I just bought a 97 SST from the original owner. It's got 57,000 miles on it. So far I love it. I've only had it since Thursday but I've noticed that the engine has to turn over several times before it cranks. It seems to do it no matter if it's cold or hot. I'm going to change the fuel filter when I get time. Is this a normal for a Dodge? Any idea's? Thanks, Wesley

 

if it does it when its cold out or hot (meaning the motor) then id suggest a rutine tuneup to start out with, plugs cap wires rotor... also go through ALL the fluids... the original owner could have said he had everything done... but its always good to change all the fluids when you buy something used...so you know what you have in there... and so you have a good starting poitn to go from for periodic maintenece..... fuelpump/filter is a PITA b/c its inside the tank

first thing .. get yourself a haynes or chiltons... also..if its still availbable... at the top of the forum... click on merrry christmas..and download that PDF file... and give thanks to steve...

after a runtine maintence and nothing improves let us know... things to watch out for

cats going bad rutinely
plenum intake gasket blows often
timing chain stretches prematurley
tranny goes out... ALL THE TIME... the worst part about the 2 gens is the week tranny...(suggest you put in a aux tranny cooler when you can..itll save you in the long run... trust me!)
and the heads crack between a few of the valve seats causing missfires and crossfiring..

pinging and or spark nock is one thing to watch out for too..generally easy to fix..case by case situation

goodluck and welcome to dodge forum..let us know when you wanna start modding that beast....

oh btw
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It sounds like you might either have a weak spark or the starter might not be engaging the flywheel instantly. When I replaced the fuel pump on my 95 the pump and filter were all one unit where the filter was non servicable. Your 98 should be the same. You should here your fuel pump cycle on when you turn your key to the start position. To be sure you could do a fuel system pressure test by putting a gauge on the schrader valve on the drivers side back of the fuel rail. Have someone start the truck and check to see if your with in specs. Hope this helps
-Dave

 

do this test 1st before doing anything else... before starting, turn the key to the run position and listen for the fuel pump to turn on. do this 2 more times then try to start it. if it fires right up, then there is a check valve in the fuel pump assembly that is bad. it's supposed to keep fuel in the lines for faster starting. when it goes bad, the fuel will drain back into the tank and the pump has to prime the lines again before pressure builds up for starting...

welcome to DF!

With the SST you HAVE to post pics!

 

Already Tried the key test. I had a Mustang that did this same thing. I've got to change it because the test came back positive. I typed in the wrong thing in my first post, I meant to say filter & pump.
There sure is a lot of stuff that has trouble on these Mopar Truck's ain't it? My truck has the tow package with a big trans cooler, do I still need a bigger one? I bought the truck because it was so clean and I got such a good Price I couldn't turn it down,But the main reason was to pull my Musatng to the track. Will it do that? [sm=roll.gif] I know it will. I'll get some pics, you'll like em' Thanks, WWW

 

should be able to tow the stang down there... I dont know off hand what the towing limits are on the Rams but i'm sure someone will post those soon enough. What motor do you have? My guess would be the 360... 57k miles is hella low... what did you pay for it?

 

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/4066/sst42pj.jpg

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/2718/sst27se.jpg

Here's links to a couple of pics. It's got the 360. Didn't all the SST's have the 360? Thanks, WWW

 

nice truck. how do you like the stang? i'm planing on geting a 1988 at the end of the summer

 

damn, really nice truck... and yeah, I think all of them came with the 360... just askin... if you ever want to verify it, the CID is stamped on the side of the block above the starter...



[IMG]local://upfiles/1508/8AE11648F7B349428FE449C76A920FF9.jpg[/IMG]

 

1996ramkid: I like the Mustang. I used to race chevy Nova's. I've had about 25 of em'. I used to think chevys were easy to work on. Now I know they are all about the same.