3.9L V6 Magnum Engine Reliability

There is an opportunity to buy a good-looking '96 Dodge B2500 Van in our area. This van is equipped with the 3.9L V6 Magnum engine.

Is this engine a Chrysler Lemon(ade) we should stay away from? From your experience what could be the most important things we should be looking for at this age?

The engine is reliable, but usually vans with this engine do not have overdrive. That's a big negative if you do a good amount of highway driving.

My real worry is some factory/design flaw that could lead to a catastrophic failure in this 3.9L V6 Magnum engines - on carsurver.org all the B Vans with this engine has negative reviews due to timing chain failures or other serious electric flaws.

We decided to ask the owners in this forum before making a purchase in this case. All 3.9L V6 owners we are really looking forward and appreciating your 2 cents.

My real worry is some factory/design flaw that could lead to a catastrophic failure in this 3.9L V6 Magnum engines.

Worry not, these engines are not known for any catastrophic failures.

From what we read on carsurvey.org the 3.9L Magnums had some issues with the factory timing chain missing a tensioner, damaging the timing cover or skipping a grade and damaging the pistons/valves.

That seems like a pretty serious issue and I doubt this engine had the timing chain changed ever. Have you encountered this type of problems on these engines?

I have over a 130K on mine with the original timing chain and the engine is running strong.

The van was checked and appears to be in pretty good order except the IAC valve/sensor which messes-up the engine idle rpms.

Is there a way to determine what king of transmission is installed in this '96 RAM Van - 3 speed or 4 speed automatic?

Any other bits and bites of useful information from mechanics that worked on these vans are immensely appreciated!

We bought the van and scheduled a visit to the repair shop this weekend.

Apparently it doesn't have OD - there's no button/indicator on the dashboard for it - we'll look at the transmission code when we'll take it to the shop.

Meantime can you please tell us what type of oil makes this engine happy? Mobil 1 site recommends a 10W-30 but I'd rather go for the owner's take on this subject. Our engine has 120.000 Miles on it.