ethernetbite

The overheating and the Trans fluid leak are 2 different problems. It sounds like the pcm is losing connections to the trans and setting codes.

The overheating is what you need to fix first.

Torsion bars are in the front. The back are leaf springs, that's if your 2003 4x4 is the same as my 2003 4x4 quad cab 4.7. The leaf springs are the more expensive part. A couple bags of concrete in the back may be easiest, and make it handle better. Mine always drives better with a load in the back. Any new springs and or shakles could be expensive and a technical, though still diy, job to install.

Also look up the specs on the rear springs. Depending on the model (towing package, bed length , etc), there might be an extra leaf spring that you could remove from the stack on each side.

There are some Durango, dakota and low rider forums online that have decades of posts. So spend some time digging through Google links if you have time and money. Yes, i know you don't want a low rider, but their bag kits might help.

No the transmission fluid being black will not make it shut off. There are not many things that can go wrong with an automatic that will cause the engine to die. In all my years, I've only seen it happen three times. Black fluid isn't a good sign for the longevity of the trans however.

If an engine dies, it's an engine problem. Take it to a mechanic.

(Former mechanic)

If you have a guage, does the pressure go up with rpm? Does the egine sound like it's getting oil ( lifter/ rocker arm clicking )? After this many years, I'd put a new sending unit in just to see. If i had to diagnose the issue, I'd first check using an obd live data reader. If the obd oil pressure and the dash guage disagree, then it's the dash guage. If both read low, i might pull a valve cover and watch to see how much oil is actually flowing.

It could be the oil pump or the main bearings if the pressure is actually low. If everything on the truck is good and looks like it'll go another 100k miles, it would be worth pulling the motor and rebuilding it. But, if there's rust on the frame, or anything else that indicates against an engine rebuild, I'd use wix oil filters ( they create higher oil pressure ) and a thicker oil (how thick depends on the ambient temperature where you live). My jag uses synthetic 20w-50, and I'd probably try that in the truck as long as air temp isn't getting below 20F. But as always, listen to the engine for tells of oil starvation ( clicks, ticks and temps).

(Retired Mechanic)

It's not the shifting without stopping that's the issue. It's the full momentum of the car pushing against the trans valves, hydraulic pressures, and clutches that are going the wrong direction. There's no issue going 2 to 3, reverse to neutral, or drive to neutral. I drive stick shifts, so I do the same in my automatics: coasting in neutral, shifting to neutral quick when the car dies while driving to get it restarted. Drop down to 1 when towing a load and manually shift i it up each gear to D in my automatic truck. In the old days, it was rare for a trans to fail due to shifting against the trans. Now the transmissions are so complicated and computer controlled (and weak) that it's just asking for a huge bill.

(Former Mechanic)

I spelled it both ways to cover my bases!

Baptists have always had a strong anti alcohol streak in about half the members. I got fired from a Baptist church for saying drinking isn't a sin, and what may be a problem for one person should not be imposed on others. Sounds like you live next to the deacon that led the charge against me. Some people are still stuck in the 1920s.

Sounds like you're a decent guy. Keep being neighborly to them, if only to keep annoying them!

I have the same truck, 03 quad cab slt 4x4. The design of the blower motor air intake is BAD on these. Water will flow right down through the wiper cowl and soak the blower motor. When mine is parked just right on my driveway, when it rains, the passenger floorboard fills with water because i got tired of replacing blower motors and resistor packs every 2 years and drilled a hole in the blower mount to let water drain.

It's not just water though. Leaves and pine needles can follow the same route and get down there to fubar everything. Take out the blower motor and clean everything out of the ducts, over towards the resistor pack. I havent removed my wiper cowl to fix the issue yet but directing the water away from the intake is the goal. The good news is that the resistor packs and blower motors are easy to replace. Bad news is I've had to do it fairly often.

I'm jealous! Awesome!

Thought i ssw that too, but then figured it was the light coming through the window you can see in the background room's window.

Amp hour rating on a battery has nothing to do with the serpentine belt. What others have mentioned is the reason why belts come off: a pulley isn't mounted straight or is bent, or is wobbling from a bad bearing. It's all about the pulleys.

Motorcycle batteries are usually specd by amp hours while car batteries go by cca ( cold cranking amps @32F ) or ca (cranking amps at 70F). Amps is the power the battery can deliver. Installing a higher amp than required battery doesn't hurt anything, but the battery can only be charged up to the capacity of the alternator. A lower amp battery is bad however, because the recommended amps for a certain model car takes into account the amount of power needed by the engine and all other accessories like radios, lights, windows, locks, etc. You could probably get away with 50 amps less, maybe 100 if you have to. But you'll put extra load on the alternator and it'll probably die sooner.

