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Thread: Picked up a 1983 Dodge TD today

  1. #51

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    1984 Dodge Ram 50
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    Looks like fun man! Wish I was closer and I'd offer my services!

  2. #52

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    So much "fun"... I don't think Dodge and Mitsubishi designed these engines to come out with the body on. 2 more engine/Trans bolts, exhaust manifold and turbo, and a few misc wires and the engine will be ready to pull out of the little truck. I've been spending most of my time working on my K10 pickup that caught fire last week, nothing like having 3 projects at once. Ready to get the little Ram running so I can sell the big one and continue with my K10.

  3. #53

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    1983 Dodge Ram 50
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    I have been making some progress. Engine from the little Ram is sitting in the engine bay ready to pull out. Everything is completely disconnected, just need to put the trans in neutral and engine will be free from the trans. I think on the other truck I am going to take a different approach and remove the engine/trans as 1 to save time. I'm using basically everything from the new truck, such as the starter, alternator, whole engine, and turbo. I'm using my power steering pump, cold air intake, battery, and new radiator. I'll also probably swap out the valve covers. I will also need to trade the oil pans on the trucks, as the 4x4 and rwd have different shaped pans and also different power steering pumps and lines. I pulled the head off to look at the engine, and the valves looked good and so did everything else. I'm confused about that engine. I also discovered the turbo was fully caked in oil.

  4. #54

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    1983 Dodge Ram 50
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    Engine is completely out of the grey Ram and the engine in the Power Ram is ready to pull out. I'm free tomorrow-Sunday so I'll see if I can't get it running by then! I stopped by the store and got new coolant and diesel fuel cleaner, and I am going to order a new pan gasket from Rock Auto tomorrow morning. Not sure if I am going to keep the engine out and put the pan gasket on then or get the engine set it and hooked up and install the pan afterwards. Depending on when the gasket comes it may not be done until next week. I am going to order the halo headlights also, bolt the leather seats down, and clear coat the hood.
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  5. #55

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    1983 Dodge Ram 50
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    Good engine is out. Power steering pump was switched over. Oil pans looked very similar so I didn't mess with swapping them. I also switched out the oil cooler and lines. Tried for 30 minutes to get the imput shaft into the engine with no luck. I don't think it's an easy task to begin with but after 7 hours today I was very tired. Hopefully it can be completed tomorrow or at least this weekend. Just need oil, filter, power steering fluid, and I'm going to swap the valve cover since my old one had new gaskets. Then I will empty the fuel tank to be on the safe side.
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  6. #56

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    Finished with truck. New engine is in with new fluids and it runs and drives.
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  7. #57

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    I took the truck on a 2.5 hour one way trip today (around 5 hours total) Truck got around 30 mpg and I wasn't very easy on it and I also had 600 lbs of 37" rims and tires in the back of the bed. I did have a few issues.

    1. Truck rides terrible... to be expected from a 30 year old lowered truck. It needs an alignment. Front crossmember bottomed out many times.
    2. Starter took a crap when I got to my destination. It got stuck and I had to disconnect the battery terminal. Bump started it to get it home. That shouldn't be a huge deal.
    3. This is pretty serious... truck spit a TON of oil in the engine bay. When I got there it had probably spit out a quart at the minimum. It was literally everywhere. Left side of engine bay, right side of engine bay, both sides of the radiator, out the valve cover, oil pan, was on the bottom of the hood, bottom of the skid plate and there was a huge puddle on the ground after I let it sit. The guy I was meeting knew a good bit about diesel trucks and thought I was driving the truck too fast on the interstate and my RPM's were too high. (80-85 mph with the weight in the bed) Thought the rear end ratio may need adjusted after the engine swap. On the way home I kept it at 55 mph and drove it like a grandpa. Just got home and under the hood looks the exact same. Not sure what this could be, the truck seemed to run good. Could I have possibly put too much oil in it?

