First off, Thank you all for the replies and suggestions. I'm a member of a couple of other forums, and I have posts that were posted 3 months ago that went ignored. I really appreciate the welcome and the advice.

The guy is a typical used car dealer. But, he did offer a two week grace period if anything went wrong with the car as well as a warranty for 120K miles for $500.00 (dont remember all that it covered but that sounded like a deal) I made an appointment with my AAA car care center that does diagnostics for 90$(just found this out from the wife). I figured that's a small price to pay for a two hour inspection. I'm in no hurry to buy but have made some really bad spontaneous purchases in my past. If the inspection says that this is something that can be fixed for $500-$1000 or less I'll see if the guy will either repair or price adjust accordingly. Otherwise, I'll just keep my eyes open.
Thanks again.
Rob

 

There you go.

Ask the DEALER to pay for this test. It IS a small price to pay, and if that's what it takes to make you happy then HE should jump at the chance to pay for it. Remember, it is HIM that should be jumping through hoops, not you. There are a million cars out there for you to purchase, but he only has one to sell you. Honestly though, like I said before, if your questioning it today, you'll always question it. I'D purchase a car that I felt comfortable with from day one, but that's just me. There's a reason that that truck is sitting on his lot ... remember that.

 

yeah VERY good point. someone else got rid of it for some reason hence it's sitting on the lot. maybe it was a trade in for a new model... maybe it was to get out from under having to fix the problems. ya never know.

how many miles were/are on it? remember the transmissions in the trucks can be a weak link like in any vehicle. worth having checked. really though if it's a high mile truck you're going to have to start making a lot of repairs no matter what make it is. and i'm sure you can easily find a 2nd gen ram for under 100k miles. yes the engine is still good at 100k, but there are other things like gears, transmissions, transfer cases, suspension.. all that stuff has taken those miles too.

 

I'm not a mechanic, but in a Chevy Lumina car I had it ran pretty hot for a while... a couple of months later, it went in the red from a from the coolant draining into the engine from a blown head gasket. I paid the guy that sold it to me $600 to fix it... it never drove the same again and it's engine was almost blown before I gave the guy a taste of his own medicine and traded it back to him for another car. Not trying to scare ya, but I'd be scared having been through what I went through.

 

Overfilling will not cause overheating. A blocked ... um ... anything (hose, core, etc.) could cause it. It could be as simple as a defective thermostat. Might be a bad water pump (though you would probably see leakage from the pump itself in that case). Cooling problems usually aren't that tough to fix ... the questions are ... how long has it been that way and how much damage was done in the mean time? [>:]

 

if it was a bad water pump and leaking i don't think you'd have an overfull problem... just 2 cents... still could be a bad water pump just causeing a block or something.

yeah definetly gotta find out how long it's been that way.. it's not a rotary or anything but still can do bad damage that nobody wants to deal with.. kinda like rust on a 70's unibody car... nobody wants to touch that crap.

 

Bad water pump = no circulation = no cooling of the engine = boiling of the coolant = coolant puking into (and then out of) the overflow tank ... just LOOKS overfull.

 

I had a VW that developed a small head gasket leak that was leaking compression from a cylinder to the cooling system, which would then blow off coolant due to pressure until there wasn't enough to cool the engine and then it would overheat. The head gasket eventually blew right out. I was lucky and there was no other damage. That was eight years ago and the VW is still running.

Over heating an engine is never good for it. If it was running hot on a quick test drive HOW long has it been happening and what damage has it done????

I know I would definitely look into more before buying.

 

I just bought my 98 Ram 1500 sprt 5.9L. I test drove the crap out of it, noticed the steering was a little loose to me. The dealer put around 500 in steering parts now it feels great. The only problem I have now that was not there when i test drove it Saturday, the passenger side seat belt will not pull out. I discovered something new, I didnt know that the seatbelts are motorized.
Anyone have any takes on my seatbelt issue.
The drive home was 338 miles and I did not have a passenger, on the test drive it worked fine my wife used it.

Back to the OP, only you can/ will know if you get a good deal. If the dealer/ seller will let you take it to an independent inspection then if you discover problems negociate with you or repair the problems at their expense. If the dealer/ seller has a problem with you taking the truck to an inspection, I would recommend " RUN" and dont look back.

IMO
Jay-R

 

I had a 97 Ram 1500 4x4 pulling 7K+ lbs from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City with temps in the low 80's and my temp guage didn't come anywhere close to hot or even warm. Like the other posts, if you really want it, get the dealer to help with diagnosis/repairs if needed. Just my .02.