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Wondering 'bout a possible purchase...

J

Jarlaxle

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It's a 1993 Dak extended cab/2WD, an LE with the 318 engine. (The early 5.2 Mag, with the good cam and good manifolds!) :D It's a low-mileage (~97K) truck, but has some issues.

One, it has what I think are aftermarket power windows. The switches are DEFINITELY not OE Mopar, and it looks like the cranks were simply removed. (Also, I have never seen a PW Dak without power locks, which this one does not have.) This wouldn't be a tragedy...except the right one does not work at all.

Two, the tach doesn't work...not THAT big a deal.

Three, it desperately needs an alignment, having chewed the inside of the front tires up...though the front-end stuff looks to be in decent shape. The steering rack was replaced a couple years ago & has <15,000 miles on it.

Four, the stock blower switch doesn't work, the owner added another switch on the dash.

Five, and what really worries me, when accelerating from a stop or getting on & off the gas, the truck seems to "clunk".

Per the underhood sticker, it has 3.55 gears and an AT500 trans...that's the NON-electronic one, yes?
 
First off welcome to the site "Jarlaxle" ..... now about your question . Your right 97 K "is" low miles for that truck . The window shouldn't be to bad a problem if it ends up being a loose wire or contact or something but if you end up needing a motor for it or something like that then you'll have to do some digging to find out what you got to replace it . .. The tach could be anything from a loose wire to a fuse . I doubt it would be the tach it's self . .... The front end ? Have you jacked it up to check it out . Even though it might look good at a glance , you can't really tell until you jack it up and "check" it . ... The blower switch thing could be anything from the owner being to cheap to get the right one or he had an electrical problem and that was his way of fixing it . ..... The clunk ? This could be as simple as a U joint or it could be the rear end . Depending on were the noise is coming from it could also be a blown motor or tranny mount . ...... I believe the tranny in a 93 should be a 518 . ...... Does this guy want a lot of money for this truck ?
 
On the window...I figure worst case, I will simply go back to manual cranks. The tach doesn't worry me much.

The front end...I didn't have a jack I could use (truck was parked on gravel), but checked what I could: everything I saw in the steering looked tight when the wheel was moved back and forth. Other than the bad alignment, the front end seemed pretty tight...it didn't have the "wander" of bad ball joints. I WILL check more thoroughly before I buy it!

I was told the blower switch might be the resistor under the hood...apparently, that's a common issue. If it IS the dash switch, I wonder if it either costs a bunch or went NS1. Not that big a deal, honestly...the blower works fine.

I suspect the "clunk" might be a dry slip yoke. I figured that out about four seconds after posting this thread!

Per the underhood sticker, the trans is an A-500.

Asking price is $1500. Whatever I pay, I will immediately spend ~$500-550 to have a shop media-blast, prime, and undercoat the underside.
 
Jarlaxle said:
On the window...I figure worst case, I will simply go back to manual cranks. The tach doesn't worry me much.

The front end...I didn't have a jack I could use (truck was parked on gravel), but checked what I could: everything I saw in the steering looked tight when the wheel was moved back and forth. Other than the bad alignment, the front end seemed pretty tight...it didn't have the "wander" of bad ball joints. I WILL check more thoroughly before I buy it!

I was told the blower switch might be the resistor under the hood...apparently, that's a common issue. If it IS the dash switch, I wonder if it either costs a bunch or went NS1. Not that big a deal, honestly...the blower works fine.

I suspect the "clunk" might be a dry slip yoke. I figured that out about four seconds after posting this thread!

Per the underhood sticker, the trans is an A-500.

Asking price is $1500. Whatever I pay, I will immediately spend ~$500-550 to have a shop media-blast, prime, and undercoat the underside.
Click to expand...

good luck with the 93 Dakota, sounds like a good inexpensive project truck....
 
Actually, I decided against it. Just too much potential for being a money pit. Also, the (non-working) A/C used R-12, which is a whole 'nother hassle!
 
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