Hey guys, I'm new here. I just bought my first mopar a 1999 Dodge ram 1500 5.9l SLT Laramie. It has a 5" lift with 35's. I have no idea what has been done to the engine, transmission, axles, ect. I have been noticing a slight tick tick tick when the truck is driving down the road when I have the gas pedal pushed to a certain degree, but it doesnt tick when idling or when I give it gas when in park or neutral, only when under a load in drive or reverse. Ive been reading a lot of what it could be in different forums. It also seems really sluggish compared to my chevy 350 (it was also lifted with 35's), it could be just me though. Here is a thought of what I could do to remedy the problem based on others opinions...

I just replaced plugs and air filter. Oil change is next. The wires look newer also. I just rerouted the plug wires based on the TSB.

I could...

-replace the plenum (although it didnt look like any oil was pooled, maybe just a slight film)
-Check the "IAC" valve (the truck has a little whistle at times) although I dont know where and what the IAC valve is..
-Check for a vacuum leak by using the old paper over the oil hole trick
-If I have a vacuum leak what do I need to replace?
-Does my truck have an EGR valve?
-Clogged Cat
-Fuel filter clogged
-The tick may be a exhaust manifold leak or doughnuts leaking?


I also read that the U joints on the driveshaft could cause it to ride rough or sluggish although I dont know where the u joints are.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I live in an apartment now and will be moving into a house with a garage in a couple of weeks so maybe I can fix the plenum then...

Thanks.

 

Check and make sure there aren't any rocks caught in your tires.

Does the truck have headers? Stock manifolds rarely leak. Might be a donut gasket, but, you would hear that even at idle.

Your truck does not have EGR.

IAC valve is Idle Air Control. Its on the back of the throttle body. If your truck idles nice, it is working as it should. Still, it wouldn't hurt to yank the throttle body, and clean it out real good.

The paper over the hole trick will only work if you disable the PCV system. (take out the pcv valve, and plug the hole it goes into.)

If you have a vacuum leak, you need to find it first......

Fuel filter is in the gas tank, and is not really serviceable. (unless you enjoy dropping gas tanks.....)

Check the transfer case output shaft. (gotta drop the rear driveshaft to to this.) If it moves around AT ALL, you need to address that.

U-joints are in the driveshaft. One on each end. When you drop the shaft to check the transfer case, that would be a great time to inspect the joints.

Check your distributor cap, and rotor as well. If they are carboned up, replace 'em both. (They are a right bear to get to though..... such fun.)

Welcome to DF.

 

It has stock manifolds. I read somewhere that the force is greater when driving so the increased pressure would be more obvious when driving. I also read that changing the map sensor out would be good.

 

Everything HeyYou said is solid.

To add a couple things. You didn't mention if your truck is 4WD (unless I skipped that). If so, check your front axle and drive shaft u-joints as well. A 4WD truck has 6 ujoints. 2 on the rear driveshaft, 2 on the front, and 1 just inside each front wheel connecting the inner and outter axle shafts together.

To verify if you have bad front ujoints, there are a couple of tests:
1) Go to a parking lot and drive in a circle with the steering wheel at full lock. Then drive the other direction. If you experience an additional clicking or "hopping" sensation, then you gotta bad ujoint.
2) Grab each front axle near the wheels and shake them back and forth. Check for movement in the ujoint there.

Far as the slight film on the plenum pan, don't be so sure it's not blown. I saw the same thing when looking down my TB as well. What I didn't know until removing the plenum, was that about 1/2 the gasket was blown! I change my oil on time with synthetic so the reason I never saw a buildup was because the oil was always clean anyway.

 

Thanks for the information so far. As far as changing out the u joints is that something a guy can do with a haynes manual and a toolbox? I don't like getting screwed from shops when I can do it myself I just need to know where to look!

 

Changing u-joints is easy. At least, on the rear shaft.... front shaft is a bit more interesting, as there is the constant velocity joint on the t-case end. (two u-joints, a ball, and spring...) Outer axle shaft u-joints require seriously disassembling the front end just to get them out, but, again, something that can be done in the driveway. Just takes a while.

A haynes/chilton/factory shop manual is a must if you want to work on your truck.

 

it definitely pops in the front end when moving and turning tight but thats about it. maybe its something for the front end shop... i gotta fix this ticking first though.

I looked in the intake for oil in the pan and theres definitely a small film of oil in there and a bit pooled in some corners and edges. I installed the PCV valve hoping that would do something but to no avail... I bought a new MAP sensor tonight and am going to install it tomorrow, do I need to flash the computer after? The guy at my local shop told me it was going to be $70 to do it, i would rather use that to go towards a superchip if it can do the same thing

I checked around the intake manifold and there seems to be no loose bolts or cracks but a crack would probably be hard to find. The noise I believe is coming from the driver side but its pretty hard to pinpoint because it only ticks when moving in drive...

Im thinking of pulling off the IAC valve and cleaning it to see if that is the problem. This is starting to get frustrating!

Thanks.

 

were did u get ur pcv valve from?cause aftermarket ones are know to cause problems

 

autozone for 4 bucks... should i put the old one back?

 

I just came back in from inspecting my plug wires and manifold. I sprayed some water on the plug wires and didnt see any spark or arc although I didnt look all the way back or fiddle with the wires but I sprayed quite a bit of water back there.

Secondly, I checked the bolts on the exhaust manifolds and 80% of them were loose, not finger tight loose but I could get a good crank with my rachet. I tighten them all and still, no progress and the ticking is still there. My next step is to take the exhaust manifolds completely off and replace the gaskets. What confused me was that all the bolts werent rusted on like previous cars in my experience, it leads me to believe that the previous owner messed with the manifolds and didnt do something right.