I'd just put fairly thick oil in it and drive it for the time being... :-)

 

So cool to see another shorty. I bought my 2002 at Thanksgiving and love it. Needs a few things but paint is the biggest and hope to get to that in the spring.

 

How does the climate control system work? These vans seem to be notorious for vacuum leaks.

​Mine is a mess. I did have heat before the engine swap but barely any now. I'm going to be troubleshooting this week. If all else I'm putting a flush tee in place of the heater valve just so I can get heat . I think low vacuum due to a leak is the problem. Somehow during the engine swap disturbed something and the valve is barely opening.

Defrost vent just like before opens under acceleration.

Fan just works on high speed . Even after replacing the resistor block and connector. Next thing is to replace the switch in the dash.

A/C does not work but that may be low on refrigerant.

​​​​Cruise doesn't work either which is probably related.

Supposedly adding check valve in the vaccum line going to the climate control panel is the fix. I've got a universal HELP! Check valve if I can find the vaccum source I'm going to install it.

Supposed to be easy to find on Dodge trucks. I haven't found the vacuum branch
​​​​​on the van yet.

 

All the vacuum stuff comes off of three (or two...) ports on the passenger side of the intake. (assuming magnum engine with the kegger intake.)

 

My HVAC is mostly working. The lower 3 speeds on the fan are working. AC works but rear fan is not working. I fixed the cruise control after finding the vac line going to the reservoir had become disconnected. Here's the other stuff I've done or plan to do in the near term:

-Coolant flush (currently driving with Thermocure in the system to eliminate rust or any other buildup)
-Eng oil & filter change (complete)
-Rear diff service (hope to do over the next couple of weeks)
-Tranny service (coming soon)
-Brake bleed (spring project in case I have a caliper problem)
-Paint

My van only has 12K miles on it so things seem to be acceptable for now. It was bought new at the local Dodge dealer and was a one owner. I was lucky to find her.

 

Only 12K miles? Holy smokes. It was barely driven.

 

Crazy!

 

Guys, I changed the rear diff fluid with Mobil1 75W-90 in early April. Since changing the fluid I've now noticed a rattle coming from the rear of the van. I'm not completely sure it's the diff so wanted to see if you guys might have experienced a similar issue?

The Mobil1 is synthetic and says it has the friction modifier in it. The rattle also doesn't seem to change frequency with speed which make me this it's not the diff. Other than this she drive just fine. Any ideas what it could be?

 

Check the exhaust system to make sure it's not touching anything.

 

Yeah, I need to get my wife to drive around the neighborhood while I ride in the back to see if I can figure out where it's coming from. One good thing is you can't hear it after you get to highway speeds ;-)