Hello everyone. I'm looking into buying a 97 Ram with 55k on it. But I've been reading in the search archives and am scared by the rumors of previlant tranny failure. Should I stay away from it or is it a safe deal? Need some quick responses if at all possible. Need to say yes or no by the end of today.

 

If it is a manual, you will probably be fine. It is the automatic trans that is know for having problems.

Personally, I won't buy another automatic trans second gen Ram. But for every person like me who says that, there are probably 100 guys who can tell you they have 150,000 on the original auto trans. I think it depends on how it was driven, how it was maintained, etc...

You can also do things to improve the life of an auto trans. Trans coolers, Transgo shift kit, etc... So even though it is a notorious unit, you can do things to make it last longer (probably for less then $500).

See if you can find out the service history for the trans. If your buying from a dealer, can you buy an extended warranty. I purchased an extended warranty from the dealer (cost about $900), and when my trans went out, it more then paid for itself (trans repair cost about $2200, all I paid out of pocket was my $200 deductible).

I don't know if this was any help or not.

 

I have 102,000 on my 97 and, despite all the horror stories I've heard, she still shifts smooth as silk. *knocks on wood* I love my 97 and I vote for yes, get it.

 

I have 210K miles on my auto tranny and with proper maintenance, it still shifts great! Seriously, that was my major concen with buying a 2cd gen, but a junkyard tranny around here was only like $500, so to swap one was not a major expense to me.

 

It is an automatic. I'm going to be giving it the once over this weekend before I decide to buy it. I'm going to check the trans fluid(check for low/burnt fluid), check inside the throttle body for oil residue as I've read on this forum, and test out if the tranny tries to slip in O/D when going up grades. I know for every 1 that has a horror story there are a 100 that have had no problems. I'm just curious what the general concensus is. If everyone says basically ALL trannys from 94-02 are bad I'll steer clear, but if not I'm pretty comfortable rolling the dice.

 

When I do get it the first things I plan to do are as follows. Please feel free to add your advice to this list. :

Change motor oil/filter
Flush/change tranny fluid and transfer case fluid along with any filters involved.
Replace fuel filter
Replace spark plugs


Anything else anyone cares to advise me to do? I had read something somewhere about a band adjustment on the tranny? What does this involve?

 

The tranny filter and fluid change is a great start. One thing that you can do is not drive it in overdrive while puttin around town, dealership mechanic says so. Also if you have a in line check valve up by the radiator get rid of it. While your at it change speed sensor on tranny ( $ 23 at Advance) mine had a ton of shavings on it , it helped.

 

10-4. I will get the speed sensor from autozone. But where exactly is the check valve located? Is it in one of the radiator lines? I assume its an inline valve? The more the better guys. Id really appreciate it. Keep it coming.

 

Anybody else.......?

 

i really love mine, have had a few slight problems with it and having one with a grinding noise now but other than that she is great. i have thought about trading it in for a new one but the money isnt right and what not but the truck is solid, just my thoughts and i have had no tranny issues with 94k miles on mine