new here, new truck, need help
 

Just bought a 91 Dodge Ram Cummins W250 (4x4/manual trans). It has some problems, most/all of which the seller disclosed, and I thought they were minor, but all together I'm overwhelmed now that I'm home. Apologies, I'm pretty new to this. I've been searching the board and found many ideas, but still stumped on some.

Problems, sort of in order of priority:
1) parking brake doesn't work. One of the two brake lines to the rear broke from the little y-joint and the other is now kinda slack.
2) This was unexpected: drove it about 60 miles to home from seller's place, and test drove it around home, and then parked it. Then i noticed (lots of) leaking fluid all over. I think its power steering fluid. I took it for a quick spin and the steering was impossible. So I am sure its leaking power steering fluid, but unclear as to what happened. Hose inspection didn't turn up much, they were all kinda wet with it.
3) brakes master cylinder appears to be leaking all over, and the breaks don't seem to have power assist...you have to pump them some, and can hear air bleeding out it sounds like.
4) looks like the where the injector feeds into the first cylinder in the top of the engine block, its slightly wet with diesel. Others are dry.
5) gas gauge reads near empty all the time
6) speedometer bounces wildly, seems to be related to engine RPMs. Seller told me he opened up the speed sensor and the gear was stripped.
7) radio doesn't work. The backlights light up on the knobs and such but it just doesn't do anything.


I'm hoping for some direction in fixing these problems. My ideas so far:
1) Maybe just have brake shop fix the brake lines when doing the master cylinder repair.
2) Power steering No idea what to do with this. Gonna buy more fluid, then clean up the engine, fire it up and see if it leaks and if I can tell from where.
3) replace master cylinder (how much is this?), have bled and inspected.
4) try tightening the little nut there?
5) gas gauge: no idea what to do. Seller said gauge problems were related to bad dodge factory wiring in the steering column. I haven't heard of this. Maybe its a bad fuel level sensor in the tank? Can I measure this with an ohm-meter and confirm if the sensor is working?
6) speedo: i think i need to buy a NAPA vss100
7) not sure, if its some wiring thing it would be nice if there is an easy common fix.

Maybe this makes it sound worse than it is. The truck looks great, engine sounds great, clutch feels good, no rust worth mentioning, interior is nice. I think the starter was recently replaced. Seller said injection pump was in good shape.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

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Here a picture is the broken parking brake cable.

Attachment 62880

Thats it though; its dark now. I tried to take pics of the truck but they didn't come out. Will post more photos tomorrow.

sounds like my 93 lol fuel gauge doesn't work(i go by the low fuel gauge and hope for the best) parking brake dont work! to open my hood there is a washer on a piece of wire in the grill that you have to pull! the speedo meter does what yours does sometimes :ouch: but i would never sell my beat to hell truck it has to much history and to much fun to drive :rocking:

1)The rear brake cables are readilly available aftermarket and aren't very expensive, but you gotta pull the rear hubs to put them on. If you can't or don't wanna do it any shop should be able to handle this. Probably just as well put new shoes an at the same time unless they look new because your gonna be there.
2)Pick up some brake cleaner when you get your power steering fluid, hose it all down let it dry and look for leaks. Hopefully a hose but the seals also give trouble too, also check the pot joint(the coupling at the box they are another weak spot).
3) the brake booster is more likely bad ( from the hissing you described )a rebuilt booster with a rebuilt master cylinder already installed on it is around $120 at Advanced
4)yes
5) I can't keep mine working GOOD LUCK
6)yes
7)new radio time
It sounds like your truck just has a few issues most trucks this age have too. $500 should fix every thing but the fuel guage. The sender in the tank is about $75 from the dealer they wear out and you have to drop the tank or pull the bed to put them in. The guage grounds back by the tail lights. Good luck:rocking:Rocky

