need help asap (going to sign papers tomorrow)

[TMorris]

I am hoping there are some late night TDR surfers still out there to answer a few questions i have regarding a Dodge Ram im seriously thinking about buying. Here are the specs on it.....



2001 Ram diesel/auto, short box, 39k miles, leather, loaded.



I took it for a test drive, and it seemed to hold the road good, it didnt wander after i took my hands off the wheel. I have a few questions about it.



1) What would i look for to see if the transmission is slippling, specifically. Would the truck stutter when accellerating, or would when i press on the gas pedal it would hesitate and not accelerate for a while. I just need to know the signs of what to look for.



2) I was originally planning on getting the upgraded torque converter, but would it be wise to get the upgraded torque converter, if the trans is already starting to slip (if it is actually slipping, and not me over-worring). Or would i need to get a rebuild of the trans then get the new torque converter installed.



3) Also, what's the going price for getting the transmission rebuilt? Can it be beefed up, or should a beefed up torque converter be what i'd need to make it last longer.



4) The truck does have some generic PAINT on bedliner, it looks kind of like a duraliner liner. It looks like crap, and its starting to peel off on the bed surface. Does anyone know of somethign i can use to get this off? I do plan on getting a good quality spray-on liner put on in the near future, so i dont care if i have to scrape it off with a putty knife.



Thanks for the help, I will check back here tomorrow morning, and hopefully there are some late nighters still out there that can help me out.



Thanks,

Tim

 

[Bigramguy]

First of all,welcome to the TDR



The first thing I would do is ask the dealer to see,or get a printout of the service and warranty history on the truck. This will tell you (hopefully),if the truck was dumped by an unhappy owner. Try to get the previous owners name,and get a hold of him. If he was unhappy,I'm sure he'll let you know. Finally,check with your DMV,to see if the vehicle was collision damaged,or written off. If all checks out,then proceed.



To check the trans,start with the fluid. It should be clean and bright red,and right at the full mark when hot. It should also not smell burnt. If it does it may indicate a problem or lack of service. Ask the dealer for maintenance records,if he has them. When test driving,listen carefully to the engine as you accelerate. It should pull smoothly,with no slippage. The stock convertor does slip a lot,so try driving another diesel auto to get a feel for it. Try a few hard accelerations,and note how it shifts. It should not flare up,or slip on upshifts. It should also not hesitate or stutter.



If you are that concerned,get it noted on the sales agreement,and have the dealer fix it,and see if he will cut you a deal on an extended warranty for it,just to be sure.



The upgraded torque convertor will make a big difference. It should not be added to an ailing transmission. If the trans is bad,have it rebuilt,and maybe add a valve body as well. Best to call Bill K at DTT www.dieseltrans.com There are some prices and info on his site.



As far as the bedliner,I'm not a paint specialist,but they can be tuff to get off. Probably best to get someone who does that stuff to look at it and give you an estimate. Try to get the dealer to fix it,or pay for it,so you don't have to worry about it. Then if you have problems,you can go back and B!tch about it.



Hope the deal works out. Good luck !

 

[DAWG-1]

Welcome...

I would not have bought this '01. 5 if it did not have 4 wheel disc brakes and the 6-speed. After my '95 with all its little problems, Dodge has made major improvements. Bomb On, Sam.

 

[Turbo Thom]

If you're getting a good price, the brakes are of no concern. They will work well.



On the transmission if it shifts thats about the best you can expect. I would check the color of the fluid, though.



I bought a 98 over the phone . It sounded like what I wanted. got it home and found the owner had lied to me. Or should I say, not the whole truth. To makes a longer story short, I am working through the few problems and am absolutely in love with the truck.



Buy it, expect a few things to crop up and enjoy the diesel.



good luck.



Preston

 

[1tuffram]

Is this purchase thru a dealership or private? If it's thru a dealership don't expect much info on the trucks history. Someone mentioned to try and get previous owners name. If you can great, but I don't think they can give you that info. I recently bought a used car (lease car) and requested vehicle history, maintence history, previous owner, etc. Dealer said they could not give me the name or number of prior owner (think there's a law against it), but they could try and contact the owner . I went to the service dept to see if there was anything on file in the computer system, but it only went back 6mos (the car had been on the lot for 6mos). I was able to get the most info by going to carfax.com. Got the title/registration history and clean bill of health for any collision, flood, etc damages in the 3 prior states the car has been registered in.



