First post and I'm new to the forum. My name is Ryan and I live in Huntsville, AL. I got a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT with the 4.7L V8 last week. Ive been driving it around town and on the interstate for short trips all week and it's done great but yesterday, I drove it about 1.5 hrs without turning the engine off. When i was almost home, I tried to go over a small hill and had a ton of power lost. So much, that I was concerned that I wouldn't make it over the hill. It happened again on the last hill before my house. During acceleration, I had tons of vibration and it seemed like I wasn't getting enough gas. I got home and turned the truck off, letting it sit overnight. This morning, I made it to work fine going over hills and everything. No problems whatsoever. I have no check engine lights on, The temp gauge read normal and oil pressure gauge was slightly below halfway (its been this way since i got it). The truck cranks and idles fine. I can even rev it high in park and it sounds good. I'm stumped......


I thought maybe it was the CAT but I called an exhaust shop and they said if it was, I would have issues all the time, not just after long trips.

I think I'll change the plugs this weekend just because but I feel like if it were the plugs, I'd get a CEL and I would notice it in an idle, not just after a long trip...

Any advice is appreciated. This is my daily driver now so I'm hoping I didn't get a lemon

 

Did you buy it from a dealer? Most will give you a 30 day warranty. If that's the case take it to them.

 

No I traded with a guy for my mustang. It's As-is

 

It could still possibly be a cat that is partially clogged. Most reputable exhaust shops will do a pressure test on the cats by drilling a small hole in front of it and test the pressure with a gauge. They will then, weld the hole back up when finished.

It wouldn't hurt to put plugs,PCV valve and possibly plug wires.

 

I changed all 8 plugs yesterday. I'm a little confused as I thought I had coil on plugs in a 2002 but apparently I have a distributor. This thing may have had an engine swap??

On a side note, While doing the plugs, I noticed that the air box lid was not completely latched and there was about a 2" gap letting air from under the hood go straight past filter. Is it possible that hot air leaking into the intake caused the loss of power under load? It was 100 degrees the day that it happened and I was on a 1.5 hr interstate road trip.