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Old 05-05-2015, 08:35 PM   #1
sparr
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Post 97 Dodge Ram Van, just bought, some problems

Some of these seem like easy/obvious fixes, some I hope will be, and some might be tricky or unusual. I'm hoping someone will say "oh yeah, that happens to all of that model, you just do X to fix it" for some of them.
  1. Near the driver's left foot there is a very strong draft, like a vent is open to the outside. The only temperature control setting that seems to affect it is the HEAT mode, which lessens it. Could this be a mechanical vent that's come disconnected from the temp control system, or a missing/loose seal in the firewall, or something else? Unfortunately I can't get down close to it while driving, and I can't feel the draft to locate it while sitting still.
  2. The cruise control will always turn on (green LED lights up) but sometimes won't turn off (green LED stays lit up). I can't get it to engage at all (The SET/COAST and RES/ACCEL buttons do nothing).
  3. The middle row captain seats are missing some bolts between the seat and the base. Can I just get copies of the bolts that aren't missing and expect them to fit and work?
  4. The rear bench seat is missing all of the bolts that attach its base to/through the floor of the vehicle. Do I need a specific size bolt for that? Should the holes in the floor be threaded, or do I need to somehow get nuts down there?
  5. I cannot figure out how to recline the rear bench seat. I've looked at the back and bottom and it's very obviously articulated for reclining, but I can't find a latch or mechanism to actually make it happen.
  6. All of the cloth pockets on the doors and walls have lost the stretchiness of their elastic bands. I'm comfortable threading in new elastic, if I can figure out how to get to the ends without having to take the panels entirely apart. Ideas there?
  7. The rear side doors are part of the power lock system. I can hear a whine when I lock or unlock the front doors electrically, but the lock doesn't move. Is this likely to be something mechanically disconnected inside the door, or something I have to replace?
  8. The rear doors don't seem to be part of the power lock system at all. Is this expected?

Thanks in advance for any and all help and advice.
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Old 05-05-2015, 10:20 PM   #2
MikeCStig
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Re: 97 Dodge Ram Van, just bought, some problems

  1. There's probably a hole in the floor somewhere. Those vans do rust on the underside quite easily.
  2. This sounds incredibly dangerous... don't use the cruise control until it's checked and repaired successfully.
  3. You may very well be able to get the bolts, but I can't guarantee they'll line right up. You may have to reallign the brackets.
  4. I would think that there are threaded holes accessible from inside the van, they may, however, be stripped in which case you'll have to re tap the threads and use oversized bolts.
  5. The mechanism may be jammed or broken. Since the rear seat is detached anyway, you could pull it out, take it apart and figure out how it works, what's wrong with it, and maybe fix it
  6. you may have to put new elastics in, and some panels may have to come off, unless there's material strong enough to hold the elastics in place with rivets.
  7. it's likely to be mechanical. That sound you're hearing is the motor trying to do its job. You'll have to take the inner door panel off, get somebody to push the button while you watch what the mechanism does, it shouldn't.be too hard to figure out
  8. the cargo doors (rear doors) are often not a part of the power lock system. That's probably the case with you van as well
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Old 05-07-2015, 03:09 PM   #3
sparr
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Re: 97 Dodge Ram Van, just bought, some problems

Updates!

1. There's an entirely mechanical vent near the driver's left foot. I closed it. Previous owner broke the handle, so it was easy to close but will be difficult to reopen, but I'll build that bridge when I come to it.

2. Of the two ways to interpret what I said, I didn't mean the dangerous one. I guess there's no good standard words for the difference in turning the cruise on (as in, allowing the cruise system to work at all) and turning the cruise on (as in, telling the cruise syste to take over the accelerator).

3. I've taken a seat off its base and replacing those bolts is going to be easy. However, I'm still missing one more bolt *above* that level, where the bottom edge of the seat itself connects to its feet (which then connect to the base, the connection I was worried about before). I'm having trouble figuring out how to get to the top of that bolt hole without ripping apart the seat.

4. The holes in the floor below the rear bench seat go straight through to outside, no threading or welded nuts. I suspect the nuts were lost to rust years ago. The front two bolts for the seat just go through the body, and I got new bolts for those. The outer-front two bolts for the seatbelts also go through the body, same bolts as the previous two. The rear two bolts for the seat go through the body then all the way through a tubular frame member. I think it's meant for the bolts to stop mid-frame and have the nut put inside the frame tube, but I don't think I'm going to be able to manage that so I'm going to put a long bolt all the way through the frame there (the holes alreayd line up). The most difficult, which I haven't figured out yet, are the middle two bolts for the seat belts. They seem to be through some metal plates that are inside the van, under the carpet. The previous owner cut the bolts off, so I need to figure out how to get them out of there to replace them. I can't get below the body there because that's where the gas tank is. I'll post photos of that situation later and see if I can figure something out.

5. I figured out the reclining bench seat. You have to slide the seat fore/aft to the middle of its (short) travel, then lift it. Lifting it triggers the reclining action.

6. A few of the elastic bands have ends under easy to remove trim pieces. I'm still worried about how to get to the ones that are inside the other cloth/pleather bits.
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