Sweeeeet Im the same way I hated going every time it got that low, but now I know I can go farther on trips to.

 

my truck was acting similar. I cut the converter off of it and it was clogged up and borke apart. That helped out alot but it still has a backfire occasionally But i would check the converter. On my truck the converter was be scalding hot after just a few minutes of running it. Keep us posted on what you find out take it easy

 

I'm sorry I can't help with your major issure, but I can tell you that you have a 22 gallon tank. I have almost the same exact truck as you do, except that you have 4WD, and I have 2WD.
I also suggest with your tune-up, you go with the standard Champion plugs. That is OE and I've heard of these tucks not liking platinums. I have the Champions in my truck and haven't had a single issue.
and by the way, Welcome to DodgeForum!

 

Well, gotten to autozone, they had everything except 8 spark plugs . Another store in the valley has them though, will pick up tomorrow.

I have purchased the haynes manual, and in reading it realised another oddity that makes this point more to the engine then transmission ( which is good on the wallet ).

After 20 minutes of running, while pulled over, one of the things I did was take the top off the air filter cover, and poked at the choke plate, it was mostly closed.

When I would manually open it, the engine would rev easily. Same when I reached under and pulled the throttle cable.

But in reading the book, I would hope that after 20 minutes of running, normal engine temp, the plate should have opened. It was 20-25 degree's F, so I'm wondering it this is just the choke not handling the cold as well as it should.

What I dont' remember is if when I pulled the cable if the choke plate moved.

 

It does sound like you have a catalytic converter issue. Its not going to show lack of power idleing, but it will once under load. crawl underneath and take a rubber malet and tap the cat to see if it rattles. thats only a quick check. the only other thing I could think of to check would be a fuel pressure. If it is not at spec then it may lack power when a load is put on. either way, if you put a fuel pressure gauge on and drive it (gauge at the windshield while driving) you can rule that out of the picture.

 

Thanks for the thought. ( Sorry, just got to put it with the list of four other things that have been suggested, and knock them off one by one ).

I've driven it a bit more before starting any repairs, the most obvious issue is inability to keep a constant speed. Going down a street next to the home, at 30 mph it will run fine for a few moments, then its like the engine is starving in some way ( fuel/air/spark, take your pick ), and it starts slowing down with the same gas peddle depression. Most of the time, if I give it more gas, it will pick back up, but occasionally that will make it lag worse. Hvan't heard it back-fire nor smealt a lot of gas, so dont' think its going rich on me.

I havne't gotten to it yet, the weather hasn't been cooperating to well, but I have all week home from work, so should get some time.

It definently didnt' have this issue when I purchased it, and for the first two weeks, but over the course of a day or two this developed.

I'm going to type up some thoughts, mostly to keep me in line.

1) Air. Either its not getting enough in, or its unable to expel enough under load. I'll be changing the air filter, checkign the intake for obstructions, and checking out the cat. The manual talks about a test using a vacuum gauge, should be able to get one of those.

2) Gas. I'll see about a gas pressure gauge. I've heard the fuel filter is inside the pump, which is inside the tank, so lets hope it doesn't get that far.

3) Spark. I've got a new ignition coil, distributer, cap, wires and plugs, should hand;e most anythign in that area .

4) Everything else. Serpentine belt. This will be my first fix actually, mostly to get rid of the annoying squeek . Then the rest of the tune-up stuff, the values and such. I really doubt any of those will fix this issue, but for an un-known state of the vehicle, a good place to start.

Like I said, I'll let everyone know when it gets figured out, jsut not heppening as fast as I had hoped .

Seth

 

So far no change that I can tell on a short drive, I have replaced:
1) Serpentine belt. At least the whine is gone.

2) Ignition coil.

3) PCV valve.

Tomorrow we shall see if I can get into the distributer, plugs, and all that stuff.

I noticed a coupel things I found interesting. Behind whatever the top plate is on the engine, the lower edges are sooty, as well as the complete underside.

Noticable knock on the right-hand side ( left? Left when in the drivers seat, right when leaning into the engine compartment from the front ). I can hear the lifters under it all, but this is about an 8 a second at idle knocking sound, it seems to be coming from around the valve covers, but taking off the oil filler plug doesn't make it any more noticiable ( not sure it should, just thought I woudl mention ).

Checking the fuel system is looking a bit more complicated then I thought, might just spend the 50-75 and have a shop tell me whats wrong, then I'll decide if I can fix it .

 

And the verdict is..... Fuel pump.

They want $750 to do that.

And they say the front-end is pretty bad, another 900 bucks for ball joints, arms, various stuff. Yeah.... I'll be seeing what I can do myself.

 

Ok. They say its only putting out 10ish PSI, should be in the 35-43 range, sounds like a good culprite.

I've done a '93 grand am fuel pump in the fuel tank already, this looks like an easier job. $160 from Autozone, that soungd about right? ( they wanted 440 for the part? maybe he mixed parts and labor, 270 labor, sounds more like the pump cost ).

As to the others, upper and lower ball joints need to be replaced, and he wrote down the 'addler and pigman' arms. Maybe idler and pitman? He said they were the two arms that connected the steering box to the frame and the control bar. And that they were ready to fall off, and should be replaced asap, if they fell off there woudl be no stearing ability at all.

Any suggestions on anythign else I'll need? I'll be researching of course, but any bushing/control arm parts or such that I shoudl look at getting while I'm under there?

 

Some drop the tank to change the fuel pump, others remove the bed.


fyi, My brother had similar symptoms on his 93 3.5L Dak. You may be looking at an EGR issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaust_gas_recirculation