I just picked up a 1999 1500 with the 5.2L engine and auto tranny. It has 56,000 miles on it and in mint looking condition. After purchasing this i started hearing about tranny/engine problems. The purpose of this truck was to haul my racing go-kart that weighs 180lbs, thats it. So no big time towing at all. I plan on using 93octane to minimize the ping/knocking. Do i need a tranny cooler? How ofter should tranny oil be changed? And what kind of oil does this truck like best? I paid $4500.00 for this truck, so i dont think i did bad, but am a little worried.

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Chances are some guys are going to bust a nut about you using 93 (some ppl are just like that)...but i commend you. I also use 93, and the its one of the best things you can do for a vehicle. It's why all my friends vehicles fricken ping, and mine....welll DOESN'T. My family doesn't use anything but MOBIL 1 synthetic oil and 93 octane on all of our vehicles and they have 100,000+ miles on them, and run great with no pinging...theres no mistake
Shes a solid looking truck. Thought about getting a tranny flush? Generally for trucks its good to get one every 30-40,000 miles. A tranny flush can can make a transmission go from being worrysome to good again, goodluck bud!

 

if ya take care of it.. no worries.. i dont give in to all that transmission crap.. now 00dodgeneon here..well.. he might end up replacing his a time or two.. time will tell i had a 99 ram 1500 .. beautiful truck.. NEVER the first issue with it.. until the radiator failed.. replaced it.. back on the road.. sold it.. i got a 2001 dodge ram.. the truck i have now has the 5.2 liter.. stock gears.. damn near stock everything besides the lift and the tires.. i have 35 inch tires on a 5 inch lift... and i will pull anything you throw at me and then some... just to show.. heres a pic... theres nothing wrong with most of these transmissions.. its just some of the people driving them...



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LOL, well if it hadn't been for the dork who owned this truck before me, the transmission on my truck would be MINT. But it's actually gotten better since I've owned the truck for four months now. I had a tranny flush recently done to the truck, and the transmission instantly got better. Gear shifts became seamless, and there is no more skipping up big hills anymore. It's all about just taking care of your truck. Even if you are hard on it, as long as you compensate for it and have it in the shops frequently, you will be fine. I think a tranny flush will fix your problem alpha. I've never left a mechanics dissapointed with a tranny flush, they've always seemed to help cure the kinks in a transmission (that is if it isn't too messed up). Use that 93 octane fuel, use synthetic oil on your oil changes, and get that tranny flush, and that truck of yours will be happy!

 

Only problem I have with everything you just said is the synthetic oil change, if his truck has lots of miles and has never had synthetic oil in it and you change to synthetic every leak that is dormant will wake up and start spitting everywhere.

 

Yes, that's very true. There is that chance that the previous owner wasn't a maintance freak like most of us, and may have not regulary used synthetic oil on his oil changes. I guess what I think you should do though is try the synthetic oil out. If you don't experience any leaks or what not, then stick with it. If you do use the synthetic oil, make sure you use everytime you get one. It's usually a rule of thumb that once you go synthetic, stay synthetic. Same goes with the 93 octane fuel. Try to avoid skipping from different grades to fuel. You want your computer to train itself to 93 octane. I know there will be some ppl who think it's stupid to use 93 on an 87 grade required vehicle, but seriouslly, can it hurt? It's never hurt in my experience. I've done some tests on some our vehicles before, and put 87 in for a couple of weeks. No joke, the vehicle had some very noticable pinging. Went back to 93, guess what happened? Yeah. But like bouncer said, make sure you are aware of your engine if you try the synthetic out. This is a new truck for you, it's already been threw an entire lifetime with someone else. If you don't experience issues with the synthetic oil, then stick with it!