1984 Dodge Ram 50. New owner, one old diesel.

Hello folks! I just looked at and purchased a Dodge Ram 50 from 1984. I need to hook up the car hauler to go and grab it.
Thus far i know i'll need to replace all the fluids and the belt, and probably dive into the timing belt just in case. It has sat outside for atleast 10 years. But looks fairly good considering. the engine looks well taken care of, the coolant was still green, the oil was still fluid, and the air filter looked brand new still. So i'm hoping some simple replacements and maintenance can get her running again.
Unfortunately its only 2wd. I really wanted a long bed extended cab diesel, but i'll settle with this for now. I know almost nothing about this family of trucks so by all means tell me what i actually have. I was honestly looking for an old Toyota not-a-hilux but those don't seem to come in diesel, something i very much wanted above all else.

I couldn't get the motor to turn over by hand just using the fan, the other things attached to the same belt turned fine, i just didn't want to break off a fan blade forcing a dry piston. Battery is long dead and all the tires are rotted out. Thankfully 185-14 tires look pretty cheap, though finding new steel wheels seems a bit harder, it cirrently has all four aluminum wheels, but they look kinda beat and i doubt they'll seal well.

I wouldn't mind adding a few inches to the height, it seems like the leaf springs are rather tired and it sits low. The frame looked solid. Just slight surface rust, nothing rotted through.

Would like to turn this into an Australian styled Ute, finding the proper bed might be difficult unless i fab it myself, but even a simple stake bed would look gorgeous i think. Will be using it to drive to and from classes until the degree is done, but I ultimatly want it to explore the various national parks and sights around, and without taking hundreds of dollars in fuel to do so.

I'll need new seats as this one has been attacked by some rats, its still in one piece but heavily deteriorated, will need some of the minor knobs and trim as well, the shifter is missing its knob, the choke is missing the knob, and a few other minor cosmetics.

Overall I think its a great starting point and hopefully a start to a good relationship with you all.

Hello Atamis, nice find..! On your national parks trips, maybe you could visit PicknPull yards for truck parts...(?) Have fun with your new toy & enjoy the extra fuel mileage not having to haul around 4X4 rotating parts... Again, nice truck..!

Yup, thats part of the plan :). I've looked at the local joints and have found a 1994 Mighty Max I plan to go look at to see if any interchangeable parts are there. The other places don't list their inventory is a convenient way so i'll walk in and ask when i'm there.

I took better pictures. I hauled it home so i could start getting it road worth again.

It looks like once i flush all the fluids, get four tires, and replace the consumable components it should fire right up. It seemed taken care of despite sitting for so long. the air filter looks brand new, the coolant, while extremely low, was still a neon green coming out of the petcock, the oil is black as midnight but plentiful. I'll just have to deal with any spoiled diesel still in the system, and probably have to clean out the tank as its definitively empty.

I really need new belts though, they are extremely loose. I was fiddling with parts seeing what was still good and the water pump (i think, on the left) moved, and the fan moved, but the belts just slipped along on the pulleys with no effort since it couldn't turn the engine over.
I am very hesitant to just throw a new battery in and hope the timing belt isn't as old.

Cleaned up the cab a bit and found the missing choke knob and the knob from the radio. Shifter knob is still MIA. Seems like the jack and other recovery items are also gone.
Also managed to get the battery out. The bolts were seized and the sheet metal retainer was just bent up allowing them to spin in place. Popped the head off one and drilled the other out. Will need to find a new way to secure this body panel now.

Well work started off great today. Starting cleaning everything. Got the bed powerwashed and started cleaning the interior. And then everything went south. I noticed some heavy water damage on the cardboard looking trim pieces by the door, and then spots of the floor felt kinda squishy. I was hesitant to remove the carpet, but i'm glad i did. As you can see i have some rust afterall. Guess i'll have to go talk to a repair shop after i get it fired up. I don't think its going to fall off or anything, but that much rust on the mounting spots is a bit more than i'm willing to gamble on.

