Yeah, it's either not on tight, or, time for a new one. They are cheap, and easy to replace, but, won't cause the truck to not start....... Something else is going on there.

 

When you turn the key to start, can you hear the fuel pump running at all? It should run for a few seconds, then cut off.

 

you said you tried to crank it but it wouldn't engage. did you mean the starter wouldn't do anything?


was it making some kind of noise that made you check to see if it was in 4x4 or did you have it in 4wheel at some point on your drive and then double check the disengagement of it?


also on the radiator, I don't know how bad part of it would/could break by the cap if you leaned on it or bumped it doing your other repairs, but I recently was adjusting my throttle cable and leaned on the middle of my upper rad hose and the whole inlet snapped off. they get pretty brittle with age and the cold probably doesn't help.

 

Racefan41, find one of these and it will solve your radiator issue permanently! No more plastic tanks to crack and leak!

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-radiator.html

 

that looks like the way to go. I searched for them and the only thing I see from CTS for a '99 2500 v10 are aluminum/plastic. I found a direct fit by Griffin that's a bit out of my budget, but saw Summit has some all aluminum universal fits for not much more than a regular plastic replacement. I don't know off the top of my head what might need to go into modifying all the mounting (shroud too) for one of these but I will do some digging on it.


I need to do something pretty quick cause I managed to leave enough of my snapped off plastic inlet (about an inch) to put my hose back on keep it going for now. Not the way I wanna be driving around. If I have to go very far to a job, I hitch a ride.

 

RaceFan41, the CSF 2969 is an economical all-aluminum radiator that is a direct bolt-in for the 2nd gen trucks. They are getting hard to locate now, but a friend of mine found one about 6 months ago. I'd call the folks at www.alumorad.com to see if they have one or phone these folks to see if they are going to get anymore in stock - https://www.amazon.com/CSF-2969-Radiator/dp/B001FHDXOC

 

You can find all sorts of weird stuff with that part number (only, no description) on Google. Lol

Here is an online store that claims to have them available, and for a better than fair price.

https://autoplicity.com/2914614-3500-radiator

 

Before ordering from these folks, better call and ensure they can get it and how long it will take to receive it, as they state that it ships from the manufacturer - https://autoplicity.com/search?searchterms=csf+2969

 

There's a thread on the radiator subject here somewhere. You can get one from radiator.com that has a lifetime warranty.