1st Post - New DodgeRAM owner.

Hey RAM owners, I recently got a great deal ona 941500 5.2Lpickup and since it was such a badass looking truck I couldn't pass it up. The truck is in pretty good shape and has lots of options, haven't found anythingthat doesn't workyet except for the compass/temp overhead display unit. It doesn't comeon at all, no on/off switch so...? Anyway, I had some questions about some things I've noticed and I would like a little advice so I don't dump a ton of money into a worn out truck.

First things first - the truck has 178,000 miles on her. I'll be honest, she fires right up and the engine is quiet, seems to be running great. No visible problems or strange sounds from under the hood. I know thiscan be deceiving but it looks and sounds much better than I would expect a truck towith this many miles on it. WhenI drive it, the engine seems fine thoughit seems like the truck shouldhave more power than it does. Sometimes the pickup isn't bad when you give it gas, other times, depending on the driving situation, you can stand on the pedaland it doesn't seem to do awhole lot though it doesn't stumble or anything. I don't appear to be getting very good gas mileage at all, either. Less than 8-9 mpg for sure. Transmission seems OK for a truck with this many miles, probably been rebuilt or replaced but who knows.

There is a pretty serious rattle from underneath the truck, particularly when accellerating down the road. It comes and goes but seems to be there more than its not. Sounds like screws or bolts beingthrown around in a can.Sounds like the cat is bad, so I had a localshop take a lookand they say they can get thenew cat(napa) plus some other pipe and with laborits justover $500. Seems high. I'm hoping that the loss in power is related to thecat problem and I might see an increase in power andwith the new cat.

Ok now for the problemthat's got me worried the most. When you first start the truck after it's sat for afewhours, an immediatewhite, vapory puff of smoke will come out of the exhaust pipe. Just one puff, sometimes it's pretty big, and I'm thinking the size of the cloudmight be relative to howmany hours the truck has sat. When the engine is still warm or if I restart it after a few minutes, there is no smoke. Also, when the truck isrunning in the driveway for a few minutes just idleing, there is somesort of white,hazy exhaust smoke after a while. Didn'tsmell like antifreeze at all, I don't smell that anywhere on the truck or exhaust. But since it's white I'mthinking coolant is burning somewhere and expelling when I start it upor ..the RINGS are bad.Head gasket, plenum, valves I've heard a lot of things but just not sure what it could be. Anyone have this problem ontheir older, high mileage RAM?

Here's what I've done to the truck:

New AutoLite 3923's,autozone wires,distributor cap+rotor
K&N drop in air filter
180* thermostat
New front brake pads and rotors (back ones still squeak though, guess those are next)
Changed oil and filter (half a quart low)
Had fuel injectors cleaned

Same shop that gave me the cat estimate also noted the following:

Truck needs 2 lower ball joints and the cost with labor would be $446.
Front end shocks $153 installed.
Front Idler Arm+ allignment for $223.
Mentioned something about a problem with the leaf springs too. Said that when I take off from a stop the rear end doesn't move fast enough and the truck has to work to getmoving. Also saidthe coolantneeded flushed, theold stat was rusty and I guess notin the greatest shape. I've seen no signs of anythingleaking inthe engine or on the ground.

Any thoughts you have would be GREATLY appreciated. I really do like this truck and want to know if its worth the problems that are evident, and those problemsthat I'm sure to encounter later.

Thanks!

Anson

 

I'd bet the rattle under the hood is your plenum gasket going, or gone. I just replaced mine, no more rattle. I have a 5.2 aswell, it was kind of sluggish when i gave it peddal. After i installed the hughes plenum kit, i cleaned the intake out, and all sensors i could get to. I added a volant cold air intake. After that HUGE difference in peddal responce. The plenum that comes stalk is ****ty ***, it's some papery deal, no good at all. The hughes one is metal so once you do it, never again. Do a search for plenum kit or plenum, there is a good how to with pics. I did it in my garage in about 6 hours, mind you that was installing new sensors, intake and some little things around the engin.

There is also a how to for testing if you plenum is gone, easy 5 min test. It was worth it to do it myself.

I also know that with the bad plenum it's going to bung up your cat, make it go faster. I went through one before i changed out my plenum. After the new stuff i have put on my 99 1500, it's a whole new truck. I figure i am going to keep going, since itkeeps going in the better direction.

Only thing with the dodge's is the tranny, prone to going. I also have an after market cooler on the front since i do tow alot. But i love my dodge, i'd never buy anything else.

 

Thanks for the input rottie. Kinda surprised more people didn't reply with thenumberof Ram owners we haveon here.

 

I agree, it sounds like the cat and the plenum gasket.

 

$500 for a replaced cat is insane. Go to someone else and change shops.

My wager on the white puff when you start is valve seals. When the engine is warm the seals swell and keep oil out: no white puff. It's not really much to worry about unless it's fouling plugs. It's a head rebuild if it is. In any case, white smoke is probably oil. White smoke from a warm engine might be rings.

Coolant doesn't burn. It stays liquid (droplets) or comes out the pipe as a vapor. Either way put you hand in the exhaust once the engine is warm. If it's wet you might have a problem. When the engine/exhaust is cold you may get some anyways due to condensation in the pipes.

I'd say fix the obvious and drive it. A reman long block is $1500 if you do it yourself. 8-9mpg seems a little low. Might look at the plenum like others suggested. It's a relatively cheap fix/check. Just takes half a day though.

 

P.S. a cat from Napa for this truck is $140..... and you can get it cheaper.

 

Gibson cat with 2" exhaust all the way out ran me $250.

 

I ended up getting the new cat and Y pipe installed. The shop had already ordered the part and I didn't feel like screwing with it anymore. I did check the price from the part # on the warranty I signed and it is not a napa part, didn't really say who made it. I did a search for the part # on napa (part # 645926) and itcame up on the non-napa part search. Napagave a list price of $279 for the unit. With the shop's markup and$102 in laborthe math works out, but the labor was still high for the job. It's a bolt on from what I gather. Here's a pic:


Like I said, seems high but the shop is reputable and I know a mechanic there so I went with it. Does anyone know about this particular cat system? The truck definitely runs better. It's nice and quiet, the rattle is goneand I've got a lot more power now! The overallaccelleration has really smoothedout. I added some Rislone Ring Seal to the crankcase and the puff of smoke fromt the exhaust on a cold start is a lot less now. Might check the oil and add another bottle in a few days.

TheChampion plugs I removed when I installed the new ones were fouled. Oilon them and white on thegap end. Since I've put the Autolite 3923s in the truckseems tocranklongerbefore it starts up. No big deal I guess but I know before it barely cranked and started right up with the Champions. Interesting.

Thanks forthe replies.

 

The rattle is gone and the truck has more power because the cat was broken and plugged. Before I replaced mine I couldn't get the truck above 50mph climbing a mild grade. Got it changed out and it made a world of difference.