Which engine?

 

 

Ouch. Expect HORRIBLE gas mileage, (single digits..... and that's empty.) and parts are getting fun to find. Some parts you simply CAN'T find any more..... for the real mopar parts, and these trucks just don't care for a majority of the aftermarket replacements. That said, I commonly see them with north of 200K miles on them, still running great. (assuming it was at least half-way taken care of.) Biggest thing is the trans. Get it good and warm, and make sure it shifts properly. Aside from that, just check it out like you would any used vehicle.

 

4X4 4X2? Are you in the rust belt?

 

Not to hijack but I will be looking at a buddies truck, 98 1500 quad cab 4x4, with 5.9 (or is 5.8? New to dodge stuff) Anyways, other than paying attention to the transmission is there anything else I need to pay particular attention to? He drives it to work sometimes, so it runs and drives. Figure its not a bad deal or a G and rust free.

 

If it starts, runs, and moves around under it's own power, its worth a grand. If it's rust free, even better.

Check the plenum as well. Just pull the air filter box, crack the throttles wide open, (engine off) and see if you see oil in the intake. Some is normal, (and likely burnt on to the bottom of the intake) oil pooling in there, (generally toward the back of the intake) isn't good, and means the manifold needs to come off for repair. (check out the plenum thread stickied at the top of the tech forum.)

 

Ah okay was wondering about the plenum. Won't have a magnet to check with but I can check for the oil. I've drove behind him a few times and never noticed any puffs of smoke or anything. Seems to be cold natured but from what he's described it probably needs a TPS and even just a general tune up.

 

My truck would burn thru a quart of oil every 150 miles or so, but, didn't really smoke at all, just at startup a bit. (my 96, my 98 has the 8.0, so, plenum simply is not an issue.)