Dodge Ram Vans (94-03) common problems and fixes.

[The Eyesore]

Hi, I just thought I'd share a couple things I've found to be common problems with the Dodge Ram Van (not Promaster) which you may want to look into if you own one.

1) The infamous intake PLENUM GASKET failure which, if you haven't already addressed it (a big job which you'd remember if you had), is pretty much guaranteed that yours has failed by now if you've got a vehicle with a 5.9 or 5.2 Magnum motor. Symptoms are: Occasional hard starts, reduced engine power, increased oil consumption. If untreated, it will eventually probably plug up your catalytic convertor, ruin O2 sensors, and cause oil-fouled plugs.

There is lots of info on this around the web. Just google "Magnum Plenum Gasket" to learn more.


2) The transmission cooler line CHECK VALVE which can become clogged and cause your 46RE transmission to overheat and fail. It is recommended by many folks to delete the check valve altogether as it's not really necessary for normal operation, but the cost associated with its failure is high. Some transmission rebuilders refuse to warranty their rebuilds unless the check valve is deleted.

Many tutorials on this as well. If you want to look into doing this yourself, just PM me and I can show you an easy method to delete it. Costs about $50 and less than an hour to perform the task.


3) PCM failure is becoming more common with our aged vans. A failed PCM can be hard to diagnose without a spare "known-good" PCM to swap in. Furthermore, rebuilt PCMs are notorious for problems themselves. I personally, bought a $300 rebuilt PCM for when mine inevitably fails. In fact, I am running the rebuilt one now (both to confirm that it's working well and also to use it while it's under warranty. I have sealed my original, still-working-perfectly PCM in a freezer bag and stored it away for whenever I have a weird no-start condition or whatever, I can swap out the PCM to easily ascertain if that's the problem.

There are more, but these are the main three I personally felt were important enough to share.

Do you know of any good tips for common failures with Dodges of this era?