some of you might recall a couple weeks ago when i test drove it i said that it didn't seem to have much power. well after reading a lot of threads on here about the semi same problems from others, i noticed people said to pull the pre cat o2 and see if it helps. well i did and man oh man it pepped it back up!

now. what the being said, what am i looking at in terms of problems? also no CEL came on at any point. not sure if that matters or not.

 

The cat is getting clogged. Read this LOL https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

 

that seems to be your favorite thread to post.

i don't think im gonna go that far just yet with the plenum/intake. so if its a clogged cat why not remove the cat completely?

 

You can do that. But the reason it's clogged or getting clogged is the plenum. BTW, is that the original o2 ? If so how many miles on it? probably should replace it anyway.

 

Unfortunately the only way to check your cat is to remove it and examine it. You can try hitting it with a rubber mallet and see if you notice any stuff rattling around in there. if you do, its toast.

You have a few options with regards to a new cat. You can take the old one off, and bash all the crap inside it out with a broom handle, then put it back in. This, however may result in a CEL generated from the POST cat O2, which measures emissions. There is a trick you can do with spark plug non-foulers to get the Post-cat O2 out of the exhaust stream and eliminate the CEL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnYUHwTxKkE


This vid shows the general idea. You need 2 of them, they are about 5 bucks a pop at a parts store. You drill one out to fit the O2 sensor, then screw it into the 2nd one, and put the whole thing back into the exhaust.

You can also just weld a pipe in in place of the cat if you wish, again, may result in a CEL.

Shy of that, you can just replace the Cat if you want, But this is pointless / a waste of money if your plenum is toast, as Zman said...it will just get wrecked again real fast.


Keep in mind, if you have emissions testing where you live, you will NOT pass when you do not have a functioning Cat.




As Zman said, 90% of the time with these trucks a clogged cat is the result of blown plenum. Have you checked yours yet? remove the air box, pry open the throttle plates and look down with a flashlight into the intake. Look for oil pooled. if you see some its toast and needs to be replaced. it sucks, and is costly/time consuming, but its a fact of life with these trucks.

 

I just bought my ram friday but my jeep wrangler on the other hand I decided to gut the cat about a month ago after taking my exhaust and reduing alot of the pipe and i decided to gut the cat and wow. It felt like the 4.0L was a big block. Turning 35s with 3.73 gears and 3 speed auto and that jeep was flying. My honest opinion cats restrict preformance. High flow cat is the way to go at the least. Even with people saying "oh u noticed alot lot because it was clogged blah". you mite of noticed a big difference because a stock cat just sux. I would get a high flow or there are ways to gut a cat and trick the signal so it doesnt get a check engine.

 

After gutting the cat or removing the O2 it will be great for about a week or so and then the check engine is going to come on.

 

alright, noob question i meant to ask earlier.. how exactly do you take the pre cat sensor off? i looked and idk which side to take off, seemed as if you take the upper side off instead of the gold part that hooks to the cat itself.. lol help plz?

 

Would be to my understanding that if you pulled the o2 out there would be a hole in your exhaust. Therefor I'd follow the wires from the o2 that lead up to the connector "just a few inches of wire up" and leave it unplugged.

 

i would say yes its the original o2 with about 169k on it.

and is it odd that of the symptoms of a blown plenum i have just a couple?

Symptoms of a blown plenum:
1. Excessive oil consumption--NO
2. Heavy spark knock under load (sounds like a can of marbles when you have your foot in it)--NO
3. Truck feels like it was castrated (loss of power)--YES
4. Trouble getting up hills--YES

yeah i'd rather have someone cut it and be done with it. also there are no emissions on SC so im not worried about that,

as far as checking my plenum, i have not. here are some pics for whats its worth!





from what i've seen there is a fix to this.