I purchased a 2001 Ram 1500 2x4 with a 318 and automatic back in January. Until the past few weeks, I've had little to no issue driving it every day in city traffic. I do know the ECM was replaced prior to my owning the truck, and I replaced the oil pump in February or March. It currently has about 132,000 miles on it.

For as long as I've owned it, occasionally when the engine turns over, there is a sound that is identical to that of a diesel engine firing up, which I've not been able to identify through either my own research or by having mechanics look it over. I'd like to know what this is, but it's the least of my issues.

As previously mentioned, a few weeks ago, I started having issues with the truck where it would repeatedly stall. My research brought me here and I thought it could be the IAC, but I don't have the space or time to work on my truck. Having been burned badly by several shops in my local area, I decided to take it to my local Dodge dealership. They kept it for a week, replaced the IAC and flushed the fuel system, so the invoice said.

During this week, getting a straight answer about my truck was all but impossible. Midway through the week, I was informed that the truck could not be driven, that the IAC fixed the stalling, but the "new" issue was that the truck would still stall, but only in reverse, and they were telling me they wanted to tear the transmission apart at my expense, yet I couldn't get any clear indicator why they said the transmission was at fault. As I don't have tons of money to throw away, I politely refused that they charge me an extra $600 for a wild goose chase.

After not getting anyone on the phone, I went to the dealership to get some answers in person. While there, the service rep mentions something about "some codes" that the transmission supposedly threw, but they couldn't tell me what codes, nor could I get a clear answer on whether or not I actually had a working truck. Several heated words later, my truck comes rolling up. I drove it home and it felt responsive, everything seemed okay until I got inside my apartment complex. I parked it, let it run idle for a while to listen for any strange noises, slowly shifted through all the gears again to listen for anything strange. Having heard nothing, I cut the engine off and started it back up after about 30 seconds, greeted by the diesel noise mentioned above and a slight lope in the idle sound. I went to put the truck in reverse and it died, so I let it sit for the day and night.

This morning, I went out and did some poking around under the hood, checked fluids and whatnot, not seeing anything low or discolored. I started the truck up and took it around inside the complex to listen and feel for anything out of the ordinary, and it seemed as if there was no issue. When coming to a stop, the truck started surging anywhere from 750 to 1500 rpms and continued to do so until I got it parked and shut off again.

Essentially, I'm at a loss. I'm not a mechanic and don't have anywhere to really tear into the thing, nor do I have the money to sink into any major replacements (engine, transmission, etc.), so I'm trying to determine if the issues are severe enough to where it's not worth my time and money to fix, or if fixing it will give me more than about 15 minutes of uninterrupted driving. I definitely enjoy the truck I have, but it would feel a bit too impractical to replace a transmission if I can just go get something newer for about the same investment. Any assistance would be welcomed.

 

Is the check engine lite coming on?

 

There are no indicators on the instrument cluster, no chimes, nothing.

 

How bad is the surging on idle? Does it surge...then hang...then fall, or is it more of a fast loping idle? If it's the former, replace the IAC and then the CPS if that doesn't fix it. They're both about $50. Mine would do the same thing, the CPS was broken in half, but remarkably it still worked. I changed that, didn't fix the problem, so I changed the IAC. That did it. I now have a beautiful 650rpm idle, and more low end power. The IAC, when it goes bad, acts like a vac leak and kills low end. Mine was only driveable because I have a stick shift. When you put your truck in reverse, the torque converter engages, and, due to the lack of low end power caused by the IAC, it stalls.

 

It was a fast loping idle when I ran it yesterday morning. The IAC was supposedly replaced by the stealership, after which I noticed improved forward momentum, and the truck ceased stalling when coming to a stop. Since everything has started, I've essentially treated the truck as non-functional, as getting back and forth to work seemed an all but impossible task.

I'd be interested to know if the CPS is the culprit, but anytime one of the people from the apartment complex office sees me poking under the hood, I get reminded that working on vehicles in the complex is not allowed in the lease agreement and that reminder usually includes threats of eviction.

 

I'm not entirely certain if the IAC could cause a loping idle like that or not. Nonetheless, it would be worth changing. The CPS is held on to the drivers side of the throttle body with 2 T-20 (I think) Torx screws. It could very easily be changed in the Napa parking lot. That's where I did mine, actually. Just make sure you line the sensor up with the throttle valve (it only goes one way) before putting it back on. The IAC would require pulling the throttle body, which is 4 7/16 bolts. Change the gasket when you put it back on. Have you checked the plenum? If it was really, really gone I could see you having the problems you describe.