Driving home from work tonight and my truck died out on the highway, just looking for some suggestions as to what to check out and what may be wrong.

It's a 98 Ram 2500 v10 rear wheel drive.

So I was driving about 65 or so and it just died. Tried to start it back up and got nothing. It tries to start but just can't quite do it. When I first turn the key the trans temp light comes on, which I've never noticed before (the trucks old and I use it for hauling a lot of stuff for work so lights coming on I am no stranger to) however the light turns off after a few seconds, oil light stays on cause thats just what it has done for like 3 years now no matter how many times I change it. I know the spark plug could possibly be an issue but it's midnight, raining and I have no way of checking that until morning. Just looking for some other suggestions anyone might have for when I start in on it tomorrow. Thanks guys.

 

when you turn the key, do you here the fuel pump whine?

 

Could be as simple as a bad battery as well.

 

Either way, start off with simple things. Don't over think it. Check the basic.

 

More likely to be the charging system, it shouldn't be running on the battery when he's doing 65.

 

Cat could have had the catalyst shift sideways and plug up. Coil could have gone bad. Rotor in the distributor cap could have broken/shifted. Fuel pump could have died. Power cable to the PDC could have come loose (or another battery/ground cable). Timing chain could have hopped off the gears (if it was realllly loose). PCM could have taken a dump. There's a lot of different possibilities.

As far as the oil light, your sending unit is probably bad. They're cheap and easy to change. Does the oil pressure read right or is it always showing either high or low?

 

Battery has a charge and the fuel pump was just replaced last year so I'm leaning away from those 2. Thanks a lot though guys I appreciate all the help this is a learning on the job experience for me. Done a lot of repairs on cars I've had in the past but this truck is a whole nother world for me.

Checking a few more things for the day before I go to a house warming gt together and drink til I forget about it....at least til tomorrow. I'll let you guys know if anything you've suggested turns out to be it cause I'm definetly gonna check it all.

 

first thought that came to mind was the CAT being plugged up.

 

check for spark at the plugs.
spray a little starting fluid in it to test for fuel problem.

 

Do that and pray it's something stupid like the coil wire popping off.