Are there any notable differences in a 96 and 98 318?

Thank you,
Will

 

I think the EGR valve was done away with. Other than that the big difference is two years.

 

The 96 is OBD1 , so the sensors would would want to be swapped. Swapping the intake would be easiest, not to mention the plenum should be upgraded anyway.

 

I believe you are mistaken on the OBD1 for 96.
My 96 has the OBD2 plug under the dash. My code reader reads it with OBD2 codes.

 

That would not be the norm. 97's are most common for having either one or the other not a 96. Which is why you can't buy a tuner for it. As far as the plug goes, I have a 95 VW Cabrio with an OBD2 plug also and my Genisys scanner also can read it with OBD2. But it is most certainly is an obd1 system. It's just the plug, that's all. And btw, even if your scanner is getting codes and maybe some other info, it's not getting as much info as an obd 2 would. Unless of course maybe the PO did something to change it.

 

This is from Alldata diy.com

All 1996 and newer model year passenger cars and light trucks are OBDII-equipped, but the first applications were actually introduced back in 1994 on a limited number of vehicle models.

 

All I said was it's not the norm, related to a Dodge Ram . Send that Alldata info to Super Chips, Hypertech, or Jet for that matter, and see how they reply. Maybe your right and they just don't/didn't want to deal with the headaches during that transition period. Not arguing with you , just sayin' Have to admit though, you'll be the first one on DF with a 96 that has OBD II I've seen. And I'm not talking about the plug.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Will

 

1996s do have OBD II, technically. 1996-1997 were weird hybrid years for our trucks for OBD II, sort of like you said, a transition. They have some weird codes unique to 1996 or 1997 model years only. Late 1997 or 1998 year, IIRC, was the first time a true 100% OBD II system was used.

To the OP: if you are looking at replacing a 1996 with a 1998, you'll have to swap over the computer and, probably, a lot of wires.

 

i disagree. just remove your original intake and its sensors from the original motor and put it all onto the replacement motor. the block and heads are the same.