Just thought I'd say hi, recently picked up a '01 Ram 1500 3.9L 2wd short wheelbase (single cab, short box) that currently has 232k on the clock. Not really my daily driver, have a company issue econobox for that, but needed something cheap to move and launch my boat and always nice to have a pickup as a new homeowner. And it was very cheap, seller said most people ran for the hills as soon as they saw the odometer. Total base model, crank up windows, no power anything. Only option I can tell is A/C, which miraculously still blows ice cold. Southern truck, so not a speck of rust anywhere.

For the high miles (and seeing lots of chatter here that 150-200k was about the life expectancy of these drivetrains), it still runs and drives excellent. Zero smoke on cold starts or hard accel, transmission is smooth, no groans or growls or shudders or any of the stuff you kind of expect on high miles trucks. Engine and trans oil looked fairly fresh, have to assume it was fairly well taken care of to make it this far. I mean, it's certainly no powerhouse, but gets the job done and is surprisingly good on fuel, I'm getting around 20mpg mixed driving. The owner I bought it from had owned it for the prior 10 years/100k or so and seemed pretty good about maintenance. He said to his knowledge neither the engine or trans has been replaced.

I do have a couple issues to sort out- the high beams don't work and instantly blow the fuse (multifunciton switch?), and I'm having trouble getting the EVAP and catalyst monitors to set so it won't pass the state inspection. No engine light or DTC's though. I got the "no bus" error/dead gauges randomly a couple times right after getting the truck, but from suggestions I found here, removing the PCM connectors, applying some dielectric grease, and reinserting a couple times seems to have taken care of it since the issue hasn't returned since.

 

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