Hey guys i have a 1997 dodge ram 1500 sport with a 360 in it. Lets start with the fact that it has no power at all. Idid a little test: took 18 seconds to get to 60mph i think that is brutal dosent have enoguh powetr to chirp the tire either. Thereis only 170 000 mph on it and i dont no why its so gutless. It makes a really raspy exsaust sound to throughout diffrent rpm's. When i hammer on this thing sometimes it will not shift untill i let of the throttel. Two more things at idle and up ther is a steady clicking sound coming from the engine only when its warm, it has seemed to go away with winter hear. And lastly sometime under hard acceleration it sounds like somethings throwing a wrench around under the hood it is extreamly loud but has done this since i baught it in the early summer. Sorry thers so much just tryin to let you no as much as i can so your guys can pin point the problem mabey. Also im new to this site so if ther is somewhere else to post this type of stuff just let me know. Thanks guys.

 

Raspy sound, probably is an exhaust leak at least that is what it is with mine, but I had mine dumped and they didn't weld it right.

 

Probably has a blown plenum gasket too. The could possibly be one of the reason for lack of power as well.

That shifting thing is common. I had a 1995 Dakota w/ the 5.2 (46RH transmission, same as Rams of that year) that had that same problem. Supposedly a sticky valve, some say a sign that your tranny is quitting you. Mine was that way from approximately 2003 until I traded it September of last year. Never got worse, never got better.

 

not sure about the wrench sound under your hood, but the raspy exhast issue could be the catalytic converter, mine was stuck sideways in the cat not allowing much air to pass by it and it was real raspy and sometimes would sound just like a turbo. i also had no power at all i needed about 5 miles it seemed just to pass someone. I had the same issue too with the down shifting. the noise under the hood probably is a factor too, but i would check the converter right away.

 

Sounds like you may have multiple issues going on here.

First the noise under the hood. with the truck running climb under and listen to see if the noise is coming from the catalytic converter. These things seem to go out on our trucks and when they do they sounds like somebody shaking a beer can full of rocks. It wil lalso cause you an extreme loss of power. You may also have a blown exhaust manifold gasket, which does sound like a valve tick and can be mistaken for one.

2nd with the engine off, pull your air intake off and open the throttle body butterflies. Using a flashlight look down into the intake manifold. If you see a slight sheen of oil you're OK, but if you see oil pooling in the manifold you have a blown intake manifold plenum gasket. This wil lsuck a lot of oil into the manifold, fouling your plugs, and not allowing your engine to create an adequate amoutn of vacuum to run efficiently. Again, big loss of power.

3rd, do a good tune-up on the truck. Good Champion plugs, copper contact cap and rotor, and 8mm or larger spark plug wires. Check your air cleaner and PCV valve also for air restrictions too.

Hope you find the problems and can get them resolved. Search here on the site for other specific questions as you will find a wealth of knowledge available. Welcome to DF.

 

Thanks guys, you answered some questions for me to.

Joe

 

sounds like what mine is doing, tomorrow changing the o2 sensors, pullling the plugs to have a look at em and if that dont work maybe cut off the cat