OK, heres my newest problem...[:@]

The truck was running rough despite replacing the engine, so I replaced the plenum, thermostat, found out the fuel rail and injectors was clogged with rust so I cleaned those, found one of the egr ports was clogged and cleaned that out...put it all back together this morning.

And for 5 miles, it ran as well as its ever run. My father came over and I gave him the keys to let him take a spin, get a call 5 minutes later on the cell and he says he blew it up (hes a little mellodramatic). Says it was running smoothly except for a little hesitation after hitting the gas...turned it off to put a few gallons of gasin (it was nearly empty), turned it back on and it was instantly running too rough to keep idle. He forced it down a back street, said it backfired like a gunshot and shut down on the spot.

Ive tried and looked at everything, and I really dont see what could have happened. I will say that the coolant seemed a little hotter than normal (busted the coolant temp gauge, havent replaced it yet), one side of the radiator near the fill cap was cool to the touch while over by the upper hose it was scalding hot. I can start it and it is running so rough that I just have to sit on the gas to keep it running. Its not drivable.

The thing is, it was running, he turned it off - pumped gas - turned it on, and suddenly its running as bad as possible. What can break when you are filling the gas?

It seems to me there are some peices of a puzzle to put together here, but I am still pretty new at working on cars so I think I should defer to you guys. Any clues?

 

Perhaps the fuel pump and/or filter in the tank is clogged. Pumping gas into it may have stirred up some debris in the tank that got sucked into the filter/pump. If everything else is as clogged as you described, I would wonder if the tank is also not in good shape.

 

" found out the fuel rail and injectors was clogged with rust so I cleaned those,"
Added gas...
Do the math!
Sorry, not as eloquent as Silver.

 

Yes, but before the injectors were about as clogged as they could be, and its still idled. I dont see how the injectors in that oneinstant could become so much more clogged than before as to make it run like this. The gas did get really low, maybe low that the pump couldnt "reprime"? Is there anything else it could be? I have noticed before that upon taking the tb off it required me to give her gas to get her idling, and once I did that it ran...but its worse than it ever was then, bad enough that I'm frankly scared I'm going to hurt the new engine if I try and push her.

Another thing, I keep going back to the coolant - I took a few too many bolts off at one point getting the accesory bracket off and the fan and I guess water pump got a little loose, I bolted it back without making sure the gasket was not disturbed. But theres no way the thing overheated and cause those symptoms? Right? I'm getting paranoid with this truck, right when I thought I fixed it this happens.

Talked to my father again and he stressed that the backfire was as loud as any hes ever heard and that it was immediatly dead. But it will start up now. Can a lack of fuel pressure cause that?

 

The first time I changed my distributor cap I didn't put the new rotor on correctly and the thing popped off while driving.

It ran like a champ for 10 miles and when I decelerrated off the highway the whole truck shut down. When I pulled off the distributor cap, the rotor was melted through the center and lying on its side. The inside of the cap was scored with marks where the rotor was whippingup and downwildly while spinning around.

 

I blame the father
He owes you a new truck!

 

just a thought, remove the serpentine belt and see if it runs any better. might be a messed up water pump or accessory item. when my water pump broke it was sort of violent - it spit needle bearings out, and created a drag on the engine and would not idle.

i don't think your removal of water pump bolts had any effect. the gasket would still have been sealed, and the worst thing that could happen would be a coolant leak.

the backfile sound your father reports is probably important. if it was really a gas backfire, it indicates improper spark firing/fuel timing.

if nothing is obvious, you might want to check compression to see if something terrible has happened. probably not, but worth checking. cheap compression checker is not too expensive, you might can even borrow or rent one from local parts store.

 

You know the first words to him when I got the call were "what did YOU do?"[:'(]

Somehow I have the feeling had I been driving her it wouldnt have happened.

Is there any way the timing could be knocked out? I just dont understand how it all goes haywire when its not even running. But were gonna tow her in tomorow morn and alternate between checking her out and watching football. Maybe we will find something out. I wish dodge hadnt placed the cap where they did, its a pain to get back there and inspect it. All that room under the hood, and they have to put everything back tucked behind the manifold. Jeez.

 

Yeah, I'm with you...2 ft. of space in the front of the engine compartment and bumping the wall behind. Another 6-12 inches of driveshaft and VOILA.
Or get a van (ewe) where ya can just pop the lid and there's everything!

 

With the IAC out, should the pintle move when you turn the key into the ON position? I read somewhere that it should...and in my case it is not, and it was gummed up.