Mopar1973Man

You can open it up without a alignment tool. Ha! I have skills in this. I was just teaching @Jthor on his 7.3L Ford how to align a clutch without a tool complete by hand. Basically when you taking it apart look at the position of the friction disc vs. the pressure plate. Most are cut equal to the pressure plate.. What I do is using my finger measure all four opens and push the friction disc to be flush to the edge. This done while there is a little of plate pressure to keep position of the friction disc.Once you find the center go for it. I've used that method since 1986... Back then you didn't get a nice plastic tool even back then it was a wooden dowel that didn't even have the splines. Yeah if you have the tool for alignment use it but one note double check some of them droop a bit and you'll notice the friction disc slightly sticking out of the bottom do the same trick and I can about promise a good easy stab. Like yesterday I stabbed a Ford 5 speed back together and slid in easy as pie. BAM! No two post lift, no special transmission jack. Floor jack and a transmission. It's all in the way I ratchet strap the transmission to the jack. Won't fall or move while strapped to the jack. I know this is Ford 7.3L but @Jthor had a dual mass flywheel. It spit out a spring and drug it around in between the block and flywheel. I order a NAPA flywheel and clutch kit about $400 for it. Upgraded to 13 inch flywheel. Ditched the dual mass. Now the clutch is butter smooth and upgraded. My biggest battle was changing the rear main seal on the crank. I will admit Ford did good but that dang speedy sleeve is a royal PITA to get of the crank stub. Doable but not fun.

No such option that I ever heard of...

The 1500 RPM band needs to be on the retarded side for launch purpose. The amount of retard is going to to force more flame through to the turbo helping spool up. Hence why I start at 13 degrees and work up +5.5 degree on my tune. You spraying more fuel than I am you should be in this realm for sure. 13.0, 18.5, 24.0, 29.5, Max 30

Just trying to find away for you to jump forward to the newer style seat belts then you dont need the module for the seat belt to make the reels lock. The driver buckle is just 2 wire. I've done it in the past just jumper wire between the two pins and the seat belt light will not come on.

Just got done with @Jthor Ford 7.3L with a dual mass flywheel he managed to break all the spring in the flywheel. It rattled bad. After pulling the transmission every was clearly visible what need to be done. Now I know this is Ford but still diesel. Like on his the clutch was good but the throw out bearing was worn, friction disc and pressure plate are good. The dual mass flywheel was done. Ended up upgrading to a 13 inch flywheel and clutch. Like on my last clutch the pilot bearing fell out on to the input shaft then proceeded to eat the input shaft bearing and the tip of the mainshaft. I learned if there is any weird noises in the transmission just pull and look it only takes me 2 hours to pull a NV450, NV5600, or G56 transmission. I don't have a transmission jack nor a two post lift. The result of this last transmission and the bad pilot bearing helped 5th gear to rip teeth out at 80 MPH. Even my stock OEM clutch started to shift funny and make weird noises. The friction plate came apart.

My choice on tires still is the Hankook ATm's for the 2002 Dodge 2500 running (245/75 R16) These I typically get 60k to 70k a set. My 2006 is leveled on 18's with (285/70 R18 - 33.7 inches) and all this will go away here in the near future. Getting back to stock height and tire sizes again. This truck is not happy with the size creates plenty of lugging and high EGT's even empty being the truck is a bit over 9,200 pounds empty with a heavy steel flatbed. As for the small light weight truck 1996 Dodge 1500 its running Cooper Discovery tires. (215/75 R16)

There is a swing weight so if the truck is in a hard braking motion it will lock the center console from moving. You'll need to remove both driver seat and the passenger side as well remove the covers on the center console and then take some PB blaster or silicone spray and lube that hinge up and it should let go. I've had a similar problem with the 2006 rear seat folding. The lock was sticky from spilled food. Plenty of lube and working it back and forth now its fine.

Just checking Kelly Blue Book its roughly...

Light is controlled by the driver side buckle on late models. And the seats look the same just need to check the interior frame.

Oh now, I know you'll finish that and get it programmed. I'll have to do the same on my 2006 Dodge...

Still better to mod the seat to a later series WITHOUT the seat belt module. Like my truck does NOT have such module and works off of swing weights.

I'm in that boat but flipped... Being I'm the Step Dad in this process and trying to help @Jthor with his 7.3L Ford Powerstroke which needed serious TLC. Here soon this will be done. Scary part is I'm getting pretty good with even Ford Powerstroke Diesels now. Scary thought @Mopar1973Manis playing with Ford's now. What will happen next?

Jack the axle up and then rock the wheel in and out vertically if any movement is felt then the unit bearings should be replaced as a pair. If you feel left to right then its tie rods or drag link.

