Hey all,
I didn't think it could happen to me. I was losing a tailgater
(in a big way) while in 4th and noticed I was doing much more mph's than
I intended. I shifted into 5th, slowed to double digits, and took my
exit. I didn't think anything about it except "what a ride" and parked
it. I drove the truck later and I noticed a little trail of coolant in my
driveway. It seems that in my exuberent demonstration of my irritation
with the tailgater, my waterpump worked so well as to prise the plastic
tank off my radiator away from the fins. The replacement cost of a new
radiator (the plastic tanked ones cannot be rebuilt it seems) was $298.
My replacement also has a plastic tank. My next purchase, when I recover
from this financial bind, is for an underdrive pulley. I figure that this
may occur again and the pulley system must cost less than yet another
radiator. So beware Ram truck and Dakota owners, this unlikely occurence
could happen. This whole thing would have been covered by warranty if I
had opted for the 3 year 36,000 mile one not the 7 year 70,000 powertrain
only one. The dealership's answer was to try to sell me another warranty
with greater coverage for another $450.
I didn't bite.
Well, with the new radiator, the idle has smoothed out quite a bit. I
have no idea if these two things are related. I have had no error codes
besides the 55.
I'm taking it a little more easy now. I'm trying for 21 mpg on the trip
to Carlisle. That might occur if I don't listen to Phillip Massie on the
way over. ;-)
If you see me, come by for a beer. I'll be at the campground on Friday
night. My white Dakota looks like an ice cream truck without the friendly
stickers all over it. A rack of virtual beer for all who are elsewhere.
Cheers,
1994 Dakota 5.2l 5 speed (R/T in progress)
Bill Countie
e-mail wgcount@husc7.harvard.edu
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