I have a 93 Ram 250 with only 40K on it. Its a really nice truck & I plan to keep it for awhile.

Anyway, I start it up & drive it a few blocks & it will die. I can only start it if I hold it to the floor. After doing this several times, it will suddenly run fine for awhile, but today I noticed the exhaust smelled like it was running rich, so Im thinking something is causing it to flood out. Anyone experienced this before? Also, how do I get the codes out of it? There is no check engine light on but that dont mean anything.

I have 35 years experience as a mechanic, so I know cars pretty well, but of course this is one of those annoying "intermittant" problems so it is hard to diagnose.

One thing I dont like about these trucks is they dont have fuel filters. They rely on the fuel pump sock to clean the fuel. I am wondering if the sock has disintegrated & is allowing crap to get to the injectors & cause them to not shut properly.

Any ideas would be great.

 

A: they do have fuel filters. It is located on the frame on the drivers side just below where your feet sit. If look from underneath it is located very near the shift linkage.

B. check for codes: key on, off, on, off, on
http://www.allpar.com/fix/codes/index.html

c. my first thought would be your coolant temp sensor but you will need to check the codes first then check the sensor.

 

I just looked - no fuel filter. The parts store lists one, but my truck doesnt have one. Strange?

 

since it is a truck it may be back under the bed by the gas tank. i know ramchargers have them in the frame rail but then again the gas take is under the bed on them.

since it is so old and there are so few miles put on it you may want to check the idle air control motor on the back of the throttle body. they are sometimes know to stick. you can take it out and clean it. may also want to disconnect the battery while removing it so the computer can reset.

 

Nope no filter anywhere in it.

Checked codes it has a code 12 & 55. Normal codes for it, so its not a computer issue. No one else has had or seen this problem before?

 

does the truck have a spare tire under the bed? if so it may be hiding behind that. for some strange reason they bolted the fuel filter to a cross member in the center of the truck and then ran gas lines back over the gas tank instead of placing it somewhere that makes more sense like in the frame.

have you run any injector cleaner through it? with how few miles are on it one or more of the injectors could possibly be sticking open.

the computers on these trucks don't usually complain too much. they are very dumb but i guess you would already know that.

 

Chilton's shows all 89-93 gas engines have their filter along the left frame rail but my 91 has it behind the spare tire (as you look under the rear bumper) and under the bed of the truck on the passenger side. Mine has a gas tank on the driver's side as yours probably does. Do you have dual tanks? If so it may be different.

Someone may have removed your fuel filter. Follow the metal fuel line from the top of the tank to the passenger side and check for the rubber line. The fuel filter should be located there. It should have a metal tang to bolt the can to the frame and both inlet and outlet on the same side of the can. Someone could have bypassed it with just one rubber line connecting the two metal lines. Hope this helps.

 

according to all data it looks like the trucks with 5.9's rely on the screen in the tank were the 3.9's and 5.2's have an external filter.

 

Ya I think that must be the issue. I had the bed off last summer & found no filter. That is really stupid I think. I dont know what the issue is without codes so I guess I will just have to try to figure it out.

 

have you run any injector cleaner through it? like i said before. with how few miles are on it i am guessing the injectors could be sticking especially with the crap they put in gas today.