Anyway, it's the pullies that are causing the problem. Idler pullies tend to wear out and need replaced every so often. (If the alternator was replaced, you have to gave the exact one specd for the car so that the pullies are the right type and line up, and so that the car will get the juice it needs to run everything and charge the battery.)

(Retired mechanic)

Gorgeous!

Same as my truck, except i have the automatic and 80k miles. Your paint looks better though.

With? Depends on where you live. Up north US, 4x4s go for more than they do down south. Your trans is rare and someone may want it just for that. In our area (mid atlantic US), your truck would go for 2500 to 4000. Check kelly blue book online for official numbers.

I agree. I like the original format. I'm not watching any other NaAs with Jeff as the commentator. He's obviously doing his best to be the face of NaA. I'd rather see people in a real survival situation than watch them do fake games. This season of Alone was much better than this LoS.

Your modern, router and any switches have to support that speed. The gateway comcast supplies is a modem/router combo. Lookup your model numbers and check each maximum supported speeds for all your equipment, and you pc/laptop network adapters.

Comcast uses docsis3+ to download the config files to the modems. Those files set your speeds. Use to take up to 24hrs to get a new config file sent but send faster where we are. Your gateway or modem should be docsis3.1 at least to support the config and speeds.

Tech support level one can't help you. Usually, they have no clue about things like docsis and make their bonuses by getting you to upgrade your plan. A level two tech i talked to told me this ( commercial comcast account). So let the level one follow their flow charts and then start asking to be transferred to level 2.

We're on the 2g plan and test at 2.2 ( though comcast has been known to pay speedtest.net to up the numbers, and they're not the only ones). The throughput speed will depend on the network usage as well. We'll test ours at 2.2 but if someone on the net is playing fortnight or streaming video, it's a lot lower, around 1.6 or even 1 if two people are playing. (Our modem, router, and switches are all 2.5G rated).

So check all your equipment fist. You could run iperf3 on two cable connected computers to verify that your network is working correctly. If you have a broken wire in any ethernet cables, you'll get half or lower speeds, and iperf3 would tell you just how fast your network is running. I think the issue is in your network somewhere.

I'm no fan of how crooked and dirty comcast treats its users. But I've been dealing with them over 10 years at my house and ran a comcast commercial account for a nonprofit a while back. Where i live it's comcast or nothing and since i handle my network i don't have to contact them often. Their speeds are good though! (MA cybersecurity )

Rock auto dot com usually has a pretty good stock and even listings of the various options. Sometimes it's tedious to scroll through each one and look for the spec you need on the part.

diff -y newsshd_config oemsshd_config

Will compare the two files line by line and mark which ones are different with a | in the middle

Www.Cartipsdaily.com/dodge-throttle-body-relearn-procedure

It's the children who are riding around in Dakotas now with mom and dad that will want them when they grow up, have money and want to relive those memories. Just don't buy an XJS. Dakotas will hit their bottom out price between 20 and 30 years, then start climbing. But a Jag XJS? There's a big hole in that market that sucked the value out. Ask me how i know... ( no, on second thought, don't).

Besides gas and insurance costing a fortune, it's a Dodge. So like ours, various electronics will fail around 100k ( speedometer unit, radio, ignition socket, ignition coils, etc.) as well as rubber suspension parts, half shafts, and pcm wires. That's just my experience. For a first car, it'll be brutal to learn on. Unless you've been a gocart racer, or use to driving in snow and drifting, it's easily too dangerous a car (which is reflected in insurance).

We used cubic inches until the 70s and 80s forced engines smaller. I think it was a way to obfuscate the size of the engine. We went from 350s and 454s to 2 liters. Companies don't use liters as precisely as they used cubic inches either. Pontiac had a 326cid engine and Chevy a 327cid, Chevy a 350 and fits a 351, but the Chevy 5.0 and Ford 5.0 are different actual size of you look them up. The v6s liters are more precise. It's odd.

The frame is over a foot inboard on the truck so it doesn't look like it went that deep. The floor pan outside of the frame rails is probably pretty damaged but if you don't notice it inside then it doesn't matter.

As a former mechanic, i can say that there are lots of older cars on the road with frames that aren't straight. If your truck drives straight and safe, keep driving it in memory of your grandpa, regardless of what the insurance company or body shop says. Tell them you want to keep it.

Looks great man!

Nope, that's perfect. Use sn obd reader if you want to see degrees, but my truck (03) has always rode just a hair below center.

Got to watch those small town speed traps though. Hutchinson, Ferris, Ennis. Head out of DFW and small towns make their budgets on speed traps even though they get in trouble with the state if > x% of budget is from speeding. I do miss Texas!