I've been trying to find out if my 1999 Dodge ram 1500 has the original motor in it. The odo reads 169,139 miles, and I was just curious to see if it had the orignal trans and motor. I found the sticker on the transmission, and the date stamp read "7/27/98". Considering my door jamp says the truck was manufactured in 8/98, I would suppose thats the orignal trans, correct me if im wrong? However, I couldnt find any ID on the block, and I found some yellow writing that looked like something a junkyard may have wrote on the block. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm young and just trying to learn haha. Thanks in advance everyone.




EDIT: Is there any other ID plate I can look at to find out if the motor was original? Or could those yellow markings be inspection markings from the dealership or factory it was produced at?

 

I'm thinking those are just the initials of some mechanic that has changed the oil or worked on the truck at one time.

 

Could be the guy who put something on the motor wrote his insignia and the date, 6/7/98.

Or like zman said, I always do stupid crap like that...Like when I helped put the roof on my uncle's house...Giant "****, its hot out" in sharpie on the plywood before we put the tar paper on.

 

So as far as y'all can tell this is most likely the original motor? I know the trans has to be original unless they found another truck made it august of 98. And I cant imagine that a motor would last longer than a dodge tranny. Thats pretty impressive though...170k on a 46re...

 

And sorry to double post, but if this helps you guys maybe figure it out, there is also a marking on the very back of the valve cover. I didnt get a picture of it, but I remember seeing it there the other day. The same kind of markings.

 

Umm, the motor will last way longer than the tranny.

 

Thats exactly the point I was trying to make lol......and how likely would it be that I had another tranny from the same production run put it my truck....thats why i believe it is the original transmission

 

It probably is the original. Of course if someone took it out and had it rebuilt you would never know, unless the PO tells you.

 

I figured it was all original. I just wanted to check those marks out because I know junkyards use that yellow paint or crayon whatever it is to mark motors in the yard

 

Maintain it and it'll last forever.