Hey man, I would absolutely keep the truck you have! New ones are nice and
all, but there's nothing like your old reliable, especially when it's a
genII dakota! I too ordered my truck exactly the way I wanted it built and I
love it.I take excellent care of it, and I hope it goes for a long time! As
to the motor burning oil,I would say as long as it's not losing power, just
leave it be-unless it starts smoking.I have a 318 sitting in the floor of
the shop that I pulled out of the work truck in february of this year.It
burned almost a gallon a week when I was working it hard, but it ran
absolutely perfect,had all the power I needed,and so the only reason I
pulled it was in favor a fuel-injected 318 I had been waiting to put in it.I
would say let the motor go until the tranny lets go on you.Have the tranny
built professionaly with a shift kit,and premium internal parts,new
converter,and be sure and add an extra large tranny cooler.While it is out,I
would go buy a new mopar 318 or 360,either one,it's up to you,from the parts
counter at the dealer and install it with the fresh tranny.A new 318 will be
a direct swap,and a '93 360 would be easy, you would just have to drill and
tap the mounts for a dakota,and swap for a '93 ram or van 360 computer,other
than that, all your accesories will bolt right on.While you have the engine
and tranny out,do a little repair&restoration on the truck.Get a new
radiator,new motor mounts,new battery,alternator,possibly new heater
core,tires,exhaust,and just a general maintenance on the truck.She'll look
and feel good as new,and be reliable too.If you decide to do it,let me know
and I will try and help you with anything you need.I'd like to see you keep
the truck and enjoy it.HTH,
Will Coughlin willcoughlin@hotmail.com
'00 reg.cab,2wd,4.7L/hd5-spd/3.92sg(9.25")
http://www.geocities.com/willcoughlin/index.html
----Original Message Follows----
From: henryrollins@springmail.com
Reply-To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: DML: Need Input
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 01:21:52 -0500
I love the list and think it is a great way to exchange ideas. I Have a 93
Dodge Daktoa. I ordered it the way I wanted it. It has the 318 with 3.90
posi. 4-wheel anti lock brakes all the goodies. I love this truck it has
NEVER left me on the side of the road always starts have not had any
promblems at all with though out the 124,000 miles. I have noticed that it
is starting to burn motor oil. About 2 to 3 qt. every 3k. Not a big promblem
but one that will need to be addressed. Most likely the vavle seals have
gone out. But as the old saying goes if you pull the heads you should
rebuild the whole motor.I know when I bought the truck they were haveing a
problem burning up transmissions. I have not had any promblems with mine.
What I would like to know is :
1)Does the 2nd gen really burn up transmissions and should I be worried
about it
2)has any one put a R/T motor in this type of truck Or does anyone know were
a totaled one is?
3)What should I look for to help me make up my mind on selling my truck and
buying a new daktoa. Or should I just Rebuild the motor and hope for the
best?
Thanks For all the input,
Matt Tharp
henryrollins@springmail.com
93 Dodge Dakota LE Club Cab 318 with 3.9 posi 124,000 and counting
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:57:58 EDT