I am looking at a 2001 Ram 1500 4WD, club cab, 5.9 engine (72,000 miles). I am going to trade in my 2000 Explorer Sport. Are there any problems with the Ram I need to look for when trying the vehicle out? I would greatly appreciate any advise! Thanks!!

 

read the FAQ at the top of the second gen page to see common problems that you should check for when lookin at that ram.

 

Hey welcome to DF!!!! theres a few main things to watch out for, the biggest is the tranny. Ill let rom fill you in on that one. theres also the plenum gasket leak, the 5.9 was prone to crack heads. theres some other stuff but my mind is not fuction very well at the moment.

 

Welcome!

Here's a list of the problems that tend to hit 2nd Gen Rams:
Heads cracking (mostly a 5.9 problem)
Plenum gasket leak (also mostly a 5.9 problem)
Speed sensor failure
TPS failure
Front axle seals
Catalytic converter failure (now covered by an extended warranty plan from Chrysler)
Rusting no the bottom of the doors

The other big issue is the transmission. This one depends a lot on how the truck was treated and maintained though. If you change the fluid & filter regularly (every 20,000 to 25,000 miles or so), adjust the bands, and add a larger transmission cooler, it will last you quite a long time!

 

Thanks for all of the replies! The truck I was looking at sold before I was able to get to it!

That sounds like some costly issues. Does everyone always have the same problems? I know with my explorer, they have a serious timing chain issue. Well, mine was no difference. The repair bill was $1900 (Thank God for an extended warranty). Now, a year later, I am starting to hear it again. I am a member of the Ford Trucks forum also, and every problem people descibed on this website with the Explorer, my Explorer has ended up having!! This is the main reason why I am wanting to trade. I think the Ram is the best looking truck on the market, but I don't want to get into something that is going to end up costing a lot of money to keep running. I guess all the brands of truck have their problems though. I have tried looking at the other brands, but they all look so "sissy" compared to the Ram!!

 

these also apply to the 318's.... they use the same heads and intake. It's my belief that the head cracking problem is aggrevated using the stock exhaust manifolds, headers should help prevent the cracking along with a 180 t-stat.

edit: oops, forgot a couple of things...

welcome to DF..
the ram is an awesome truck, with the support of these forums, you can pretty much get an answer to whatever question you might have on it fairly quickly. with just about all of the issues identified, getting it to be rock solid is easy. Hope to see you back with a "Just got a new Ram" post...

 

I know they also apply to 318s, but you rarely hear of it happening on that motor. Hence the "MOSTLY A" in my original post

I agree that a 180 t-stat would help prevent cracking, or at least prolong the life of the stock head. If it's a flaw in the casting, it's going to crack eventually [&:][:'(]

 

Mine is a 318 and my passenger side head was cracked, althought I don't think it was original. My machinst told me he's opened 318 engines (Magnum) with over 150K on them, an the heads were fine. I am betting there was a casting flaw with 5.2/5.9 heads, which is why all of the reports of cracked heads. I have been contemplating going with headers instead of exhaust manifolds when I drop it all back into place.

 

I am still looking for a good deal. With the information I have learned from this site, hopefully I will be able to find a good one. Thanks to all!

 

I am afraid that the Magnum head cracking is a defect related to how the valve seats are hardened with electric current and then annealled. The annealling step seems to be the problem. That is not surprising. To get a proper anneal the best way is to put the heads in a furnace and use low temperature and long time. For cost reasons there is always pressure from management to use higher temperatures and shorter time.

The cast iron alloy Mopar Performance Magnum RT heads and the ProTopLine aftermarket replacement heads cast in New Zealand don't seem to have the cracking problems.

The Aluminum Magnum heads from Edelbrock use a valve seat insert instead and so don't have this problem - but the insert can come loose and fall out.