79 Dodge D-50 Sport, start/run issues

[geezer101]

^yeah that is solid advice. The screws and the resistor element generally rust in them and they are fragile. Don't ghetto fix it and bypass the heater core. This is one of those jobs that is a nuisance to do but the consequences are worse - like funky old coolant in the cab (smells awesome, ruins the carpet and underlining and turns the floor pan into a swamp...) and continuously running the risk of a cooling system failure.

Check this out - https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Dodge-R...YAAOSwc6Zb~ocd (for Gen 2 but might be compatible with a Gen 1)

There may be a compatible heater valve but the universal ones I've seen online will take some modifications and different hoses to get them to 'sort of' work.

[85Ram50]

Good link geez. If I were any good with electrics I could probably make that woik That wire on the underside is super fragile on the old gen 1's. I took one out and just the vibration of driving home a couple hours made it break up.(the coil was intact and unmoved but that stuff poured over it which is a kind of ceramic broke up and apparently that is critical to its function) It was not jostling around either. I ended up buying a whole heater from another junkyard and after I rebuilt the one I have and soaked/flushed the core with white vinegar transferred it over. It is the control for the blower motor.

[Onehairysalad]

Thanks, I'm gonna have to muscle my poor d50 into the garage, and just go at it. Thanks for the info, this all has been very helpful!