Hello All; been quite busy lately have not been on the forums. First thank you everyone that has gave me insight and tried to help me with my "Dodge of Doom" for the past 3 years.

I now have 150K on the truck and several problems, I have always wanted to buy another Jeep but i do not like the idea of not having a truck bed; so my second 4x4 of choice is a Ford Bronco.

Now with all Ford Vs Dodge such opinions aside; I want you input on to fix this truck or Sell before the value goes down any more and get a Jeep or Bronco. This truck was kinda the balance of the 2; thus why I got it but personally the 351W or even the 302 in the bronco; lack of transmission issues like dodge has and more room really triumphs over the Dakota.

Here is the list of current issues the truck has:

1. (Main issue Ive always complained about) - Jerking/Buking/Surging (what ever term to use here) - Take foot off brake from a stop and let the truck roll there is a jerk in the entire truck. Ive done alot already but i feel it might be in the engine or tranny somewhere which is going to cost big money... Most shops just to pull the tranny want 400 bucks+ alone not including parts or repair. $Unkown

2. Headliner (cosmetic) $250

3. Oil Sending Pressure unit (cheap fix i know) $20-40 Bucks - do it myself.

4. Also still has an oil leak at the rear of the truck; I think it's the main seals.. $??

5. Oil leaking from the front of the motor as well; I think main seal again. $??

6. HD Transfer Case leaks Tranny fluid. Again pull the tranny and put new seals; I cant do it myself so i have to have it done. (so big money there) $LOL

7. Replace U Joints (They clunk esp during a hard down shift.. or even upshift) $100 bucks~$200

8. Plennum repair- Never been done yet. $OMG ROFL

9. Just does not have the power I want. Could be result of bucking and also plennum.

10. All CYL but number 7 have 180+ on Compression test.. number 7 has 160 something. IDK???

11. there is a tick tick tick sound during startup.. I think this is a sticking rocker arm something then it gets oil and the sound goes away. $LOL Again?

12. THere is some EMI happening in tune with the firing system I can pick it up on a certain station the sound varies along with the RPM increase/decrease RPM the tick being picked up in the radio increases/Decreases and sounds like firing system.. Not sure where its picking this up but What ever. Sound goes away once the truck goes into closed loop

13. Alignment/Torsion adjustment- Need this badly as its wearing my DuraTracs on one side (Driver side) because its wrong even though its been aligned by Firestone and they screwed it up.. needs it again.. $125-$150 bucks is average price to get this done.

14. Various cosmetically things here and there. $Astronomical

15. Front diff leaking; need to pull the cover and put some gasket maker on it. $5 bucks and a few beers and cursing.

16. Passenger side upper ball joint is good but Boot is busted; so its not going to last too long being it cant keep lube. $50 bucks rock auto

Average Value for my truck on NADA shows to be about 5K for Clean Retail in perfect condition. Other values would sit about 2K -3K (Clean trade) or average retail.

I figure with all the parts and labor and everything its going to take to get the truck where I can be more happy with it.. (Thats if something more major is present and found) I basically need to sink probally almost half of it's present value or possibly more..

Is it time to trade up or is it really worth fixing.. I really don't think I'll ever get the power im looking for out of this truck.. I feel like I'll never get the bizarre issues fixed with this truck.

Your thoughts and why? Thanks to you guys that takes the time to respond with your insightful answers..

 

My take is do some of the easy cheap fixes first then see how you feel keep or sell

If you don’t have easy access to some good shops then selling may be the best deal for you


2. Headliner (cosmetic) $250

DIY about $80 not easy but not hard just not fun

3. Oil Sending Pressure unit (cheap fix i know) $20-40 Bucks - do it myself.

DIY easy price about right

7. Replace U Joints (They clunk esp during a hard down shift.. or even upshift) $100 bucks~$200

Remove the shaft or shafts take to a shop should run you around what you say

8. Plenum repair- Never been done yet. $OMG ROFL

I would do it not sure on price

10. All CYL but number 7 have 180+ on Compression test.. number 7 has 160 something. IDK???

Could have been a bad test on that one

11. There is a tick tick tick sound during startup.. I think this is a sticking rocker arm something then it gets oil and the sound goes away. $LOL Again?

Do an engine flush see what happens but do it correct by what the bottle says

12. There is some EMI happening in tune with the firing system I can pick it up on a certain station the sound varies along with the RPM increase/decrease RPM the tick being picked up in the radio increases/Decreases and sounds like firing system.. Not sure where it’s picking this up but whatever. Sound goes away once the truck goes into closed loop

Not too sure on that

13. Alignment/Torsion adjustment- Need this badly as its wearing my DuraTracs on one side (Driver side) because its wrong even though its been aligned by Firestone and they screwed it up.. needs it again.. $125-$150 bucks is average price to get this done.

