'96 Ram problems... 2 birds one stone?
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'96 Ram problems... 2 birds one stone?
After reading through many other posts, this seems to be quite common...
1996 Dodge Ram 1500 Laromie SLT 4x4, 5.9L, high mileage (255+ km) but mostly runs pretty well. Got it for free from my old lady's mother when she moved across the country, but on it's maiden trip home (about 100 km distance), the old check engine light came on.
I tried the "key dance", and got this sequence: 1, 2, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5, 5.
Now, I know that the last 2 digits, the two 5's, indicated that the scan is complete and are otherwise irrelevant. I'm assuming that the bulk of the code is actually a code 43 that repeats 5 times. The beginning, the 1-2, as far as I know simply indicates either a) the beginning of the code or b) that the battery has been recently disconnected (which it has...), so I'm not too worried about that.
So... long story short, a 43 (in theory) indicates a faulty ignition coil circut. At approximately 65-70 km/h, the truck runs very roughly, and shakes and shudders. Giving it gas to accelerate past that speed or braking below it makes it run much smoother. Just wondering if this very noticable shudder could also be connected to the faulty ignition coil, and if replacing it would essentially kill 2 birds with one stone - the shudder, and the CEL.
As I said above, I got the truck for free, I rarely drive it and I'd rather not put too much time or money into it. Two problems with one fix might be worth the effort though.
Any and all help or input would be greatly appreciated.
1996 Dodge Ram 1500 Laromie SLT 4x4, 5.9L, high mileage (255+ km) but mostly runs pretty well. Got it for free from my old lady's mother when she moved across the country, but on it's maiden trip home (about 100 km distance), the old check engine light came on.
I tried the "key dance", and got this sequence: 1, 2, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5, 5.
Now, I know that the last 2 digits, the two 5's, indicated that the scan is complete and are otherwise irrelevant. I'm assuming that the bulk of the code is actually a code 43 that repeats 5 times. The beginning, the 1-2, as far as I know simply indicates either a) the beginning of the code or b) that the battery has been recently disconnected (which it has...), so I'm not too worried about that.
So... long story short, a 43 (in theory) indicates a faulty ignition coil circut. At approximately 65-70 km/h, the truck runs very roughly, and shakes and shudders. Giving it gas to accelerate past that speed or braking below it makes it run much smoother. Just wondering if this very noticable shudder could also be connected to the faulty ignition coil, and if replacing it would essentially kill 2 birds with one stone - the shudder, and the CEL.
As I said above, I got the truck for free, I rarely drive it and I'd rather not put too much time or money into it. Two problems with one fix might be worth the effort though.
Any and all help or input would be greatly appreciated.
Record Breaker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,222
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From: NB, Canada
welcome to df! KMS?? canadian? that's not that high, mine just turned over 299000 a couple days ago 
The shudder seems like it could be unbalanced tires or similiar... Mine had badly balanced tires on it atm, and it shakes like hell at ~100km/h, but smoothes out somewhat at ~115-120... If the shudder were related to the coil issue, it would more likely change with rpms and not speed. I'd suggest changing the plugs wires cap and rotor, it's probably overdue for them anyways...
There are a few more things that you'll wanna check out, and I'm sure you'll hear about them, but you might wanna get these problems out of the way first
The shudder seems like it could be unbalanced tires or similiar... Mine had badly balanced tires on it atm, and it shakes like hell at ~100km/h, but smoothes out somewhat at ~115-120... If the shudder were related to the coil issue, it would more likely change with rpms and not speed. I'd suggest changing the plugs wires cap and rotor, it's probably overdue for them anyways...
There are a few more things that you'll wanna check out, and I'm sure you'll hear about them, but you might wanna get these problems out of the way first
