The Dodge Turns the Big Twenty  (Part 1) – Remote Start Time!

That is 2003 for those of you who suck at math. Or for those just too lazy to do it.

What a miles stone. The BIG 2-0. Of course the only thing that can rival that is when the gentle beast hit the 100k mark a little while back. See Part 1 and/or Part 2. Technically the birthday (build day?) isn’t until summertime, but I thought I would pamper the ‘old’ truck with a few upgrades. 

Now that I’m driving it a lot more, some modernization makes sense.  Before this school year, I would usually take Nancy’s car down to the school bus lot twice a day.  Only three miles each way.  More than enough time for that little 2.5L to heat up just fine.  But since she retired last summer, this has all changed.  Not working really requires people to drive a lot more.

The problem I found is that the Dodge’s 5.7L takes a LOT longer to come up to temperature.  Especially in the winter with colder temps.  The three mile trip barely moved the temp needle.  Ouch. Short engine cycles are not good for any vehicle.  Especially one I own.  Although I hate putting short run cycles on an engine, I hate sitting in a parking lot in a cold truck and letting it idle when I could be home.  Hmmmmmm.

The solution? Why,  a remote start kid of course!  Pretty common on most modern cars and trucks.  Now I researched these a lot and had no inclination to dig into the wiring harness and make splices.  I took a hard look at the wiring diagrams (yes, I bought the $200 paper manuals for this truck when new). 

The 5.7L was introduced for the first time mid-model year in 2003 for the Ram 1500.  A lot of those ignition wires run some pretty high amperage.  Too much to go wrong, and I need to spend the remaining hours of my life safe and happy.  I’m not interested in hours of troubleshooting and watching YouTube videos.  So I opened up the pocketbook a little bit.  Yep.  God forbid.  Dave spends money for someone ELSE to TOUCH his vehicle.  The end of an era!

The install tech was great.  One-man business whose price point was the same as the local shops.  I’ve always preferred to give entrepreneurs my business. Especially one established in his craft for 15 years.  Also, if something goes wrong I’ve only got one phone call to make. 🙂  But the experience and the product were great so I’m willing to give a Ryan little shoutout.

All in all, I’m pleased.  With a 3000′ range, I can look across and see the Dodge as I pull back into the yard.  Press a button, some kind of magic happens, and presto.  The Hemi comes to life and the heater is on.  See for yourself.

I use it all the time now.  I think I’m starting to get into gadgets.  Like my Dad.  Especially something that will make my life easier.  Because we all know what a hard life I live.  And with Nancy retired and not overly thrilled with my career arc over the last couple of years, we don’t really know how many actual years of living I have left.  :-).

Another modern add-on for the old Dodge I’ve always wanted is a backup camera.  But I’ll have that for another post.