    I put 6.3 quarts because that's what it recommended for the 4x4 when changing filter (mine came from a 4x4 and still has 4x4 oil pan, 2wd recommended 5.8 quarts) I put in 6.5 quarts because I also put the oil cooler from the 4x4 in and it was empty. I figured that would be about right. I did have to install the oil cooler differently than the old one was, could I have possibly hooked up the 2 lines that go to the oil cooler backwards and that's what is causing the issue?
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  8. #58

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    Hi, Drake...sounds like the oil cap was OFF, and if it wasn't, I'd first check the gasket on the oil cap. Please keep in mind, I drive a 2nd generation, so the caps are likely different. This is just a suggestion. Since I'm not familiar with diesel OR 1st generations, I'm keeping my suggestions minimal.

    A good report, despite the Exxon Valdeez experience.
    The greatest gift you have to give to the world is that of your own self~transformation.

  9. #59

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    If it's leaking that bad, it should be easy to find. Clean all of the oil off everything. Refill the engine with oil. Pop the hood and let it run for a while, watch for leaks. If there are none, try revving it a little and watching it. Eventually you will find the leak.

  10. #60

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    The new starter is in and it's working. I tried starting the truck up and it would only turn over, it never sounded like it wanted to start. On the way home the pillar gauge never showed the exhaust temp going over 800. I drained the radiator and there was no oil or anything in it. I am going to get degreaser and clean the engine out before I do anything. Any suggestions on what I should look at or check?

  11. #61

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    I'd wager the oil is shorting out ignition wires. If the wires have oil saturated on them, and/or the distributor cap is oily, I'd start there. As I understand, the 1st generations also have some sort of ceramic block related to the coil in the enginie compartment. Oil shorting that out?
    The greatest gift you have to give to the world is that of your own self~transformation.

  12. #62




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    Royster - his truck is a diesel - no ignition wires at all - or did you respond to the wrong post?
    Pennyman1
    The best Dodge that Dodge never made
    Living the D-50 lifestyle since 1980

  13. #63

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lsguy View Post
    If it's leaking that bad, it should be easy to find. Clean all of the oil off everything. Refill the engine with oil. Pop the hood and let it run for a while, watch for leaks. If there are none, try revving it a little and watching it. Eventually you will find the leak.
    I'd check all the normal stuff first.

    Oil cap
    Oil filter
    Oil plug
    Oil pan gasket
    Head gasket
    Valve cover gasket
    Vale cover air inlet (If applicable)
    Any small hoses or fittings that have oil running through or past them
    Oil sending units.

    Those off the top of my head. But what you are talking about isn't a drip, that's a big leak. From the sound of it, it's either something pressurized or something that would drop onto the accessory belt and get slung everywhere.

  14. #64

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    Quote Originally Posted by pennyman1 View Post
    Royster - his truck is a diesel - no ignition wires at all - or did you respond to the wrong post?
    I really gotta quit smoking crack.
    The greatest gift you have to give to the world is that of your own self~transformation.

  15. #65

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    Both starters are good, but both solenoids were shot. Bump started it and it ran fine. Haven't pinpointed the oil issue yet. Had some fun with it though. It's definitely not a gasser lol.
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  16. #66

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    After a long delay from the auto parts store the new starter is in. Put it in and it sounded like it was trying to start a lot more powerfully. However it still didn't start. Battery is very large,I think 1000 cca. It was about 70 degrees outside. Didn't check the charge on the battery but I even hooked up a battery that was larger than that one with jumper cables and it still wouldn't start. Then I rolled it down my driveway and it bump started just fine. Any ideas? Found out why oil was everywhere, oil line that went to the cooler was tightened in crooked and it just flew everywhere. No more leaking oil. Also when the truck is off the diesel indicators stay on, and also stay on when driving. What exactly are the 3 indicators used to represent? I know the left is the glow plug one.

  17. #67

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    They are fuel sensors. Let you know if you have bad fuel or hot fuel or sticky fuel or wrong fuel. They're just an accessory at this point.

  18. #68

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    I am going to rent a compression tester and see what it reads. If it's good I'll tinker with it but if not I believe I am going to sell it as is. Very frustrating to put all this work and money into this and not have something I can reliably drive.

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