Also started to trace wires the previous owner laid down. I know theres a CB mount and an antennae going through the roof but there were a few speaker cables going places that turned out to be dead ends. the door speakers are also unwired, so nuts to listening to the radio for a bit. Theres also this mysterious button that i don't think it stock. It goes to an equally mysterious light and routes to two things in the engine bay. Still trying to ID them. I think one line goes to what looks like a temperature gauge. the other goes into some sort of solenoid? Theres a green spade connector unused next to it that i assume is the factory one, maybe it was faulty and replaced, or maybe it was "improved" some how. Still digging into the wiring diagram to find out what is what.

Don't think I'll re carpet it. Just keep it bare painted metal like an old power wagon. Maybe I'll Rino line the bottom after the rust gets repaired. I kinda like the simplistic utilitarian look. Don't really want the bench seat wither. Would love a pair of buckets and a center console.

Atamis, good progress, thanks for posting the photos... Cool battery location except when servicing..? If I bought another floor covering it would be a thin "like original" (easy to move & adjust) rubber type, not carpet... My aftermarket rubber floor covering is rather thick and hard to work with, it's too stiff but water and sand are easy to remove... A previous owner/s might have some answers & guys here know a bunch... I never owned one of these trucks before and have very limited knowledge...

Yea battery seems like mixed bag being shoved in the back. Makes the engine bay nice and open but it seems open to debris back there. Figured out what the electrics were going on about though.

The "temp gauge" is just a positive lead to the battery for jump starting. As for the button and switch, it seems to be a manual glowplug warmer. You push the button to supply power to the plugs so they'll warm up in cold weather before you try and crank it. I assume the light is wired to go out after 6-8 seconds when the plugs should be nice and warm. Just need to tidy up that wiring as that is a very good improvement to have in winter.

Cleaning crud off the motor today, and yesterday, and probably tomorrow.

I secretly want to transplant one of these into a Gen 2 truck, pretty bad.

Ha. I kinda want to also. I would love to have the extended cab.

Took most of the day to really detail clean the engine bay and make sure everything looked serviceable. The timing belt looks fine afterall so i won't replace it right away, but i'll still look for a replacement. The timing looked fine on the main belt, i couldn't figure out how to get the lower cover off to check the "B" belt.
But most of the engine is now clean. I couldn't get some of the crud on the side behind the fuel injector, its really caked and baked on. The entire underside of the engine and suspension looks as caked. I don't think i'll be able to truly clean it without pulling the engine and taking off the cab and bed. Maybe some other time. For now i got it clean enough to run, just need to get some new fan belts, flush allt he fluids, and hope it fires up.

Tires have been a bit harder than i anticipated. I didn't realize R14 were so scarce now. Plenty of 16s around, but i don't see those fitting without modifying the suspension.

Looks so clean..! Did you use Easy Off Oven Cleaner..? Our member, geezer discovered it's goodness for us; they make a lye free type...

I was just using dawn dish soap and plenty of scrubber pads and a few brushes. Oven cleaner might work pretty good i think. I should try it for the underside.

+1 on the oven cleaner. If you use Eazy-Off get the blue can, the yellow one has lye. This is what my engine looks after one treatment, and no brushing:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post67166

For tires, check tire rack. don't know what size you want, but they seem to have a few to choose from in the 195/70/14 category. Prices are good and shipping is free.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...earDiameter=17

Oven cleaner worked surprisingly well. I let it sit for atleast an hour and just blasted it with water, most of it slopped right off. It was on there pretty thick (Atleast an inch on the frame member) and I just used two entire cans of the stuff but it did pretty good. I'll have to get a few more cans.

Took apart the door as the locks/handle/window were all kinda sticky. Seems the vapor barrier failed at some point, looks like it shrank from heat, i'll have to get a kit and redo it. The panel itself looks fine, its just really dirty. Blasted the internals with penetrating oil and greased the window gears. Works great now. Just need to unclog the drains at the bottom and it should be good. The speaker looks hosed, so i'll need to replace them at some point if i want some tunes. I'm just going to replace the panel after i get the vapor barrier installed. Not really a fan of the particle board stuff.

I'll need to take off the interior dash at some point also, I couldn't figure out how to pop it off. Took all the visible screws out but it doesn't want to budge. Its extremely sun damaged and cracked so if i force it I think it will break into many pieces. Might just need replaced entirely, but i'm not sure how I would fabricate a new one.

walmart for tires free delivery to the store.

