preferably the 1500 5.2s and 5.9s, because i got the opportunity to buy a couple of part trucks really cheap. years 96 through 01 they are

 

94-95 pretty much anything. 96-97, pretty much anything, 98-01, again, pretty much anything...... Now, between the three groupings, pretty much nothing in the way of electronics as related to the engine.

What years are the trucks you are looking at?

Welcome to DF!

 

im looking at 96 1500 360 with bad tranny but running good and a 99 318 blown

 

Which one do you want to put back together? None of the electronic controls for engine/trans will be interchangeable...... but, you can swap engine/trans if ya like. (either direction) Just have to get the PCM flashed for the engine.

 

none want the 96 for spare motor, tires, exhaust ,and other parts for my 97 and the 99 i dont think i want no more cuz it all pretty gone already but i might try to get the windshield for my polished rust bucket

 

would the 5.2 out my 2000 ram 1500 fit into my 03 1500?

 

What engine did your 03 originally come with?

 

I have a 97 ram 1500 4x4. 5.9 Engine is shot.
I see on car-part there are a few low mile options, but years range from 94'-01'.
It has 2 temp sensors (or rather, the sensor and sending unit as seperate sensors). Am I correct in my thinking, that only 96'-97' had that set-up? If I can find a 97' will I need to have ecu flashed?
thanks in advance!

 

I have a '96 Ram truck and have swapped out the PCM from a '97 Ram with the same displacement engine and 46RE automatic transmission as my truck without issue. It's been my experience that there's no need to have the VIN encoded in the PCM in 1996 & 1997. If you are looking at car-part.com, you will need to look closely to see what year truck the salvage yard took the parts off of to ensure the PCM came from a '96 or '97 truck. I've personally used car-part.com to procure used PCMs in the recent past.

 

You can use any year magnum block(same displacement) just swap over the sensors if they are different than yours(same sensors different plugs). The early magnums had EGR's on them also. You might want to use your original intake and do the plenum fix on it then use it on the new motor. .
If you are not sure about how to id the blocks here are the casting #'s on the side.
360 Magnum blocks are 5302006.
53006714 or 53006657 are 318's
Stick with the 5.9 then you don't have to worry about changing the pcm.