Hi guys, new here, as well as being a new Ram owner, and even with the problems I've had, I damn sure love my truck. I've only had it about a month, and have mostly driven it in and around town. Well, a few days ago, I drove it about an hour south, and on the way back, it was raining fairly hard. I noticed that once I got on the highway, from about 40 mph on, it was really sluggish and doggy, and had a distinct chugging kind of sound/feel to it. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was missing on one of the 8 cylinders. I am in no way a mechanic, but know the very basics. I just can't even determine if I should look into the transmission as a problem or the engine. It idles fine, and runs in the first three gears just like it should, and doesn't SEEM (to an untrained ear anyway) like it's missing at the lower speeds. Also not sure if the rain thing was a coincidence or not. Still doing it today, 3 days after the rain ended. Puzzled, and any help would sure be appreciated.
Oops, should mention that it's a 98' 1500 4x4 with a rebuilt 360 in it. Automatic transmission.

 

Any CEL's?

 

I had a problem with my truck missing during/after heavy rain. It would drive very sluggishly until the engine had been running for a while. I replaced the spark plug wires and the problem was fixed. I would also check the distributer cap.

 

or the oxygen sensor maybe getting wet

 

UPDATE - Well, it's been clear and dry here for nearly a week, and we're still running very sluggish in 4th gear. Does anybody know a good way to tell if I'm dealing with a transmission issue or an engine miss?

 

You COULD start by telling us if you have any CEL's. Since we ARE trying to help you. Then we'll take it from there.

 

it doesnt sound like an engine issue, i would start by gettin the transmission flushed at a local shop, it should be anywhere from 80-130 bucks to have done.

what they do is hook your truck up to a machine, and flush all the fluid out of the system(inc. tq. convertor, and cooler) and replace the trans filter, and fill it all back up with new fluid.

 

is it happening before the torque converter locks up or after???

 

how can you tell? ive never been able to figure it out

 

you talking to me?