Hi fellow RAM'ers


First time here and my father and I both own Dodge Ram's . Both 1998 with the 5.2L. Lately , his truck has had an issue in which it was running and it started to fill sluggish and boggin down. Our mechanic suggested it was the fuel pump that needed to be replaced. Then suggested by AutoZone it could be a simple O2 Sensor. Now , it's coming to that it's the main Computer that needs to be replaced.


My question is now , has anyone else experience any computer problems in which they had to replace ? If I need to replace it , anyone know where I could get one to replace it?


Is it possible , to take the computer out of my truck and place it on his and see if it'll make a differance? But I dont want to run the risk of ****ing it up and then need to replace both of our computers.

Greatly need some help and advise.

Thank you

 

as long as its the same year , same motor , same trans .. auto/auto or manual/manual.....

 

i dought itthe computer im sure you checked the odvious wire plugs fuel presure catalic i replaced 2 computer in my truck body control and main pcm never ran sluggish i just wouldnt run also i put a pcm from a 2001 r/t in my 99 ram and ran great jhust woulnd shift right (for a test) there is a good site to look into check it out
www.dodgeram.org

 

welcome to df.
you could swap pcm's, but that's probably not whats wrong.
its more likely that its one or more of the 10-12 most common issues that come across this forum. look through the old posts and search around some. common problems include..
plenum - lean, pinging, oil usage, lack of power.
clogged cat - won't rev up, lack of power.
tune up - bad mpg, lack of power, misfire, etc.
tps - poor throttle response, frequent downshift.
o2 sensor -
fuel pump/filter
EGR - older 94/95/ ?
cracked heads
transmissions

 

+1

The plenum leak check is very easy, quick, and best of all free. Just pull your airbox, open the butterflys on your throttle body, and while shining a flashlight down into your intake take a look. A lot of oil means you blew the plenum gasket and the intake is sucking oil from the engine lifter galley. This problem prevents the engine from creating the correct amount of engine vacuum which causes the Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) sensor to send low readings to the PCM causing the engine to run bad. It also causes oil to be passed into your cylinders fouling your plugs. There is a lot of info on this site about replacing the plenum/gasket.

You will also find info on diagnosing a clogged cat. Do you hear a lot of rattling coming from the converter while the engine is running? If so the material inside the cat has probably broken down and has clogged the cat. The rattling is the internal pieces of the cat banging around.

Fortunately there is a lot of good information here on the forum to help you diagnose issues. Also, have you pulled any codes from the PCM? If there are a lot of codes, I would recommend resetting the PCM and running the truck until the Check Engine Light (CEL) comes on. Then pull the codes again. You mentioned Autozone in your post and I believe that they have the scanner that you can use at their store.

Then do a search online here for those codes as you are more than likely to find the answers you are looking for. If you find out that a new PCM is what is required, and I would think that would be your last resort, then go to www.car-parts.com. Do a local search for what you need and if you don't find it do a wider area search. I've always had luck there. Spent $100 for a PCM about 2 years ago for my truck.

Good luck and hope you find the issue. Feel fr, after you have searched the forum for answers, to ask any addiitonal questions. Lots of good people here that know what they're talking about including several Dodge Trained Mechanics.

 

Thanks a lot guys. I really apprecaite the help and support from fellow Dodge Owner's. It's a crumby feeling to have your truck out of commish. Especially when we've invested a lot of time ,money and effort. I shall try and check the list this weekend. And get back to ya'll for an update.



Major thanks to everyone who responded!


Vince From Texas