Hey guys my name is Justin and I am from Connecticut.
I just got a good deal on a 98 Ram 1500, 5.9l, 4x4, leather seats, laramie slt package, and I am beginning to understand why I got a good deal on it

I recognized a lot of the problems when I bought it but I have had an interesting couple of days and it isn't even registered yet, here is what I have done:

1/14: Bought my truck
1/14: Got locked out of my truck
1/16: Went to Dodge dealership to have key made off vin (turns out my ignition had been replaced so now I have 2 keys
1/17: Battery died, I think this one was my fault though

And, if you are still reading, here are the problems she has:
Check engine light
Airbag light
A little water gets in through the drivers side trim
A little rust on the doors

I'll leave it at that for now!

 

Hi Justin. Welcome to the wonderful world of Dodge Forum.

You are going to want to wander on down to the Second Gen Dodge Ram section. TONS of good info there, and some very helpful members. Be sure and read the Plenum thread stickied at the top of the tech section.

You can get your ignition switch re-keyed, so it uses the original key. Any good locksmith should be able to do that for ya. (for a price, of course....)

Most parts stores will read codes for you. Don't think they will do Airbag codes though... (liability reasons.)

Make sure you put a good charge on the battery, and verify the battery is good before driving it. Weak batteries can cause all sorts of interesting driveability issues.

 

Welcome to DF. For sure check out the 2nd gen Ram section.

 

Thanks! Yeah I was checking out that section last night, I'm going to work my way through the problems it has and then I should have a nice truck and I'll hopefully put some aftermarket parts on it.

Its funny, my previous car (still have it right now and it drives fine but its wrecked) was a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and if you turned the key in the ignition 3 times it would tell you the codes but the 2nd gen Dodges don't do that

The battery thing is a bit of a pain, I tried to jump it with my Jeep last night and it wouldn't do it. Before now it started up just fine and the battery level wasn't low.

 

The 98's don't do that, the 99 and up do though.