1996 1500/5.2l/200000
This morning had daughter check truck.
No sign of water on dipstick.
Puddle under truck that proved transmission fluid. Apparently she had John.s Auto change the fluid. Still had fluid in the tranny. Good job by the auto repair shop!
Starts ok, but "white smoke and water coming out of tailpipe".

We have Triple A (pays in the middle of nowhere ranchland here in New Mexico).
First contact says she can piggy back tows (200mi and 3 100 mi).
And get one day rental car at first tow.
Second contact says no, can't piggy back.
Need one way rental car. No problem, they use Enterprise.
Decide to tow about 189 miles from Amarillo, TX to Santa Rosa, NM (Triple A) and I'll pick it up on trailer tomorrow.

Triple A could not get anyone to tow until 4:00 pm. Can't get the rental until the tow.
Tow truck comes, Enterprise says no one way rental to daughter in Amarillo.
Phone calls and restrained anger= car one hour later.

So now I'm really interested to find out the real problem with the truck.
You will probably be hearing from me after I review the posts and FAQ.

Hope this doesn't upset the board, but my daily ride is a 1977 F350, 351,4 speed (camper special with extendable bumper). 146000 original.
Thanks again.
Tom

 

"Hope this doesn't upset the board, but my daily ride is a 1977 F350, 351,4 speed (camper special with extendable bumper). 146000 original.
Thanks again."
Should'nt be a problem, many of us have more than one vehicle.
On the daughters pick-up, probably still a cracked head or blown headgasket. The water doesn't always get in the oil, sometimes it just gets sucked into the intake.

 

sounds like you're making progress and the 77 350 can easily handle the tow as long as you don't have one of those big campers in the bed. have you got access to a good trailer that can handle hauling the dodge? try to be safe, patient, and keep moving toward home. it'll be a lot easier to fix at home than on the road.

 

I've owned GMC & Ford in my day - Though of course Mopar is the center of attention here, you won't find many slamming another USA designed/produced truck out of simple name brand loyalty.
They all have their high points, and low - And its a given that you'll be doing some wrenching on anything you get, no matter who makes it.

 

yeah their all good till they break

 

my vehicle starts rough and overheated very badly and my radiator hose made a thumping sound when hit the front supports, it almost blew and i leaking engine coolant bad, ended up being for me a shot water pump could be something worth checking out

 

I bet that thing likes gas.

 

it seems that toyota is the butt of alot of our jokes these days ....Ford's off the hook for now

Good luck with the dodge msteel, I hope everything works out ok for yas!

 

Hello, Its Jen, the daughter. The truck got shipped near home, so now its the fun journey of finding exactly what happened. I have had this truck for 7 years, my first car, (truck). When I left PA, it ran fine, just a tick off center 200 degrees on the temp. Engine ran fine, tranny as well.
I'm not mechanically inclined, I train horses. But I am aware of any new noises or vibrations the truck makes, and so when things break I fix what I'm told whats broken, hence the fuel pump. It whined so loud you could hear it inside the truck. Took it to the garage, and was told I was being a silly blonde, and its old and whines.
So I get to OK from PA, and truck has no horsepower, shudders badly when driven, and sounds like the tranny cant decide a gear. It also slowed down to the point where the fastest i could go was 50 mph. Was told it was the fuel pump.
Fuel pump is replaced, along with tranny fluid and oil. Also was told I had a cracked fuel line.
Soon after leaving OK, with new FP, truck runs warmer than normal, hovering between 200 and 240. But not in the red, still in white. So I continue to drive to the nearest town, where I was going to check fluids, but suddenly I smelled burning coolant, and the truck temp shot up to the white line above red, i pulled over, truck shut off and I coasted off the road. Smoke was coming from below the spark plugs, valve covers?
The lower rad hose had a huge hole in the side, and whole side of truck of wet.
Bought a new hose, but when i restarted it, it ran like it was misfiring, kept dying, and was still over heating.
So here we are.
Thank you everyone for your input. Wish I went to mechanic school, rather than horses, haha.

 

Its def. the head gaskets and yes its alot of money to get fixed. the best thing is to get new heads. Dont get them out of a junkyard, you can end up with bad heads...................... ... Or just put about 3,000 bucks in a new motor from the dealer and thats you best bet.