Hello everyone! I'm joining this forum as I 'inherited' a 1997 B2500 shorty van, and I'm completely out in the woods on Chrysler products.

So, yes... I'll be posting some help me type stuff over the next few weeks, basically starting right after this post!

Thanks for having me!

 

Welcome to the forum

 

I welcome the "Help Me!" posts.
I would point out that Google, YouTube and your local *trusted* dealership and speed shop can add a lot of valuable information.
You also might want to try to track down an owner's manual and a maintenance manual.

Welcome to the Mopar community, where nothing is too complicated, but everything is expensive. Haha!

 

Here's a great 'dealer' experience.

In 2011 I purchased a new Silverado (I know Mopar forum) two years later I had it at the same dealership it was purchased from for a complimentary oil change. I put a lot of miles on it in a short time, currently has 312k if that gives any clue to how much it's driven...

Well I was waiting for the oil change, when the service advisor came to me and said 'we found x,x & x wrong with the truck'. I didn't believe most of what he said, so I asked if the truck was still on the rack, it was, so I brushed past him and the 'you can't go in the shop!' warning and looked at the truck.

'Hmmmm. Wheel bearings seem fine to me' I said as I was attempting to jiggle the front tires around. The service guy didn't know what to do, and started getting flustered.

At that moment, my cousin who is the parts dept manager, walked out for a smoke break and stopped at the rack to say hello (he knew I was there we were supposed to go out to lunch). The advisors face turned pale white once he realized what was happening, then mysteriously had to go do something else.

The truck was taken off of the rack, and was parked out front in record time. I never saw that advisor again as he only worked at the dealership for another week after that incident, LOL.

 

Unfortunately, that kind of thing happens too often to ignore.
The flip-side being shops that can't or won't say "no" to work they can't handle.

I had a Taurus (I know, absolute crap. Which is why it's gone now). Ford dealership promised to do some work at the time of purchase, then tried to hold the car for a week while they dragged their feet about ordering parts. I went to pickup in the evening, assuming the work should be done. Found out their plan was to keep the car captive while they figured out what parts to order.
I looked around their waiting area for service, noting that people were complaining about waiting hours for an oil change.
I told them to order the parts that day, or I'd take it to another dealership and send them the bill. Called corporate while I stood in the maintenance bay.
Like magic, the whole situation started fixing itself!
Those poor fools.