97 5.2l Stalled and wont restart
So, unfortunately I have been put in a situation where I will have to get this truck running well enough to drive 700-800 miles. I wasn't there when it originally stalled, and it ended up sitting in a field for the last 4 or so years. Looking for advice on where to start. Current plan is start with a fresh battery and go from there. I am not local to the truck currently and have been told that it still had spark and fuel in the rails when the last owner looked before he lost interest. Also worth mentioning, the last owner bought it from a high school aged guy and I am willing to bet that it was ridden rough and put up wet.
Take a fresh battery and a code scanner. The truck could need a major tune-up or might need something like a fuel pump and/or crank sensor... Is there any way you can arrange to have the truck towed back to your location so that you can work on it at your leisure? For example, you can rent a car trailer from U-Haul cheap for a local run as long as you have something to tow the trailer with and get it back to U-Haul within a day or two.
I'll have to get a scanner, and getting it towed would probably end up with me taking two flights and driving 1500 miles in 3 or 4 days, and that sounds like a whole lot bull****. As opposed to taking a week or two off and flying out one way and driving back. While I would love to get it towed out to where I am, with my current luck I would get it out here and it would end up impounded because the managerial staff at my building just love towing vehicles that don't run.
Have it towed to a local shop. Have them get it running, and give it a thorough inspection. When it is ready, go and get it. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up to find yourself far from your destination, with a dead truck.
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Basically getting it for a couple cases of beer. And I moved from an area where snow is not super common to Colorado. Slid my little front-wheel drive car off the road and was offered this one for a helluva deal.
Not to mention, where it is currently located I have access to more tools than I can count, and several people with a ton of knowledge. have been looking for a truck in Colorado and the trucks I have been looking at just aren't practical. This truck will allow me to go home and get most of my tools which are still out there, bring them back with me. I don't mind the drive I'll be taking, and it wouldn't kill me to do the whole thing at 30 mph if I had too. But an old 4x4 is exactly what I need out here. Cheap to insure, easier to work on than my current car.
As mentioned, it would be great for someone there to repair it prior to you heading out there, unless you have several weeks to burn in getting the truck up and running to make the trek back to CO. Obtaining selected parts for Dodge products at reasonable prices can take more time than expected.










