now and will read the manual fully while I'm waiting for it to re-charge all the way up to at least 12.8.

And I will re-test the reading after doing a load test using the lights and wipers for a few minutes - like the manual says to do. So that I'm not getting a false "surface charge" reading (like the manual mentions). Which I think my 11.8 actually was. I think the true charge I originally did was probably only up to like 11.1.

Sorry guys, but I hadn't suspected my battery as the problem because I had bought the most powerful one at Canadian Tire and even got the extended warranty. But I guess all those attempts at starting my Nissan with it had really wore it down. Maybe it's even dead now - and the warranty will give me a new one........

This batter solve my problems or I'm going to pull my hair out.

WALL-E'S ALIVE! THANKS GUYS!!

And he sounds like a Dinosaur! RaWR!

He started on the very first try, right away, roared to life with no problem!
It totally was just the battery too low. Now it's ALLL the way charged up!

I put tranny into top left corner position, to see what would happen and let clutch out - and the truck went forward. So obviously that position is first gear. So I now know the truck will at least start, run, and even move forward.

But I seriously can not get it into reverse. I can not find a reverse. I tried bottom right corner position and truck still went forward, not back. I obviously suck at mechanics but I'm hoping I'm not dumb enough to be able to not find a gear. My Nissan was a 5 speed manual and I drove that fine.

I can't drive it on the street with no reverse gear. So now this is my new problem. I'm trying to assume it "must be something simple" but I mean, finding a gear is so simple and obvious that I don't know how I could not find it????

maybe you just have to try wiggling it a bit more to the right to try finding reverse. could just be a bit stiff.

Awesome. Glad you got it running without any major issues. How bad is the leak?

Maybe you can take a picture of the transmission so we can try to identify it. Will the shifter go right past 4th, but not down? Or does it not go any farther right than 3rd and 4th?

Glad you got it started. Now to find reverse. The shifter has a spring on it so you will not shift into reverse on accident. Wiggle the shifter back and forth a time or two and then push it to the right. It will act like it wants to stop but, you should be able to push it over more. Like I said it has a spring to keep you from shifting into it easy. Once it goes over pull it back. If it want go that way at all, try pulling it to you and pushing it up. Same thing, it has a spring that you have to over come. It will be harder to push eather way than what a 5 speed is to move over. You may even have to easy the clutch out a little to get it to go in but, just a little so the teeth can line up. That is the only two shift patterns that I know of that Dodge used for there 4 speeds.

Also, forgot to ask, did you find any coolant leaks when you got it running?

Hi people. I emailed the PO. He is adamant that reverse does work and the tranny is ok. He did respond to me. He is saying the tranny is an "a833od". And that reverse is all the way to the LEFT and up top. And that it's hard to find on this type of tranny.

But he is also saying it IS a four speed, NOT a 3 speed.

This pattern sounds different than ANY of the ones you guys described. Does this mean the tranny this truck has was probably swapped in by someone? Or did these trucks come with this type of tranny originally? I'm from Canada if that matters.

I was looking for reverse to the RIGHT. Which probably explains why I couldnt find it.

Thanks.

~~~~~~~~

UPDATE: I found reverse! LOL. I can go backwards now
It IS alll the way to the left. Have to pull hard and then it pops over past a "wall". Then allll the way up to get it to fully go into reverse gear.
This is just a much different system than my Nissan was, so was not accustomed to it.
Looks like the rad leak and water pump gasket really are my only issues.

The a833od trans shift pattern for reverse is all the way to the left and up. It did come in some trucks but mostly in cars.

I have a new problem. I drove the truck around the block, from back of house to park it in front of house. I noticed I had basically no brakes at all. So I just went super slow and planned to stop by coasting to a stop.

The truck was advertised as having new brakes. SO i will trust that is at least somewhat true. So what would cause brake failure then? Or at least a "feeling" of no brakes?

I mentioned before in this thread that the emergency brake doesn't work. I can not push the e-brake down even a micro bit. Would this have anything to do with it?

I will try to assume it must be something simple again.

i think i mention in your other thread that you need to disconnect the park brake cables and free up the pivoting thing on the side of the frame to make the park brake work again. when it gets stiff it makes it almost impossible to apply the park brake ot if you do get it to move it may not want to release.

the the brakes not working good could be many things. first place i would start is at the reservoirs. there is brake fluid in them? could also possibly need to adjust the rear brakes. also if it has all new brakes it may have air in the system. not to hard to get out as long as you can get the bleeder screws open without breaking them.