I recently purchased a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 from an auction for 650.00. It has a 5.2L (318).

On the way back while driving on the interstate I noticed that once I got to 60 it didn't want to accelerate on up to 70 so I hit the gas a little harder and it shifted down a gear and went up to 70...It didn't shift back until I gave the gas pedal a little push then it shifted into a higher gear and sounded normal. BUT THEN, Once it shifted it would'nt stay at that speen in that gear it just slowly went back down to 60 then repeated the whole process all over again...the whole way home (about 80 miles).

Can anyone help me out with some answers on what I should do to correct this problem?

 

Also I forgot to mention that it is a 4x4

 

How is the power? Does it seem kinda anemic for a v-8 in a truck? Might want to have a look at the plenum, see if it's blown. If it is, good chance your cat is on its way out, and partially clogged.

Welcome to DF.

 

Hey, Thanks for replying, The power seems to be fine to me until that 60-70 speed bracket process I was talking about in the first post...I'll check the plenum though. Also it has oversized tires on it (maxxis mudders) so honestly I don't really know if that is the correct speed. I believe they are 36's. another thing that the previous owner did was cut the exhaust totally off, about 2 feet past the cat could that have anything to do wiuth it?

So you don't think that the problem lies withing the transmission? What else could it be. I have minor knowledge about Dodges

 

36" tires? You need to find out what gears you have in it. If it is the stock 3.55s, then that behavior would be perfectly normal. As the 01 gets its speed reading from the tone ring on the rear diff, your speedo accuracy will only be off because of tire diameter... You are going to have to put the truck up on jackstands, and find gear ratio that way, or, pull the rear cover, and look for the ratio etched into the ring gear. As you got it at auction, I suspect talking to the previous owner is not really an option?

 

Well I was completely wrong about the size of the tires I just went out there to check and they are 285/75/R16 Maxxis Mudders. Does that still mean that my problem could be normal. Yeh talking with the previous owner is out of the question. I'm going to take it up to the local garage and hook it up to the machine and see what codes I get and i'll post those tommorow. Hopefully i can get this solved soon with out putting toooo much money into it

 

Considering how little you got it for, you could invest a fair amount of money, and still be pretty much ahead of the game.

285's are basically 33" tires. So, if you still have the stock gears, (which wouldn't surprise me), that behavior isn't too far from the norm. The engine should be able to maintain O/D on a flat surface at freeway speeds though. Might be more going on than meets the eye.

I would to a THOROUGH inspection of the whole truck. Pull the wheels, look at the brakes, pull the back two plugs, see what they look like, run a rod up your exhaust, and see if there is anything left in the cat, etc. It may not hurt to just to a complete tuneup on it, and see if that doesn't improve its attitude any.

While you have the airbox off the throttle body, take yourself a nice bright flashlight, crack the throttles wide open, and see if you see any oil pooling in there......

How many miles on the truck?

 

Oh sorry I thought I had posted the miles... This beast of a truck..lol...has 190,000 miles on it. The brakes on it are horrible, almost non-existent. If I do see oil pooling what does that mean that i'll need to do....also when i Checkl the back two plugs what should I be looking for?

 

I'm going out right now with my mag-light...results soon!

 

well, I just went out there and took off the airbox off and I did'nt notice much oil down there however, I did notice a slight oily film covering and, a large amount of black raised deposits coating the bottom down there.