Ok, well I was riding with two people, and my truck drives like crap. on my way there, drove fine, on my way home, drove fine. Ok I don't know if it was a fluke, but my truck died in an intersection and wouldnt turn over with them in it.

It's idling funny. And they smelled coolant, and a lot of it. Could be that the water pump leak is affecting idle? I would assume it would, but how, I can't seem to figure right now.

My Wiper motor was staying on, due to my bad wiper switch.

The battery is loose, so the current is a little flawed.

Front end suspension is wobbly. Just replaced the ball joints, so there's no squeaking and it's a little firmer driving, but it sinks into bumos, time for new shocks?

Now, I know the water pump has a little leak in it, which would probably be where the coolant smell is coming from (assuming), and the idle may be bad but I have yet to clean the IAC and/or adjust the TPS. Anybody have any other ideas, or should I check back in after cleaning those two and swapping the water pump with fresh fluid? Also, would a 180 Tstat help idle? I plan on swapping the Tstat and the pump next weekend.

Ummm, oh and my cd player stopped working.

Thanks to that, two girls think I have a very crappy truck! lol.

 

sounds electrical to me! get your battery and alternator tested and make sure your connections are strong .

 

damn sam, this is serious.
#1. get the 2 girls back in the truck. that's most important !!
#2. remove battery terminals, clean with wire brush, tighten up good. then +1 on test alternator and battery at autozone or similar.
#3. identify and correct coolant problem. don't want the engine burnt up. hope to hell its not the heater core... $$$. t-stat has no effect on idle, only engine operating temp, which you might want to lower a little in the summer, but honestly in the winter you may prefer 195 for better heat. water pump could have an effect on idle ONLY if the bearing is shot and the pump is binding/dragging (mine did that, just before it spit needle bearings out all over the ground and starting making a horrible screeching metal grinding on metal sound..[:@])
#4. repair or replace cd. girls will want tunes unless you are a brilliant conversationalist.
#5 tighten up steering box adjustment to remove play in the steering wheel. see the diy.
#6. shocks only control the amount of 'bounce' after hitting a bump. leave this for later and check for other front end problems. 2wd or 4wd? 4wd is prone to worn out track bar.

 

Yeah, I'll go ahead and swap out my head unit today, tighten up the connections and check the current at autozone, gotta go out anyway. I was thinking of taking off the throttle body to clean all that up, might pick up a digital voltmeter at autozone as well.

Luckily I had a little game on and I had my Skynard CD in there and one of the girls flipped out because she loves them, lol.

 

Oh yeah, it's a 2wd.

 

The battery and alternator checked out fine at autozone.

 

Could the tie rod in/out and pitman/ilder arm have anything to do with the movement I get over bumps?

 

yes. also ball joints and control arms. if you pry with a crow bar in between any 2 parts and can get movement/wiggle, they are worn out.

 

I just replaced the ball joints. What can you do to tighten up the control arms?

 

not sure about the dodge 2wd, but on my old chevy 2wd the contol arms hung from these big shafts. i once bought new shafts/bushings for them. these look a little different, but still something that can wear out.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7532
http://info.rockauto.com/Spicer/Deta...?5651162-4.jpg