I bought my first dodge the other day ($1000 couldn't pass it up), but along with the purchase came multiple problems. Below I will list what issues it does and I thank you in advance for any help. I don't have a lot of wrench time behind the truck so far to give super detailed discriptions, I'm just hoping some of my issue's are common enough for people to know. Also, the truck is a 97', 5.9, 4x4 half ton.

1- Runs rough at idle, and seems to load itself up. If I let it load up to much I can make it blow a lot of black smoke, or if I don't clean it out it will just kill itself.

2- Next is the transmission...... It seems to hold fine in gear, it doesn't seem to slip or anything like that, but it has some weird shifting issues. Running down the interestate when it needs to downshift, it goes crazy! Instead of just shifting out of overdrive it will drop like 3 gear and go down to second, then it wont up shift again.

So I guess I'm just trying to see if these seem like any common issues. I'm not sure if these sound like vaccum problems, electrical, etc..... I'm not a mechanic but I feel I'm fairly mechanically inclined.

Thanks again.

 

Check the plenum for the first problem. (see stickied thread at top of forum) Also, if you can, get someone to plug into it with a scanner that can read sensor data, and have a look at engine coolant temp, and intake air temp. (ECT and IAT respectively)

For the trans, drop the pan, change fluid and filter, adjust the bands, and clean the governor pressure sensor and solenoid. See what kinds of neat things you find in there..... take it from there.