My '96 Ram 1500 is showing sings of timing chain slop. It's still running okay, but the engine has around 150K. The odometer is reading high at 162K. When driving, when the speedometer reads 45, I'm doing 40. At 80 on the speedometer I'm running 72. The odometer reads with the speedometer. It's on it's third transmission and I'm thinking when the second one was put it, they messed the speedometer reading up. The PO said it's always read faster than it really is going.
Anyway, my fuel economy is down, heat of okay but not blisteringly hot like I know it can be. Temp gauge is accurate. This is with the truck warmed up fully and I was pulling a load.




It has the 195 thermostat and a lot of noise from the timing chain.I plan to replace the timing chain in the spring, just because it could use it. The rest of the truck is in excellent shape. One thing I haven't done is attend to the intake plenum. I am using some oil and not leaking much from the valve covers or anywhere else. What part do I need to fix the plenum issue. I've never done this on one of these engines. I'm going to start accumulating parts so I have everything in the spring.

I'll probably replace the water pump because I'll have the old one off. Timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket (Gonna drop and clean the pan just as a matter of course), new heater hoses, again as a matter of course, and anything else that looks iffy, like engine mounts if they look weak.

 

I think your thermostat is stuck open. Mine ran closer to the 200 than that..... Of course, on my 98, it sits in about that spot, and it is indeed 195 degrees....

For the plenum fix, the gasket on the steel pan on the bottom of the intake is what blows out. The problem there is, the bolts are too long.... as the gasket ages, it shrinks, and no long seals, and gets sucked in. Oil consumption goes up, fuel economy and power go down. Especially below 3K RPM. All you really need to do, is shorten those bolts, and put in a high quality gasket. The aluminum plate isn't absolutely necessary, but, it sure doesn't hurt.

Don't forget the bypass hose from the water pump to the intake.

 

I have field replaced TWO bypass hoses in the winter. they failed and I had to fix and refill the cooling system with winter wind blowing up the back of my coat. I do NOT intend to do it a third time. My thermostat is working, Under load towing a car up and down hills, it gets closer to the 200 mark.

 

I believe your thermostat is sticking open as well. My '96 Ram 2500 5.9 magnum engine runs just a hair shy of the 200 degree mark on the gauge with a 195 degree thermostat. If you can source a 195 degree Stant Superstat, that should cure your temperature issue, as its common for budget thermostats to fail fairly often, sometimes right out of the box. You can double check the temperature with a laser temperature gun while the engine's running and up to temperature - https://go.harborfreight.com/email/2.../180022-63985/

As for the timing chain, I installed a good double roller timing chain and gear set, along with a timing chain tensioner. With that setup, my timing stays rock solid.

 

I have a 180* and at first warm up the gauge will go up to 200 then open, After that it hangs just below the 200 mark. As said either the t stat is stuck open or the gauge is not reading correctly. Yours has two sensors, one for the gauge and the other for the pcm.

 

I did a little trouble shooting on the Ram today. After driving all day, I pulled in the drive and dug my infrared remote thermometer out. I wasn't able to get a good reading on the thermostat fitting at the block. However, the water pump is reading 140 degrees. I used a stethoscope to listen to the noise and it's the tensioner pulley, not the timing chain. Knowing what I know about the two previous owners, I'm betting one of them listened to old tales and put a cooler thermostat in it. I picked up a proper unit and may swap it in before the arctic blast hits Thursday.

 

Yeah, I am thinkin' havin' good heat here, is going to be a real issue in the not-very-distant future......

 

Actually, the heat it puts out now is plenty for me. I suspect I may need to take the GF to work or home and she's rather cold blooded. My Mazda has heated seats. I tried my side once just to see if it works. Her side gets used regularly.

 

I am just not a fan of the cold either. So far as I am concerned, heat is a byproduct of driving, therefore, free. I will happily make FULL use of it.

 

I'm fairly cold tolerant. A friend does body work and he stopped by today to pick the PT Cruiser ragtop up to repair one rust out from it's time in Michigan. It was 32 degrees F, the sun was shining and no wind. Perfect weather. I was out there in a Tee shirt. He was wearing insulated coveralls with a jacket over that. Granted, the wind did pick up and I put a jacket on, but I wasn't really cold.

I learned when I was in N. Dakota, it's not REALLY cold until you go outside and your boogers freeze fast.

I know one thing I'm going to do after the thermostat replacement. I'm going to track fuel mileage for three tank fulls. If I'm stuck in open loop mode, I should see an increase in fuel economy.