So that noise was indeed the t-case? That doesn't make me happy....... that implies that mine is about toast as well.

 

i have a 231 you can have for cheap

 

It appears so. I've tried 4x4 multiple times so far and not a single clunking noise or bang. I even made sure my front wheels were indeed turning

This morning I did a quick search on why my air vents are stuck on defrost. Always have been since I've owned the truck. Huge pain in the a$$ in the winter. Well 10 minutes later I had all my air vents working again. Broken vacuum line. I wish all problems were this easy to fix Only thing that doesn't work is A/C which is probably normal on these old trucks. The compressor and everything comes on when turned to A/C so is it safe to assume I go get some freon and everything will be good? Does freon ever just evaporate or do I for sure have a leak?

 

I've always have to re charge after a winter or two. I had ice cold AC last September. I turned it on for the first time since about a week ago, and it was cold but not as cold as it had been.

 

A/C is a sealed system. (or, at least, it's supposed to be.....) If you need to add some to make it work right, you have a leak. Trouble is, there are a LOT of places it can leak.... and not all of them are easy to get to.

 

This is what I assumed. Not necessarily what I wanted to hear though A/C is not a necessity but it definitely would be nice. Starting to get really hot here. I'm definitely not pulling apart the dash to change something when I don't really need to. Heater core is one thing but A/C, not so much. So should I just try to recharge it and see what happens? I've heard from some people that they recharge it and they have had it last 2 years, which I don't consider bad at all.

 

Put the front driveshaft back in. and the skid plate back on.

4x4 seemed to work correctly. No weird noises or clunking. Now to go test it for real soon

 

My A/C was untouched and worked fine for 8yrs... when the factory evaporator went, I replaced it... since then there has been a small leak that requires a top off every 6-9mnth.
Dye in the system doesn't show up anywhere.
Subsequent demise and replacement of the compressor and filter has not changed the state of things.
The compressor is a little noisy when the charge is low, so I guess that is up for replacement again soon.

 

It would be worth giving it a shot, and see what happens in any event.

 

In El Paso its easy to do, but I run my A/C at least every couple of weeks. If you keep the seals and system flowing with freon and oil it stays sealed. I got the 04 diesel in 07 and it leaked for the first couple of years and hasn't leaked since 2010. The 2000 RAM hasn't been touched and is coming up on 15 years. When the system doesn't run for several months, the seals dry out and leaks happen