So I bought a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD online with 169k for $5800... Figured at that price I can fix a lot of crap and its still alright. Anyways after flying into PA to pick up the truck that was "ready to drive to MN' I did a quick once over. Noticed that the belt was wobbling a lot and that the water pump was causing it, so I picked up a pump and belt at the local Autozone and headed on down the road. My plan was to make it to a decent hotel in a couple hundred miles and then replace it.... ended up replacing it at a gas station. Long story short I got home, took all the extra stick on crap off, replaced the missing door speakers, put the correct color interior in the truck, new track bar, and went to change fuel filters. Thats when I was dumb founded, it has a fuel pressure gauge but there was NO fuel filter in the truck!!!! I mean seriously? Anyways I love the truck and its coming along pretty quickly but I can honestly say that after owning 50 plus vehicles this is by far the most ghetto rigged thing I have ever seen. Fortunately the tranny and motor both run strong and after extensive wiring cleanup and some good old elbow grease I can undo/correct everything that looks as though it was done by a 16 year old.

Okay that was my rant. Don't get me wrong, the guy I bought it from was really nice... just not mechanically inclined I guess.

 

Dang it... no fuel filter! Guess he did not have any fuel pressure problems, huh?

Good luck, man.

 

Drives me crazy how someone can originally buy an expensive, decent vehicle, then systematically turn it to crap. Like, where exactly do the door speakers disappear to?? Glad to hear it's hit rock bottom and is starting to improve again. Good luck with the restoration.

 

I know what you mean, a coworker/budie of mine bought a 01 Cummins off the internet. It was only a couple hours away though. He went to test drive it and the owner gave him a list of things that had recently been replaced. He got a good enough deal that he figured he could replace some stuff if nesasary. After getting it home and us going over it real good we figured out that everyhing he was told had just been replaced was actualy a list of things that still needed fixing. He is slowly working threw them but has a ways to go.

 

This truck had running boards that were so rusted you couldn't step on them. The guy told me he was waiting for them to just fall off :-? Not to mention stick on hood scoop, stick on diamond plate rockers, stick on chrome gas cap, etc

The worst part is I found it in the DTR classifieds. I knew by the owners post history just about every problem the truck has ever had and how he fixed them... at least I knew what I was getting into.

 

" isn't the fuel filtered several times at the refinery?"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are some real winners in this world.

 

Many years ago my truck died and I had it towed to a 5 star Dodge dealer. After two days they could not figure out the problem and when I went to check on the truck immediately noticed that they had no clue what they were doing. Got mad and had the truck towed to my house where I figured out the problem in 20 minutes. The CP3 had died. In the process of diagnosing the problem I discovered that they had completely removed the fuel filter! Then I got really mad and since then my truck has never been back to any dealer. So it is not only individuals who do strange things, but dealers too.

 

Some people just shouldn't touch tools, ever.

There's no end to some either ignorance or stupidity, maybe both.

I heard a story last night about some fine employees at one of the county buildings. 2002 Ford F550 with a 7.3L in it won't start, so what do they do, you guessed it ether, not one, but two cans spraying right into the air cleaner, probably broke every piston ring in there. Then they wonder why it won't start at 50*F and won't pull up the hill in the parking lot in the morning.

 

On the plus side even with the filter it typically holds around 15psi for fuel pressure and I've never had a dead pedal issue or anything else to signify that the vp44 is going out soon.

 

Saying that is like saying it's never gonna rain, a store will never get robbed, the sun will never shine......you get where I'm going with this.

 

Nice Boat, you must be picking up supplies on the way to the fishing grounds.LOL

 

haha more like heading to winter storage... got 15 inches of snow today alone. Maybe in a few months I'll pull the old Donzi out again.

 

i got a good deal on my truck because it needed a new turbo. air filter was plugged solid, new air filter, runs like a champ.

 

Same thing here for warranty work.
When I went to leave I noticed the stereo sounded horrible.
Come to find out the tweeters were missing.
Called the dealer to complain.
Within a few days I received a pair of tweeters in the mail.
Where and how the wires were cut on the speakers exactly matched up to what was left of my trucks wiring.
Figure that one out.

 

I know that feeling..... Left my Custom Van for Warranty work and wrote down the mileage when I dropped it off. Went to pick it up and it had around 700 miles put on it, there was sand on the floor in back (they took it to the beach) and the rear speakers were blown along with the alarm system being damaged.

It was all I could do to keep from choking the life out of the Service Rep as I explained the situation. After chewing him a new off ramp, I got to speak with the owner and he quickly agreed to fix EVERYTHING and wrote me a big check to boot. I don't leave my vehicle with anyone now, if i can't watch the repair being done I do it myself.