Step back, relax and hit one problem at a time. Determine the cause before throwing money at it or you will never stop throwing money at it.
Problems, sort of in order of priority:
1) parking brake doesn't work. One of the two brake lines to the rear broke from the little y-joint and the other is now kinda slack.
Replace it. And check your brakes while your back there. It would shock you on what some of us have found
2) This was unexpected: drove it about 60 miles to home from seller's place, and test drove it around home, and then parked it. Then i noticed (lots of) leaking fluid all over. I think its power steering fluid. I took it for a quick spin and the steering was impossible. So I am sure its leaking power steering fluid, but unclear as to what happened. Hose inspection didn't turn up much, they were all kinda wet with it.
Clean it all up real good so you can find the source of the leak. Then replace what is.
3) brakes master cylinder appears to be leaking all over, and the breaks don't seem to have power assist...you have to pump them some, and can hear air bleeding out it sounds like.
Once you fix any other brake issues, bleed the snot out of it. Having to pump it up means air in the system.
4) looks like the where the injector feeds into the first cylinder in the top of the engine block, its slightly wet with diesel. Others are dry.
Yes, tighten it up.
5) gas gauge reads near empty all the time
Check your electrical connection. Rarely does the gage or sender fail, but they have.
6) speedometer bounces wildly, seems to be related to engine RPMs. Seller told me he opened up the speed sensor and the gear was stripped.
The speed sensor doesn't have gears, but the ratio adapter does which is a common problem. That you will have to replace.
7) radio doesn't work. The backlights light up on the knobs and such but it just doesn't do anything.
Are your speakers any good?

Rear Brakes
 

yesterday I just spent $207 in the following:

rear shoes
50' of 3 1/6 brke line (extra just in case, i will do the hole rear)
2 drum brake cylinders
2 drum seals
some silicone
parts cleaner(spray)
brake fluid
grease for the bearings
Autozone here in Boston lends tools, I borrowed a flaring tool
you will need a socket to remove the big nut that holds the drum

biggest challenge will be to put the whole thing back together.

good luck,

Gonzi

okay, more photos as promised.

Here she is:
Attachment 62875

Pic of engine:
Attachment 62876

No power steering:
Attachment 62877

Yep, it leaked out all over:
Attachment 62878

So i refilled the power steering, fired it up, and it spat it all back out. Haven't found the leak yet. But I am hopeful that its not the pump. If you look at the last image, you see it dripped all over that catch down below. I think/hope the front hose connection point is leaking. Kinda had to stop here. Alabama summer in July outside is powerfully hot.

Also when I went to O'Reilly's Auto I ordered a chilton's manual for this vehicle. They said it would be in today.

Now after cooling off and looking at the pics and thinking about it, maybe the leak is here:
Attachment 62879

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Thanks for the replies and ideas guys.
Especially about the parking brakes.
I was hoping I could just splice/jimmy that cable back in, but everyone says just replace it, so that is what I'll do and save myself a headache.

Will check gas eletrical connection!
That would be nice if it was just loose or something.

I don't understand what you mean by the gears, IE the ratio adaptor.
Where does that part sit.
Is it in the VSS or near it on top of the transfer case?
If I replace the VSS, does this stripped gear get replaced, or is there a different part I need?
Any idea what it would be for a 91 dodge W250? I hear speedo parts vary by year.

Haha, who knows? I probably didn't explain it well.
The radio has back lights, for when its night and headlights are on.
Those work.
But I don't get a tuning frequency readout on the display.
Its probably just hosed.
I wanna put a Ham radio in anyway, so it can go there I guess, and a decent Ham radio should pull in FM too.

power steering leak
 

Did you get someone move the steering wheel W/ engine on to pin point the source for shure? Looks like a
cheap fix.
Nice looking trock. What sizE tires and rims you have, they look nicelly proportinated

(X Gonz

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:humm:I am contemplating upgraden to larger brake lines and perhaps a larger weel cylinders, I hear tha mid 95 1 Ton chevrolets have a 1 1/8 instead of 1 diameter on the Dodge. I think that they service 13" drums, I still have to confirm the fitting to the housing. Any ideas out there?


Thx Gonz

I bought it with those wheels, part of its attraction. They are 16" aluminum rims, with Kumho LT285/75R16 tires.

It's probably gonna need a brake booster, parking brake cable and bled as a minimum for the brake situation. No biggie, just alot of work. I'd wager the power steering fluid is coming out the input seal on the steering gear box. Inexpensive seal, hard to replace, done right/successfully. If you confirm that to be case, maybe a better idea/easier to replace the steering box, considering age/mileage.

The fuel gauge never worked right on my truck and it was like new w/50k miles on it when I got it. I've had the sender out twice now, and as long as the low fuel light keeps working, I'm not gonna worry about it anymore.

Filled it up with power steering fluid again, and had someone else crank it up while I watched. It pours out of the pressurized fluid line right where it mates to the metal spigot that comes off the power steering fluid pump. Not the return line like I thought, which would have been much easier.

I guess I need to buy a new pressurized steering fluid line. Could it be loose? How do those connectors work on it, I've never messed with one, and my Chilton guide doesn't say anything other than connect/disconnect the hoses to replace the power steering pump.