2001 ram 1500 engine light on

[lbcs]

my truck 5.9 4x4 sport off road. 48,000 miles.
bought 7/2003 with 33,000 on it.
In Janurary clutch in rear end went out replaced by warranty (used one though).

Here are the current problems.

The engine light came on sunday truck drove fine.
Called for service tuesday setup for thursday morn. Guy told me it should be okay to drive as long as running ok.
On wednesday notice temp was up pretty high (always okay before light came on ) and sucking up tons of gas.

took in thursday, they called and said the engine light was on because the tranny oil and filter needed changing. Also that I needed plugs, wires, cap, rotor, pcv valve, flushing injectors, radiator cap, air filter and belt. (not warranty)

high temp was caused by fan clutch (warranty)
and sticking thermastat (not warranty).

also found bad U joint in rear. (warranty)

Also wants to flash motor and tranny with updates. (not warranty)

bottom line is $100 deductable, $70 diag fee, $15 thermastat, $56 for updates for a total of $241.
Most not covered bt warranty because its routine maint,
I told them I could do the rest All the other parts from autozone are about $127 plus tranny fluid.

My questions are
does all this sound right for engine light coming on.
Does the transmission band need adjusting also at this mileage.
Also read about 'Death flash' sounds like I shouldn't do that.

Any input would be grealty appreciated. sorry for long post but I don't trust dealers they always seem to make me spend and never fix the problem right.

thanks,
Bill

[BleedDodge]

Okay, I would say let them do it because if something messes up, you can blame it on them. Like you say, if it's routine maintenance you're going to have to do it anyway. I think if you can get it into the shop right away, let them do it.

The transmission bands should not need adjusting with that kind of mileage, but these transmissions are known to be bad, and not as "good" as brand X.

What I don't believe is why they told you that you need plugs and wires and a new pcv valve and all that stuff, you have such low miles that that stuff could never have all gone bad, I just don't see it happening...

[lbcs]

Thanks for the reply.

I had them do warranty stuff.

Engine light is now off.
Could thermastat and fan clutch cause light to go on?

I called and told them not to flash the engine only the tranny, they said they had to do both or none, worried about the death flash so I told them not to flash anything. Don't know if thats right but want more info about the death flash.

still plan to do the tuneup myself monday.
They found misfire codes and said needs tuneup.
Thanks again

Bill