The head was cracked and #3 piston had a hole. I bought the truck for 500 thinking it would be a quick head gasket fix.
I did all the work and re-ringed the motor while I was at it for a grand total of 1500 bucks in parts + machining.
Front passenger wheel bearing went.
Truck "loses power" when damp out - not fixed.
Seatbelt & oil light on full time.
For 2000 bucks I have a low km truck in really good shape, but if I were not a back yard mechanic than it would have been way more.
Perky around town power that can surprise the odd car.
110km/hr comfortable cruising range limit - not a good highway car!
MPG not too great for a 2.0, I push it hard so a gentle owner might be pleased.
This truck starts when most won't, even in -35C weather!
Believe it or not it is very good in winter (for RWD)
Decent amount of passenger space in cab.
Easy truck to work on, all parts accessible.
Heater works good.
Transmission is tight with responsive shifts and has O/D.
Most parts are easy to find except the headlight switch in the steering column. There are only a few in the U.S.
Truck "loses power" when damp out - not fixed. ~~ Probably the fuel pump. My 1987 2.6 felt like the electrical system shut down and lost power when it rained, and problem became worse over time. Ended up being the mechanical fuel pump needing replaced since the carburetor was getting no fuel.
My 1988 2.6 liter Ram-50 has squeaky ball joints, squeaky smog pump, no high end torque, chronic intermittent fuel delivery problems and looks like the front end is too low. I put a 4 wheel drive emblem on it so I can cheat past the tire chain police in Lake Tahoe, and have fun in the snow fish tailing the back end. My B.F.Goodrich all Terrain T.A.'s work great in the snow as long as the hill is less than 18 degrees!
I have a 1987 2.6L 4x2 Dodge Ram. Great truck--I love it--but this vehicle is using Rad Coolant. Have had the head gasket replaced. Is this a common problem? Just had the oil changed and no coolant in the oil. Any ideas??
I just got rid of my '87; it had some problems. My overdrive went out, the rear main seal was out of it so it leaked some oil, my gas tank fell off, and it had no exhaust whatsoever. It had the 2.6 L engine. It was a good little truck (although it had 173 thousand miles on it when I got rid of it).
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