Tried posting a couple days ago; been offline for nearly a month.

Ok well a couple days ago I ran Royal Purple 10w30 and installed some Champion plugs (r12yc i think) and the truck increased in acceleration.

BUT I have some issues.

My truck has some lag type effect that occcurs around 50-60 mph. I can floor it and it just makes this "mmmmm" noise and then shoots up to about 4k rpm and shifts or drives correctly; not quite sure what it does, shift or even out.

The temp. gauge is not working at all. Need doesn't budge. I figure that's a fuse thing.

I have an opening and closing air vent on the passenger side. Totally random, unknown to me.

Passenger seat doesn't work correctly. Doesn't lock into place and the sliding tracks are seemingly locked up.

I did however get 474 miles out of 30 gallons of gas. roughly 15.8 mpg highway. I think I can get 17 when the time comes for the high-flow cat and muffler (still running a slightly clogged stock setup).

Some solutions/causes I have hypothesised (sp? lol):

- New coil
- Vacuum leak
- Overfilled transmission
- TV (I believe that's the abbreviation) Cable not adjusted correctly
- TPS sensor going bad
- Blown fuse(s)

Also, Clifford's Auto Parts in Galipolis, OH has a ton of dodges. I pulled a dash out of a 95/96, got a wiper switch, and some dakota trim pieces all for 50 bucks. He had about 4-5 dash caps in verrryyyy good shape. No cracks in at least 3 I can remember. Didn't take the maroon cap, as I don't need it and I told him he can definitely sell this one. I can find the number but don't recall it off the top of my head.

When I pull my dash, I'll check some hoses and see if any need replacing.


Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Probably can't do anything about the lag. Could try changing your TPS, they're kinda exensive and no way to know if it'll work.

Its not a fuse causing your temp guage to not work. Your t-stat sounds like its stuck open, so the engine never gets up to temp. Go and get a 180 degree t-stat and it'll actually probably help with millage (not much, probably not noticable)

As for the vent, its a vacuum leak, check all the vacuum lines under the dash but because not to crack any more of them.

As for your solutions

No
Yes
No
Doubtfull
Maybe
No

 

My temp gauge did rise and fall sporadically one day, and now it won't budge at all. I thought it may be a fuse because it worked before I pulled my dash out to do my heater core, only to find that just about everything inside the dash itself has been broken. Found out when I moved it and the whole thing went CLUNK on top of the steering wheel. Nothing was holding it in lol.

After I install my new dash, hopefully today, I'll see what works and what doesn't.

I may just go get some various size hose just to replace all I can see. There is a tiny vacuum hose by my passenger valve cover, it's hard to explain and I'd take a pic of it if I could find my f*in card reader, my neighbor/mech guy noticed it wasn't connected right, so he swapped in a new piece of hose he just had lying around.

Thanks for the input, so I didn't go ***** nilly on my remaining budget.