Get the ball joint fixed then go to a dealer shop they know how to do them correctly

15. Front diff leaking; need to pull the cover and put some gasket maker on it. $5 bucks and a few beers and cursing.

Easy fix

16. Passenger side upper ball joint is good but Boot is busted; so it’s not going to last too long being it can’t keep lube. $50 bucks rock auto

Easy fix

 

As expensive as the repairs could be, it could be worse. It's running.

Do you have a plenum leak? If not, don't worry about it. For the headliner, try a boneyard and you might get lucky. For the oil leaks, try a high-mileage oil. On the EMI, how are the plugs, cap, rotor, wires? What plugs are you running? The cosmetic issues, wait until you scratch a new car/truck.

Two questions for you.

1. Do you need a truck?
2. Have you priced trucks lately?

Now consider the above and what the extra insurance will cost you. The repairs don't look that bad.

 

I ran into some of the same issues, not quite as many but I've been there on many of them. Decided to sell it because I could simply not keep paying for repairs. I also didn't need a truck anymore. Bought my grandmothers 02 Legacy GT w/ 41k miles off her for 7k and now have a reliable vehicle that will only cost me 1-2k dollars after I sell my truck. I spent like $3k on my truck in the last year a lone so it was a no brainer. It's not the 2011+ WRX I wanted, but its a reliable dd that I needed badly. The Dakota always had an issue and I couldn't keep dumping money into it.

 

I've had to replace quite a few things on mine when I got it.

Needed new tires
Waterpump
O2 sensor, plugs, wires, cap, rotor

and now I have replaced one wheel hub and will replace the other this week but I ordered a new set of shocks (Monroe Reflex) too - already this week I've spent $500 and I still have rust repair planned and POR15 is expensive not to mention my front dif is leaking and so is my tranny. I hope to god its just the pan seal.

I definitely hear you - mine was owned by an old man and I thought I was getting a real gem with only 40k on it and already I've dumped nearly 4 grand on it.

Im hoping that once I replace/fix these last few things that'll be it.

I definitely hear you on the repairs.

Fix what's cheap and go from there.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. I suppose that's the main thing I really don't want to dump a ton of money (Or effort) and wind up back in the same place.

Locally I can get a decent lower mileage Bronco for between 3-6K...

All the basic stuff has been done; Cap rotor, coil plugs wires.. I'm running the autolites.. TPS, IAC, MAP all new.. *newish* meaning they were replaced with in the last 2 years. I've only put 30K on this truck since I've had it for 3 years and seems the performance as well as MPG is dropping.. (Plenum i would assume)

The truck mainly sits in the garage except occasional run to the lake with the boat or going to the store to get smokes every other day...

It's an aging truck; I dont want it new; but I want it to have power; performance and give me that joy of driving.. right now the truck does not.. I actually sometimes wish i never would have bought the truck.

this is the first dodge and I'm afraid if i cant fix it and do wind up getting rid of it.. it will probably be the last.

I'm afraid most I go do the plennum and the major issue *Jerking or w/e you wanna call it* is still there and it's something more major.

I suppose that's my first stop ball join; (before the alignment) and plenum.

Might as well replace the upstream O2 sensor and downstream with NGK for the hell of it. while im at it..

Anything else you can think of that might cause the issues that might give me hope and light at the end of the tunnel to motivate me to try* and fix it or does it look honestly like I'll be following behind bpark8824

 

get some simple mechanical gauges on it. Check your manifold vacuum, that will tell you if the plenum is bad. Check the oil pressure, or just straight-up replace the sender.

20PSI low on one hole is not bad at all. Our old dually varied 45psi across the whole motor (300,000 miles) and ran just fine.

The jerking honestly could be alot of things, but the 2 I'd look at would be fuel trim (way rich at idle) or torque convertor (hung bearing or damaged stator).

The lifter tick is normal...remember our trucks were designed to idle at 6-10psi of oil pressure...I cringe every time i start mine and the oil needle doesnt move for a few seconds....

The noise/whine is probably alternator related, not fuel system. Probably a bad/loose/corroded ground somewhere.

 

Pretty much what ever you buy sometime down the road it will start having problems. Now as far as needing the truck vs jeep... Personally my dad was there. He sold his f150 and bought a wrangler for a pretty good deal. A year later we ended up selling it because we needed more room and place to put cargo. Made a 2k profit off of it tho, even sold it at the dealer Also I know here in my area, alignment shops only charge like 60.00. Other than the main seals leaking and the tranny issue most of it is pretty easy work. Most tranny shops should have a pretty good idea whats wrong with it. Im guessing a gov pressure sensor or gov pressure solenoid.

With the miles and year you are prob looking at about 4-5k max if you sell it. Tho with its problems im leaning more towards +or- 4k area.

 

I've already actually replace the Gonvn. Sen and trans done..

I'm afraid the problem is the TC.. LOL I hope not.

 

TC's will do funny things at low speed. Thankfully, unless it's spitting metal, rarely will it hurt the rest of the trans. I would think it to be more fuel trim related, especially if your mileage is bad and you're showing a good manifold vacuum.