Hey guys. 1997 Dodge 1500 5.2 318. I've been having a problem with my truck lately. I've been losing power and under large amounts of load the engine will sputter and backfire. One shop told me that it could be my tranny not engaging the next gear, but i don't believe that one bit. My charcoal canister is done for, but i've been advised against spending money to fix that. I believe that the canister is causing my engine to loose vacuum pressure and sputter like that. Also, i've been having a real tough time starting her up lately too. It turn over just fine but the motor wont ignite unless i pour gas into the cylinders. Also, when the motor is sputtering and dying i let off, and when it drops to about 1000 rpms, i'm able to floor it and get her going again. But it seems that whenever it's under load it just quits on me. Any helpful suggustions would be great, thanks. Also, i have a code PO441, evap code. And whenever i unplug the gas cap i get gas vapor spitting out of there, pressurized. Thanks.

 

Done the plenum yet? https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

As for the charcoal canister, how do you know "its done for?" It's part of the evap system and if the purge solenoid is having trouble purging the canister would bet there would be a code set, such as a p0441. You're gonna have to make sure everything in the evap system is working; components and vacuum lines.

Engines don't hold "vacuum pressure", and the canister wouldn't have anything to do with that anyway...not sure where you were going with that.

If your truck isn't getting ~49psi of fuel, it'll cause starting problems in addition to loss of power and hesitation etc. Get a gauge and test it.

 

Blown plenum? Clogging Cat? Failing O2 sensor?

 

I unplugged the hoses to the Canister and all the beads popped out, thats what i've seen. These are just asumptions i'm throwing out there!

 

Plenum i have not checked, No cat, and the O2 was just replaced. The shop placed it rather closer than i would assume it should be, could it be the fact that the O2 is getting too high of readings do to no cat?

 

Scratch that, i've checked the inside of the throttle body, no oil pooling.

 

Also, this problem happened a long time ago to my truck , about 4 months. I replaced the second O2 that i removed with my cat, and it ran better. Now it's doing it again, with no code for either O2, just the po441, which is some sort of engine vacuum leak i believe

 

You must remove the throttle body and check the VERY back of the intake to see oil. Simply opening the butterfly valves and looking down doesn't prove anything. Why was the cat removed before? I would assume because of clogging due to a blown plenum.

Bad o2's wont always show codes. If the voltage the o2 is sending to the pcm has to be completely out of spec to set a code.

Evap codes generally won't cause symptoms you describe. A P0441 is not "engine vacuum leak" its a code for incorrect purge flow in the evaporative system. The EVAP system take fuel vapors and vents it into the intake to be burned, instead of venting it into the atmosphere. If your canister is bad, replace it and the code will go away.

 

Removed cat to put duals on the truck. He o2 was mounted on the cat from factory so I just took then both off. My problems started after then, but not right away. My canister is bad, would that cause anything like this? I just need I know if replacing it is a step in the right direction. As for removing the throttle body completely, I have not done that yet. My brother thinks it's the transmission, and I don't agree. He also suggests the computer or map or maf sensors. I hear a HISSING Noise noise when the truck is running, loud from the engine.

 

WTF did you say about removing the 02 sensors? If you removed them that's the stupidest damn thing you could have done.

That will f**k stuff up so quick it's unreal.