RamCharger.net

Back ups are nice. Now don't get me wrong I love my old dodges but you never know when something can go wrong

I've got a complete 93 RC under dash loom and hatch/door locks if your in need of those items.

hmm how much for the harness? lol might be easier to replace it than trying to patch this mess together. Might need the engine one too 

I will take some pics of it maybe tomorrow when I get back from nascar 

Well I had to move it into the garage so I had more driveway room for a bit.

I can say its been very helpful having a put together model to compare the 91 too 

I did get the 4wd shifter in place, but it was too late to start up and test. It went easily between 2wd and 4 high, but I did not get to roll it around or test 4 low.

Maybe next week I can pull it out and do some drive testing, though I will have to be careful. I got the title transfer done, but I do not have inspection or tags at this point. I have a few more things to do before I can do inspection, which I need for tags. The biggest of that is insurance but I am holding off on that until I get the 91 buick sold off. Hopefully that happens real soon.

Since its suppose to be a low of 39 tonight I figured I should replace the pure water I had in the cooling system, I drained the radiator and then filled it back up with antifreeze and water. While doing so I noticed the radiator cap was in bad shape so I pulled the one off the 91. I let it run up to normal temp then turned it off, it was not doing the strange stuff it did before so maybe that was just a bad radiator cap... I still need to do a leakdown test, but that has to wait until the 91 is at the paint shop and the 2000 is back on the road again,

Since I did not want to drop a fuel tank I figured I would work on this rig this weekend. 1 step forward and 2 steps back... or so it seems.

I wanted to look at the wipers since I need that for inspection, I still have ambitions of getting it street legal at least to start with. Well the motor was good and had power, so next I opened up the area under the wipers and I found the wiper linage all laying on the bottom 

I got lucky and Orielly had the bushings in stock, but that is where the luck ended. It took me about 3 hours to get it back in and setup like it needed to be. I have a new respect for wipers lol

I also got both power windows working and the power door locks, well mostly... the driver door lock trys hard but does not always make it all the way up/down. I figure that will work out over time.

I also had a small leak on the lower radiator hose, so I bought a new clamp and fixed that. As soon as it was fixed and I was re-filling the radiator I found a new bigger leak on the water pump 

it was at this point I just put it back in the back yard and went inside for the rest of the day. I needed a break anyways

I have  number of door lock motors that I have saved over the years. I may have a replacement of needed.

I have a few spare motors too, but I think its more of a grease, bind issue though I could be wrong.

I broke down and got the water pump today. I tore it all off, and have to say after getting it opened up I can't believe that sucker ran!!!!!

Man was it nasty in there. I broke down and got

new water pump
new bypass hose
new top radiator hose
new bypass hose nipple
new heater hose nipple
new thermostat
new thermostat water way

It seems to be doing ok, but it was too late to do a good test drive, have to do that tomorrow.

I did notice while I was waiting on it to warm up 2 things

1) the heater is not working    I think its missing a vacuum line for it, will look tomororw
2) none of the message center is working... no parking brake, no gate, no ABS, etc

so that make me wonder if the dash section was pulled out and not connected back up... which if that is the case could explain why the od is not working... it might be unplugged. Once again we will find out tomorrow.


I keep thinking I might give up on this sucker and just got buy a used 5.2 to throw in it for the $250 or 300 they go for... could be easier than dealing with all this lol

Every once in a while the red truck leaks water from the water pump.  It has been making noise off and on for a while.  Sooner or later I am going to have to break down and put another water pump on it.

The last two water pumps that I have changed, one on my daughter's Jeep and another on an Intreped ended up not having enough vanes to possibly move any water.  I suspect that's what I will find on the red truck.

that suck. it does not surprise me that the thermostat housing is rusted out. it does surprise me that there is as much rust there as you found. i guess you are suppose to check fluids and possibly flush them on used vehicles that you just bought for cheap.

 

Heck Wilferd, I gots a can of that there WD40 you can use.   

well changing fluids is one thing, checking rust and "yuck" on the water pump impellers is something different.

Richard, you should REALLY get that radiator rod'd out and flushed before you try to use it 

I got the locking lug nuts off, was a bit creative with the vise grips and a hammer. Once I broke the center caps off it was easy enough to do. I was then able to get the passenger caliper and pads replaced. It appears I will soon get to dive into a front axle 
that passenger side has some bad well everything. The bearings being the most noticeable noise, but the movement was also not a good sign. I have never been into an axle so it should be an experience... good things its not a primary driver.

I did get into the dash too, yeah all the connectors were not plugged in. Interestingly there was only 1 good light bulb in the message center, but I found some spares. While I had it apart I also checked the instrument cluster, every single one of its lights were out, so being cheap I found my spare LED's I bought a while back and threw those in. They are a bit dim, but its better than no light at all. A quick drive and it did appear to hit 4th gear, but it still needs some tweaking on the tv cable.

My new issue is the steering shaft. I thought I would be a smartie and replace the rag joint shaft with my borgerson shaft out of the 91 since I have replaced that setup with what was in the 92. Well the shaft is "frozen" at the current length, it does not want to shrink or expand in length and its about 1" short from being right on this truck. I am trying to soak it with oil and see if I can free it up, but no luck yet.

I am trying to get this truck to a reliable place so I can possibly use it as a winter road truck if it gets ugly here. Beyond that with the 2000 still in the shop, I am ready to get rid of the durango and the buick to free up some cash and my insurance premiums. If I get rid of both then I will need this one to be drivable until the 2000 is back in action.

Looks like that will mean a good bit more work, but I am hoping it won't be too bad. But rebuilding (more or less) the whole front end is not going to be a quick thing I figure, especially since we leave for disney this thursday and don't get back till the 9th.

I picked up another 383 for parts and there was coolant in the motor but when I removed the thermostat housing, it was full of hard green gunk on top of the thermostat.  Water had not passed through there in a while.  Stalagmites were growing in those water jackets.  It's gonna take some cleaning.   

Well I spent some time on the trail rig tonight after I got home.

I have both front sides tore apart.

The bearings are "eh" so I will replace them, the passenger side has a bad ball joint so I will replace both of those and the u joints and all seals. I also have a few studs that are damaged so I will get those while I am at it.

The axles and all bearing area's look to be ok, but it was clear that the axle had been abused and ignored. I was shocked that all the bolts came out easy. The passenger side 4wd nut was not even hand tight !!! makes me wonder if that was not some of the sound I was hearing.

I have to go get the parts tomorrow, after that I have to finish getting the u joints off... it was too late at night to make much noise and who can take u joints off without a lot of noise? 

once I get both sides back together I will try to get the steering shaft on and take it for a spin. I want to get it on insurance soon, I think I might get the durango sold this weekend so that will make it possible.

This has been easier (so far) than I thought, and gives me more confience for the 91... but when I do it I will replace EVERYTHING I can and with good stuff, not the cheap parts at the store that have a decent warranty lol.

Bear in mind that I have been working with smaller Jeep u-joints, but the ball joint press that I bought makes changing u-joints much easier and no beating with a hammer is required.  I do suggest clamping the joint press in a vice though.