I drive a 99 ram 1500 5.2L with around 130,000 miles. For a while now I've heard a clinking or sparking noise coming from under the hood, I added stp fuel injector cleaner to the gas tank to see if it was just a sticking injector, but the problem has come back. The other problem that i've had is that in the morningwhenI go to turn the truckon it either will start and then stall out or take a whileto turn over.OnceI get the engine running i keep my foot on the gas for30 secs or so and it runs fine. I thought it was the ideal air control valve and replaced it (the old one was pretty gunked up) but theproblem has come back. I have also replaced the first and second o2 sensors coming from the engine. (bothwerecooked and caused the check engine light to come on) Any help would be great asI'm a college kid and dont have the time or money to just keep fixing stuff that isn't broke.

 

when it gets dark out look under the hood and see if you have a light show if you do , then its your plug wires which more then likely thats the problem to begin with..

 

Am I looking for the sparks around the spark plugs, distributor, or just along the length of the plug wires?

 

spark grounding sound is usually a "snapping" sound, more likely at either end than along the length. at night you can see a blue spark jumping to ground. can be along the length if burned through.

your clinking/sparking sound.. is it at idle, at rpm, truck in motion or sitting still ? could it be spark knock which is usually a rattling/pinging sound while driving under load, especially going uphill ?

 

You'll be looking for ANY flashes of light along the entire length of each wire. Make sure it is dark when you do it. Sometimes they can be doing this but the flash could be faint and if it isn't really dark, you might miss it. Look from all angles while viewing as well. Sometimes you have to be looking at one angle or another to see it. Other times you could be mesmerized by the brilliant display. Just don't start reaching in there while doing this if you don't see anything at first. 1) It's dark and you have dangerous moving parts. 2) IF the wires are shorting through the insulation, you really don't want to be holding one when it happens! Just observe and if you see any flashes of light, pay attention to where it came from for when you turn your flashlight on and spotlight where it came from to make sure it was a wire that did it. If you find that any of the wires are shorting out, replace them all. Of course wire kits come as a package and not individually, but don't just replace the one you found to be bad in hopes of saving the rest for when you need them. You'll be back under the hood in no time, again and again.

 

The clinking/sparking sound is almost always present while driving but increases in intensity as rpm's increase and dramatically when going up hill and on the gas. The engine sounds fine when sitting still either at idle or with the foot on the gas.

 

First welcome to the forum. The 2 gentlemen responding to your questions are very lnowledgeable as they have helped me numerous times as does HankL. Anyway it also sounds like you need a tune-up along with an intake cleaning. I had to also replace my upper and ower intake gaskets along with my coolant temp sensor. My truck ran soooo much better after these inexpensive repairs. Just for sh#ts and giggles I had my throttle body and IAC valve area cleaned with a BG treatment. Hopefully these tips helps.

 

Thanks, Hey mcss8541 how hard was it to replace your upper and lower intake gaskets and coolant temp sensor? Or did you have a mech do it? I figure that the tune-up and intake cleaning is best left to a mech who knows what they're doing.