Holiday Road Trip- Tune Up & Cruise Questions
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 386
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From: Waxahachie, TX (DFW)
Holiday Road Trip- Tune Up & Cruise Questions
I'm heading home for the Holidays- from Libby, Montana to Midlothian (Dallas), Texas. About 1900 miles one way.
I would like to get the best MPG possible- I already plan to stay between 6-70MPH.
My truck is averaging 13MPG overall- 11 city and normally 15-16 highway. Its been getting about 13-14 highway lately, though.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/oren09/ram-1500
Its a 97 1500 4x4 with 318, auto, 3.55 gears, and 265/75 tires.
My RPMs at 60MPH are ~1,500 in OD w/ torque converter locked up, just for reference.
I will change the oil, check all fluids, etc.
I am wondering about tune up items. I have had the truck for about a year and a half and nearly 30,000 miles. I have pulled all the spark plugs before and they looked fine, but I have never replaced them. I have never touched the distributor- its so hard to get to. I will check the plugs, wires, cap and rotor, but how do I know if the wires need replacement?
I replaced the transmission fluid and filter and transfer case fluid about one year ago- do you think it's fine?
What other tune up items are there? I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now
Next: Cruise control. My cruise hasn't worked in several months but it's not that big of a deal- except when I drive across the country.
I did a lot of troubleshooting back when it quit (but I don't remember everything). I replaced the brake switch, cleaned the cruise switches, checked for vacuum, etc. The cruise switches light up and turn off as they should, but the servo will not engage.
I will pull the servo to check it as soon as I can figure out how.
I've read through threads on here that say to replace the servo, replace TPS, etc. I don't have much money to do work, so I'm doing diagnostics for now. (Why much gas cost so much...)
Also, idle speed. My idle is near 1000 RPMs when cold. The idle surges sometimes, too- like up and down as much as 100 or so RPMs. Is this normal or is the IAC acting up?
I will pull the throttle body and check the plenum soon just to see how that is doing- it was fine a year ago, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Did I miss anything? I dunno.. I'm sure y'all will mention if I did.
Help is greatly appreciated! I want to keep Ram happy on the long drive- and possibly squeeze out 16MPG again.
I would like to get the best MPG possible- I already plan to stay between 6-70MPH.
My truck is averaging 13MPG overall- 11 city and normally 15-16 highway. Its been getting about 13-14 highway lately, though.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/oren09/ram-1500
Its a 97 1500 4x4 with 318, auto, 3.55 gears, and 265/75 tires.
My RPMs at 60MPH are ~1,500 in OD w/ torque converter locked up, just for reference.
I will change the oil, check all fluids, etc.
I am wondering about tune up items. I have had the truck for about a year and a half and nearly 30,000 miles. I have pulled all the spark plugs before and they looked fine, but I have never replaced them. I have never touched the distributor- its so hard to get to. I will check the plugs, wires, cap and rotor, but how do I know if the wires need replacement?
I replaced the transmission fluid and filter and transfer case fluid about one year ago- do you think it's fine?
What other tune up items are there? I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now
Next: Cruise control. My cruise hasn't worked in several months but it's not that big of a deal- except when I drive across the country.
I did a lot of troubleshooting back when it quit (but I don't remember everything). I replaced the brake switch, cleaned the cruise switches, checked for vacuum, etc. The cruise switches light up and turn off as they should, but the servo will not engage.
I will pull the servo to check it as soon as I can figure out how.
I've read through threads on here that say to replace the servo, replace TPS, etc. I don't have much money to do work, so I'm doing diagnostics for now. (Why much gas cost so much...)
Also, idle speed. My idle is near 1000 RPMs when cold. The idle surges sometimes, too- like up and down as much as 100 or so RPMs. Is this normal or is the IAC acting up?
I will pull the throttle body and check the plenum soon just to see how that is doing- it was fine a year ago, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Did I miss anything? I dunno.. I'm sure y'all will mention if I did.
Help is greatly appreciated! I want to keep Ram happy on the long drive- and possibly squeeze out 16MPG again.
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 87,479
Likes: 4,223
From: Clayton MI
Do a full tuneup. If you don't know the last time your wires were replaced, replace them as well. Get GOOD QUALITY parts. Spend a little more now, and you won't have to do it again any time soon. 8mm wires or larger. (less worry about wire routing that way.)
Surge is probably a vacuum leak, or, failing TPS. May wanna check both.....
Cruise control: Module is under the battery. Batteries like to drip stuff on them, and eat the diaphragm, which makes it stop working.....
Best bet is to have everything done at least a week before you want to leave. That way, if any problems present themselves, you are home to fix it, and not out on the road somewhere.
Surge is probably a vacuum leak, or, failing TPS. May wanna check both.....
Cruise control: Module is under the battery. Batteries like to drip stuff on them, and eat the diaphragm, which makes it stop working.....
Best bet is to have everything done at least a week before you want to leave. That way, if any problems present themselves, you are home to fix it, and not out on the road somewhere.
