So, my truck was/is throwing a code #23

23** Intake air temp sensor signal outside acceptable range

I replaced the sensor, disconnected the battery and went on.

The truck runs fine under 35~mph, but at highway speeds the code comes back and it sputters/loses power/runs like crap.

Maybe the wires to the sensor are no good? How would I test those? Any other ideas?

 

Ya probably wires, or the new sensor is bad or you replaced the wrong sensor. To test the wires just use an Ohm meter to see if they have correct continuity back to the PCM.

 

where did you get the sensor. I got in a real mess once when i got a sensor from auto zone since then i only get sensors at the dealer.

 

So, I drove it today and got it up to 65mph with no problems. Drove for about 105 miles before the light came back on. It was poppin' and running pretty sloppy. If I went light on the gas it smoothed out and ran alright. Now the codes are coming in as #23 Air temp sensor and #15 vehicle speed sensor. Is there only one speed sensor (on the rear diff)? I found some wire and a sensor plug end wrapped around my front axle... not even sure what that's messed up yet.

To make matters even better, there is a definite oil burning problem. I can smell burning oil every time I punch it hard. It doesn't appear to be leaving colored smoke while driving down the road (under light load), but after muddin in the woods a bit, I noticed some smoke lingering in the valley. I had been revving hard and slamming it into first to spin some mud and the high rpms obviously sent some smoke out. I've had to add quite a bit of oil. It seems like my pressure starts to drop every 70 miles or less. I've already added 1.5qts in the first 150 miles. I'm also pretty sure it's an interior engine leak as it doesn't leave any drips in the driveway.

I'm going to guess that this thing has some pretty bad piston rings/valve seals and the ****ton of oil it's burning is fouling the plugs which causes it to pop/miss under load in high gear.

The Air Intake Temp sensor is located on the second intake runner, right? I did a bunch of research and I'm almost positive I replaced the right thing.

To test it, set the multimeter to continuity, touch a lead to each wire on the sensor/plug, it should beep to confirm continuity?

It's from advance. It looks pretty good. The sensor is just two pieces of wire bonded with a temp sensitive dab of something. I'm fairly certain I've got more/other problems than the new sensor being faulty.

 

To test the wires find out which pins in the pcm connector is the two wires for that sensor. Unplug the connector on the pcm and also the sensor. Set meter to ohms. Put either positive or negative to the pin in the pcm connector and the opposite lead to th pin in the sensor connector. You may have to try both pins in sensor connector to find out wich one is the same as the pin in pcm connector. If the wires are good then it should read 0.2-1.0. Then do the same for the other pin in the pcm connector. Just make sure you know what two pins are the correct pins in the pcm connector otherwise it is possible to burn up the pcm if it is still connected and you are back probing the wires in the pcm connector. Hope this helps. There maybe an easier way but this way is a definite answer to if the wiring is bad or not.

 

The popping and oil burning is probably a bad intake plenum gasket. This link will help. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

The speed sensor is on the transmission (2wd) transfer case (4wd). The ABS sensor is on the rear diff. The front diff one is a switch for the 4wd light.

 

Thanks for the walkthrough, that'll help me figure some of this stuff out.

Alright, so I guess the wire/plug I found twisted around my front axle is the speed sensor. Thanks for the info!

Also, the plenum plate looks like it's going to be a ton of fun!

 

Have you done the plenum plate test? Don't go there if you don't have to....it is a big job.

 

I haven't done the magnet test yet, but I'm assuming it was never done. The truck was pretty well abused/neglected before I got it. They made it sound like they've been feeding it oil for quite some time now.

I had been figuring on buying a junkyard motor, rebuilding that and putting that in, so if I can fix my problem with less work than that, I'll consider that to be a good thing.