97 Dodge 1500 Club Cab, 360ci (5.9l)
Dual Flowmaster, power programmer, nice stereo system,
flaws, well suspension throws you around like you’re at the baja even on a perfectly flat road,
has idle problems that are completely intermittant and it wasn’t the EGR valve or the IAC, or the battery, so I’m stumped,
a new truck, or even used truck means higher insurance and a truck payment,
keeping my truck means paying a mechanic to go over with a fine tooth comb and taking me for every penny I got,
any advice?
best answer seems ride it til the wheels fall off, but I can’t afford it if they fall off on the highway and I cause a 10 car pile up,
I’m a carpenter, tools and lots of lumber, need a truck
This is tricky! In my opinion it all depends upon how
you wish to use your truck. If you haul a lot of weight
regularly, I wouldn’t worry about the suspension. If
you are one that merely uses a truck as a type of
symbol that you just like to have, I would look into
changing the shocks, and / or springs. The ones
you have may be designed for heavy-haul loads.
As for the issue of the idle problems the best idea
is to get a service book on your truck, then read
all you can on such issues, and troubleshooting
so that you can ask for some intelligent answers
on the problem. You have to narrow down the field
of possible problems as there are many that could
affect the idle. That is especially true on every
engine since about 1978. The newer, the worse the
problem.
In any event I would then look to see if I had the
tools to do whatever is necessary. The ability can
be acquired, however slow, by just doing the job.
I would also look to junk yards for parts that you
might need on the idle problem. This can save
over the cost of new, and still work well. Many
times I will get parts this way just to have on
hand after I have proved that they fix the problem,
but then put on new. On a vehicle with some age,
it isn’t a bad idea to have some spare, emergency
parts.
Doing whatever you can to help yourself can be a
much less expense to you so long as you don’t
merely buy things helter-skelter, and seek out
the best choices, not by individual guesses, but
by your own research, then asking questions
based upon what you have found.
Preserving, and driving an older vehicle is much
less expense than just going out and buying another.
As long as everything else seems good, and you
maintain it well, this is always the best choice
these days.
unfortunately im faced with the same problem with my intrepid, ive opted to sell it. especially if the bad outweighs the good. the truck is 12, what are the miles. id say part it out.
if its paid off, keep it. economy sucks and risking a truck payment is a mistake right now.
if you are making payments already, see how much getting something with a good warrenty will cost you. i wouldn’t commit to anything right away, but more info will help you to make a better decision.
pay the 100 bucks and let a mechanic have a shot at a diagnosis. mechanics have access to literature on vehicles that joe shmoe doesnt. sometimes they can find the fix that has us stumped for months.
"keeping my truck means paying a mechanic to go over with a fine tooth comb and taking me for every penny I got,"
No, it doesn’t. The majority of mechanics are honest and will do what you want and need them to do. If you take it in and say "Fix it" you’ve left it open to a big repair bill. If you explain the problems, and ask for an estimate, that’s what you’ll get. Find a mechanic you are happy with, and work with him to get the truck fixed, because that’s probably going to be your best option.
Although I have picked up a few that have been ignored until the ball joints fail, very few have wheels that actually fall off. And most of the time they have given enough warning that it’s a slow speed, off on the edge of the road problem when it does happen.
My best advice is to take to good shop. I realize they are hard to find and when you do they are two or three weeks out. Explain your problem, tell them you are waiting for an income tax check but want to know what you are looking at to get it going. Then you can weigh your options as far as trade in or repair.
except for the intermittent problem it appears to be in good shape i would keep it
Ooookay, simple question…why a pickup, status or do you actually use it for hauling?
Ok ok, I’ll leave you alone on that, heh heh. You want a nice ride, no pickup will give you the same ride as a car, unless you put lighter springs/shocks in there. Then you defeat the original purpose of hauling. Go ahead, I invite dissenting opinions…ride in a pickup is a compromise by design.
Your idle problem may involve those leetle vacuum hoses under the hood, you might trace every one and look for cracked, brittle or broken/fell off hoses…also could be partially clogged/worn injectors.
Best answer is shop around, buy what you DO want, and be proud of it.
beat the high price of another vehicle and fix it… baja try new shocks
heavy duty .. big loads good shocks easy
idle problem,, dodges have allot of body modules and if the programer or the sterio was install improperly.. feed back can reack havock with engine computer try takeing both off line and see what happens *****