I have been without a pickup for a few years and have been perusing Craigslist for a cheap truck.So after a number of drives and dealings with the usual C-List shady/clueless and outright dishonest sellers I purchased ..........a white 1997 D1500 3.9 v6 5 speed shortbed with 138k .I live in central Ga and the truck was outside of Charleston SC ,about a 4 hour drive.When me and the wife arrived there the truck was a little dinged and dented which was not apparent in the photos online but it ran good ,did not smoke and all the fluids looked good ,a/c worked but blew out of all of the vents at varying times..The guy wanted 1700 and I offered 1550 which was taken.
The truck ran well on the drive back and acheived 20 mpg(at speeds up to 80 mph),however it is the noisiest truck I have ever owned (side note -got pulled over by a college pd for no tag at 1230 am Monday morning 8 miles from home,no ticket though).Lots of road noise.Issues of the truck were -it ran slightly rich and the owner had installed the wrong headlamp bulbs and of course the cracked dash and broken console trim were present.A dash coverlay had been installed but rattles a lot.I think the vinyl flooring is not the best for noise reduction.I think an update is in order.
So I ordered head lamps,rotor,distributor cap,plug wires,ngk v-power plugs,coil,air filter for a tune up.In between work and rain I was not sure about doing the tuneup soon, so I dropped it off with my mechanic along with a jug of Traveller 10w40 and a protec/wix filter.
Since picking up the truck I have to say it is a good bit quieter moreso than I think replacing the Fram SureGrip and unknown oil(dark brown but still able to see the dipstick markings through it).would account for.I did not hear any pinging while driving sooooo could a tune up quieten an engine?The mechanic put the used parts in a box for me to check out,the plug wires had paint stripes on them where someone had replaced them and he stated that the champion plugs had been in there a while and were difficult to remove(the center electrodes had the sharp edges rounded off!So I think I agree with that assessment)
I'm thinking some carpet to line the cab behind and under the seat and to overlay the vinyl flooring may cut down the road noise.And take off the coverlay and use some heavy cardboard to replace the broken dash ,zip tie it to the dash braces to give the coverlay something to lay on so it won't bounce so much .Just some thoughts on fixing some of the issues on this old truck.Also the owner had installed 245/75r16 tires(less than 1000 miles on them),which is 2 sizes larger than factory.However each tire is a different brand and type -2 street tires,1 allseason and 1 all terrain I guess he got a special price on all the "orphan" tires at some shop.(lol)I'll have to remedy that one day.
Any one with experience with these engines and truck combo's.I've had 318's,slant sixes and Chrysler 4 bangers ...........soo chime in.
The truck ran well on the drive back and acheived 20 mpg(at speeds up to 80 mph),however it is the noisiest truck I have ever owned (side note -got pulled over by a college pd for no tag at 1230 am Monday morning 8 miles from home,no ticket though).Lots of road noise.Issues of the truck were -it ran slightly rich and the owner had installed the wrong headlamp bulbs and of course the cracked dash and broken console trim were present.A dash coverlay had been installed but rattles a lot.I think the vinyl flooring is not the best for noise reduction.I think an update is in order.
So I ordered head lamps,rotor,distributor cap,plug wires,ngk v-power plugs,coil,air filter for a tune up.In between work and rain I was not sure about doing the tuneup soon, so I dropped it off with my mechanic along with a jug of Traveller 10w40 and a protec/wix filter.
Since picking up the truck I have to say it is a good bit quieter moreso than I think replacing the Fram SureGrip and unknown oil(dark brown but still able to see the dipstick markings through it).would account for.I did not hear any pinging while driving sooooo could a tune up quieten an engine?The mechanic put the used parts in a box for me to check out,the plug wires had paint stripes on them where someone had replaced them and he stated that the champion plugs had been in there a while and were difficult to remove(the center electrodes had the sharp edges rounded off!So I think I agree with that assessment)
I'm thinking some carpet to line the cab behind and under the seat and to overlay the vinyl flooring may cut down the road noise.And take off the coverlay and use some heavy cardboard to replace the broken dash ,zip tie it to the dash braces to give the coverlay something to lay on so it won't bounce so much .Just some thoughts on fixing some of the issues on this old truck.Also the owner had installed 245/75r16 tires(less than 1000 miles on them),which is 2 sizes larger than factory.However each tire is a different brand and type -2 street tires,1 allseason and 1 all terrain I guess he got a special price on all the "orphan" tires at some shop.(lol)I'll have to remedy that one day.
Any one with experience with these engines and truck combo's.I've had 318's,slant sixes and Chrysler 4 bangers ...........soo chime in.
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