The paint-on bed liner will probably need to be sand blaster out and a "real" one sprayed on.

 

[dewdo]

I agree with 1tuffram:

When my daughter was shopping for a used vehicle I subscribed to carfax for three months and kept her from buying: 1. a minivan that had been totaled and rebuilt. 2. a car showing 35,000 miles and the previous owner had traded it in with 96,000 miles showing. 3. a Ford Taurus lemon return with no problems corrected. 4. A Ford from Texas that had been flood damaged.



It's amazing how many vehicles are out there on the market being sold to the unwary. In my years of expierence, I have found if a dealer has a real late model vehicle for sale, with low mileage, then you should turn around and run.



One way I can tell here in the state of Washington if a vehicle has potential for any of the mentioned problems is if it doesn't have a license plate on it or has a new plate.



I would say if a dealer has a 2001. 5 Dodge Ram on his lot, then it is a lemon buy back in most cases. My son got stuck on one a few years ago buying a late model Ford truck with low mileage from the dealer. Found out later through a friend who worked for Ford it was a lemon buy back. When he confronted the dealer with the data the dealer ended up repairing it after it sat idle for six months.



When the factory buys back a lemon, in most all cases they turn around and auction it off to their dealers without fixing anything. Then an unsuspecting customer buys someone else' problems.



There should be a law against this practice along with a hefty fine for doing it. Maybe a few thousand dollars fine would make the dealers honest. (if that is possible)



Dewdo in the other Washington



PS also watch out for any vehicle that comes from out of state or has gone through Utah.

 

[TMorris]

Well, my plans got pushed back a day. I couldnt make it in on sunday to take a second look at the 2001 Dodge Ram truck. Today (monday), i did a few things to better inform myself about the possible purchase.



I subscribed to the carfax 60 day unlimited use plan. I found out that this truck doesnt have any "red flags. " I did however find out that one of the other diesel trucks i WAS looking at was a lemon that was resold at auction. More than likely DC did nothing to fix the truck, and just re-sold it. I would think there would/should be some hefty fines involved for this, but i guess there isnt because it seems to happen pretty frequently. That was kind of supurising, as that truck appeared to be in the best shape of all 3 trucks i was looking at.



I also went to the local Dodge dealer and got a printout showing exactly what options it came with from the factory. Also the service tech showed me the list of previous warranty repairs done to it. All that was shown was some kind of seal was replaced, and something with the steering that was worked on/replaced as well. I cant remember exactly what it was with the steering that was done, he said that he couldnt print out that list for some reason, so im just going by my memory of what he said. So hopefully those items were taken care of when the repairs were done.



So armed with all of this info, im going to go there after work and if the final inspection meets my approval, i'll hopefully be driving the truck home. Thanks again for the help and suggestions everyone, i really appreciate it.



Thanks,

Tim

 

[rod77zilla]

well congrats on your new ram!!

i think everybody pretty much has you covered... I just wanted to add that I work in an automatic transmission shop. and we see about 1 cummins dodge a month... we hardly ever, if ever see one with broken internals. they are always burned up... so If i were to buy an auto i would do 2 things immediately:

1. completely bypass stock cooler and run an aftermarket cooler out front... Why? because the stockers clog up and burn up transmissions

2. get me a pillar full of gauges one of them being a trans temp gauge... . with an after market cooler out front, I've seen trucks stay 160 degrees pulling horse trailers full of torque converters. (actually our sun- coast torque converter rep showed me his)





and i would drive on down the road reading my tdr so i would know what to do when it finally did come time for a rebuild:

for the ultimate strength and durability, suncoast has a billet torque converter that is supposedly bomb proof and they recommend a shift kit, which is what I understand to be in the world's fastest dually running 1000hp... . (am I correct?) but you'll hafta ask one of these auto bombers... . the suncoast billet torque converters run $1000 though, so do your homework and decide what you need. by the way, don't mess with replacing torque converter until you rebuild, because you can't get shrapnel out of a torque converter, you replace them every time you rebuild anyway... . hope this helps