I am new to this Forum and appreciate any and all responses.

My dilemma, I needed a truck to pull my 5th wheel camper. I choose this vehicle and installed the under bed rail and puck system mount myself and all went well.
My Ram appears to be a Fleet vehicle and had only 8700 miles when I purchased it 6 months back for $10K. It has no options, just the stripped down model 4X4, Automatic, A/C, single cab, 70s style rally rims. I did the Carfax Report and another Gov site check to get background info and see if miles were true. I can not disprove mileage. I had a Friend/Mechanic check it over and he was also impressed with the condition other than the rusty undercarriage.
The tires are original (tire codes 00 and 01 - some dry rotting), very rusty under carriage and signs of high moisture - corrosion in and around seat bolts. Outside Chrome is excellent and Paint is excellent.

THE PROBLEMS: Mileage now: 19,890.
Uses 1 qt of oil(Castrol GTX 10w/30) every 1500-2000miles; CK Engine Oxygen sensor P0138 code; Gas mileage 11-13; loose steering(I am hearing this problem is inherit in these Rams); High RPM tick; Muffler is rusting through; noisy reverse gear
MY FEARS: Plenum gasket shot, Cat bad, Flood vehicle but can not prove it.
I Love this Truck, but am curious why all these problems at less than 20K miles. Open to opinions - Thanks Dom

 

prob both plenum and cat and prob needs a tune up its 10 yrs old never used

 

Your plenum is bad. THat is nothing to fear.

11-13 is great mileage for a 2500 5.9 4x4.
Holy low miles!!!

Welcome to Dodge Forum!

 

rusty undercarrage as in holes in frame? frame weak? if its surface rust grind it down, and undercoat...

The Plenum is NOT a hard job, and the cat you can just punch out hollow for the time being, if you dont need a sticker soon...

 

Any signs of an oil leak underneath...like at the rear seal?

* Please change the tires before towing no matter how they look, if those are original, they could have been several years old at installation, so they could be 10-15 years old. *

That truck was a great deal so fix the plenum, fix the oil leak (if there is one), put on a new exhaust system, new tires and you got a kick azz truck there for less than $11K total.

 

Its been sitting for awhile and by the mileage was not driven much, my guess it sat either in an old hanger, barn, or under a cover of somesort. That would explain the good paint and just sitting wouldnt help keep the rust away. If the tires show signs of dry rot replace asap.

The high rpm tick does it sound like an exhaust leak, you said exhaust is rusted out, find a cheap catback or go to a shop. I would do a full tuneup and blow some seafoam through her.

11-13 doesnt sound like plenum is blown, but might be with the loss of oil, have you looked for any leaks.

I would also replace fluid and filter in tranny should solve the reverse problem, on top of this would replace all fluids in vehicle if not done so already.

 

+ 1 on the plenum. Look down the intake and tell us what you see.