DAP... I'll be getting a set for my 2006 Dodge here very soon. I've done one set for a local gent. Then ive got an old friend that she need a set in her 4th gen Ram.

Oil in the gear box should be fill till spilling out. No lower than about 1/2 below the hole. Typically use my pinky finger bend at the last knuckle and that is my dip stick. Oil in the gear box should be fill till spilling out. No lower than about 1/2 below the hole. Typically use my pinky finger bend at the last knuckle and that is my dip stick.

Something is dragging in the clutch hence why its difficult to shift from a stop. Even like my last failure was similar. The 2nd or Reverse required shifting like 3rd first and then back to 2nd helped. In my case the pilot bearing fell out on to the input shaft. This bit of misalignment would cause the friction disc to drag some. Then after a time the input shaft wore on the main shaft tip from the lack of pilot bearing. Last on it finally took 5th gear with it as it broke the teeth off the smaller gear eating the larger gear. Suggestion replace the hydraulics both master and slave. If no improvement after this, I would pull the transmission and check the clutch assembly as much as no one likes to do it.

Tell tale signs. When you come to a stop and your holding the clutch in and then if after a period of time and the truck starts creeping the hydraulics are bleeding out. I've seen this. Another is if you just press the clutch and difficult to shift the hydraulics could be sucking air in and compressing then the clutch with drag slightly causing a hard shift. Typically in all gears, but not always. Like when my pilot bearing fell out it was hard in all gears till the main shaft was ruined then it took 5th gear with it.

Just do both the master and slave cylinders for the clutch. Still to this day I prefer doing the bleeding myself than buying a pre-bled system that is a 50/50 hit or miss if it will work out of the box. I've seen brand new hydraulics all pre-bled not work at all because air made it back inside the system from the reservoir while shipping and handling of the product. Don't get me wrong the clutch I installed in the 2006 was a pre-bled system from Valair it worked out of the box. The part I hate is getting the pedal throw adjusted right. Where stock systems do not require any adjustment. Be aware adjustable hydraulics is very easy to hyper-extend the throw bearing past the pressure plate. It can do serious damage and you'll be replacing that same clutch over.

It should shut down after about a minute or so tops. Like the ECM and PCM typically drop out after about 10 seconds. But there should be no power to that module after a period of time.

Only used NAPA, Prestone or WalMart Super Tech coolant. NEVER used distilled water in this truck. 431k miles never had one problem coolant changes are typically 75k miles. Last time I pulled the head off and look down in the coolant jacket is was just like I said surface rust of the cast. Freeze plugs look brand new yet. OEM water pump is still going. Never had an overheat condition and never had any issue with freezing. My irrigation water comes from a creek about 1/3 of a mile back and been using this water for flushing the block and refilling with coolant for the entire 18 years of this trucks life. Typically from April on the winter fronts comes off and the truck gets the engine power washed nearly bi weekly.

That is a nice looking truck. Just keep in mind to keep up with injector changes between 100k and 150k. Just diagnosed a 2015 Ram with 189k and it call errors for all 6 injectors. I've got a second 3rd gen with wait to start light on for 2 years now his truck won't start because it can't build rail pressure.

Most of the salvage yards around me don't even have a diesel truck in them. most are bought before they hit the dirt. $17 for two modules was a damn good deal. The reason to pop it open and look for damage might prevent plugging in the new module to have it burn up in a short time because of a wiring issue, short, or bad solenoid for the lock control. Another option is to find a seat from 2000 to 2002 you should the newer design like I've got then ditch the whole module issue. Might take a bit of work to get seat belt light and stuff right. Like my truck the seat light is directly control by the driver side seat belt latch. That's it.

Might open up the old module that is damaged and see if you spot any burnt parts or circuit board it might give clue on how to protect it from failure next time.

Some needs to keep up on the coolant changes. Freeze plug only go bad if the coolant is change often enough. Once the coolant ages then the soft metals like freeze plug are the first to go. Go job on getting that plug stuff in that hole. But yeah mine gave up on that very corner. Head curl. Sorry on the head gasket. I tend to not think about the freeze plugs being I do keep up on the coolant changes and there is virtually no rust in my system. Just surface rust from being exposed to the air.

The only thing I can think of is the pump is just tired out and possibly pushing debris through the system. I would replace the pump and then blow out all the device backwards. So blowing back through the steering box on the return side to push anything out of the power valve. Then the same with the hydrobooster blow it out on the return side. Hopefully you find the reason for low pressure either a restriction or pump issue. I would change and flush the fluid on that system too. The steering box along could hold up to close to quart. Plus the 3rd gens have that small cooler it holds quite a bit too. I would blow it all out backwards and change the fluid. If you can replace the pump too.