Use a brush to break it up once you have nailed it with the oven cleaner. It will destroy the gunk so much more efficiently (wear safety glasses so you don't have wayward oven cleaner and grime saying hello to your eye sockets) Pulling the dash requires taking the diffuser panel out along the inside of the windscreen (it's held down with a couple of small flare nuts) Once you've pried it up and lifted it out of the way, there are phillips head screws hiding along the edge that was hidden by the diffuser. They are fiddly to take out but you will rip the dash pad in pieces if you don't get to them. If you haven't got a good replacement dash pad, try filling the damaged sections with expanda-foam and cutting it back into shape. You can either try you hand at using vinyl fabric and a heat gun to re-wrap it or try something novel like tray and wheel arch liner to coat it.

Still working on the dash. I'll try and rebuild it for now I think.
Took the front panel off and the bumper. the panel itself was crushed like someone dropped it on something. but nothing important was damaged.

Got both belts off and i'm just looking for replacements now. Do these two look like decent replacements? they're from china but they're actually available unless theres a better quality one i'm not seeing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/111964237685?ul_noapp=true
https://www.amazon.com/PowerDrive-MD.../dp/B01AGQ3JAK

I have removed the dash at long long. I twas extremely tedious and i was not ready for the amount of digging i would have to do.
For anyone else who comes after, you must remove the glove compartment, and the dash cluster to get the four nuts.

I went ahead and removed the cassette deck. It might still work, but I don't think i'll ever get the burning desire to play a cassette again. I'll see if i can't find a small standalone mp3 type deck. I don't even want a CD player honestly.
The mess of wires that was the wiring harness for the tape deck thankfully solved itself taking it out. it was a haggard mess with many plices. I am left with these four wires I need to determine whats what. I presume red black is the hot end as it was spliced four different ways with a terrible solder job. Green i presume is ground. Blue/White is unknown. The thick black cable is obviously the antenna.
Lots of dust and nests to clean up

I am unimpressed with the build quality of this dash panel. Even sun rotted and brittle its just foam and plastic tape pretty much. I may look into fabbing panels to attach all the vents and display things onto.
The previous owner definitively dug into the dash at some point aswell. quiet a few screws are missing and the instrument panel wasn't fully plugged in. Whatever the plug in the top left is was unplugged. The dash speaker was also unplugged. I pulled the speaker out anyway, it was full of dirt and ripped. so I have zero speakers, no radio, and only a handful of wires to build off of.

Oh i had pictures to share. I got the belts and tires replaced. one step closer to running. I went to the local parts store and they just found a belt that matched the shape. Gates Hi-Power II. A29 and B40 if anyone was curious.

Got everything i need to fire it up. just changing fluids now.
Fuel has been bled except whats in the injectors and tubes past the pump/filter. I have a bottle of diesel klean I'm going to throw into the tank with about 10g of fuel to hopefully purge the system of any gunk left. Filter changed. I think it still had the original fuel filter as it left the factory.
Oil has been completely replaced and filter changed.
Coolant is ready to be flushed but requires the engine to be on to flush the heater core. going to fill up the radiator with water and this bottle of cleaner to flush anything. once i get it running good I'll drain the system and refill with real coolant.
differential oil is on hand. ran out of sunlight to swap it.
Brake fluid also on hand. i was having problems finding the drain plugs and the brakes don't feel well on the pedal. kinda worried they're clogged.
I have three quarts of Redline MT-90 standing by. I am unsure how to properly flush the system. i was going to open the drain and let it bleed out and then pour in the first bottle until clean fluid comes out the drain. replug and fill 8t through the shifter until it wants to overflow

Also, does anyone know what was intended to mount behind the glovebox? there is a bracket that looks unused and i am always curious what a complete package looks like. I have noticed similar spaces elsewhere on the truck. Makes me wonder if I'm missing something or i could add an upgrade.

There might be a mount for A/C behind the glove box. It would be the place for the evap top bracket to bolt up to.

that is indeed where the evap box for the a/c bolts up...

I think i fried to starter. Put fuel in the tank, and some in the filter just to speed things up, started pumping and it never really got "difficult" to pump. it sounded like the injector was doing something as i pumped, or somethign was rattling in there. I think i need a seal for the pumper arm also, it just kept leaking out the plunger. got very good suction though, was bleeding the line and it just squirted all over the hood on one pump.

As for the starter, turned the key, heard some clacking sounds that i assume were the glowplugs warming, turn it the rest of the way and it sounded like fluid was leaking. I look into the bay and see a puff of smoke from the starter motor. Didn't even try and turn over. Let it cool and tried again. I get an audible 'clack' sound, but no attempt to turn over. I tried to manually turn the engine over to make sure it wasn't seized, but my biggest small socket doesn't fit over the nut, and the bigger sockets are too large and the fan won't let them in. Might try giving it a push while in gear to force some lubrication into the cylinders. Or just pull the glowplugs and dribble some penetrating oil inside to sit while i find a starter.

All the lights seem to work, but the blinket switch does nothing. the blinker lights turn on with the hazards, so it must be the switch or wire. The horn doesn't seem to work either. I think the unit itself is the circular thing on the passanger side near the headlights. it seems to be plugged in and the connectors are compeltely free from corrosion, but the button inside does nothing. Pulling apart the column now. There was of course a stripped screw on the steering wheel moulding so now i'm stuck trying to get the darn thing to turn before i can get to the horn button itself.

Pulled the glowplugs. Is this a bad sign?

plug 1 & 2 seem to be orignal mitsubishi, 3 & 4 and NGK. Plug 4 looks to have heavy deposites and it looks like it was burning oil. Its directly under the primer pump and might just be leaky fuel giving it some extra to burn. Would like expert opinion. All four plusg measure in at .5 ohms, so i think they're still good, i cleaned all four off and put them back in until i clean the rest of what i need.

Digging around to free the starter solenoid so i can replace it. I was going to test the starter itself by applying power to the cable and see if it spins, i'll disassemble the solenoid also to see if maybe its just seized with dirt preventing it from connecting the motor.

Found a lone ground wire (i think) coming out of the wiring harness in the front, under the wiper reservoir. Any idea where its supposed to be bolted to? I don't see any posts in the intimidate vicinity. What would it be grounding anyway?

Also got the horn to work, seems like everything with hooked up and wired correctly, it was just the tab running under the steering wheel being very tired and not making contact. Haven't fixed the blinkers yet. Turns out the steering wheel is cracked in three spots. Concerning. Might have to find a welder.

Kind of what you expect with glow plugs, all sooty and dirty. I would check out cylinder #4 though. You can check that exhaust port and see if the soot in it is oily, or see if it whitestacks on when you run it. As for the ground, just find somewhere on the body or frame that it reaches easy and bolt it up. Everything grounds back to the same thing eventually, so as long as it is a ground wire it will be fine just put somewhere. As for the starter, it could just be the solenoid. Try tapping it to see if it engages then. The little truck needs some love, but its looking good!

Giving the gizzards of the starter motor a huge clean and freshen up should be enough to get it operational. If you have a drill press, put the armature in the chuck and reface the contacts with some fine wet and dry sandpaper and something flat to press it against the copper so it doesn't create an uneven wear pattern. Take a look at the brushes - they can jam in their retainers which will cause erratic starting issues (flush them with electrical contact cleaner - if they are super worn, they'll need replacing) Be warned that you may get a 'no turn' situation after taking it apart and cleaning it. Use jumper leads and bench test it continuously until it kicks (I've resurrected a few starter motors and they all seem to do it...) Once you get it to kick it will operate reliably.

Didn't want to pull the starter motor, but i am now. Pesky bolt just in front of the firewall i can't seem to get to. trying to wobble socket my way in, might need to chain a few of them, or punch a hole in the rust spot and get it form inside the cab.

Couldn't get just the solenoid off anyhow, I tried with some screw bits in the ratchet and i just couldn't get a positive grip and may of chewedd a screw up already, so i opted to just pull the whole thing. I pulled the start motor itself off already (maybe by accident) and it looks fine, needs a clean as the contacts are a little glazed over. The brushes have a ton of life left in them. Not a spot of grease ont he gears though. I'll fix that before i put it back in.

Will keep an eye on cylinder 4 just in case. And I did find a single empty hole next whatever the diaphragm looking thing with the fuel lines is. Looks like a good enough spot to bolt a ground to.