98 Ram 1500 Sport 5.9

It generally does this while cold, and at idle. I can turn the truck off, start it back up and it'll run fine for a minute and then do the same thing. It does this until the truck reaches operating temp.

If I'm driving, it will start to pop / sputter and have no power, which makes driving scary as hell. It almost feels like an O2 sensor gone bad, but I'm not throwing any codes. If it were an O2 sensor which one would cause that?

The IAC is less than a year old, and I took it out and cleaned it. Same issues. I actually will be tossing in a new IAC tomorrow, just to rule it out, since its under warranty still.

I also got some fresh gas and threw some fuel injector cleaner in there just in case it was some bad gas.

Well, I'm open to ideas or things to check.

 

sputter and popping while driving has nothing to do with IAC.
i'd guess front O2.
you'd expect a code of some kind with any sputtering and popping, but who knows.

 

they could be related - they might not be. the loud hissing is coming from the engine bay. i think that is an IAC issue. The popping and sputtering just started. If I disconnect the front O2, it should fix the problem and throw me in to limp mode, right?

 

Disconnect the front O2 sensor. It won't be limp mode, it will just stay in open loop. (injector pulse determined by tables, and not by apparent mixture seen by the O2.) What you are describing is classic signs of a failed sensor, and no, they won't always set a code.

 

will driving it around without that o2 sensor connected cause any larger problems, or should it be ok for a week while the new sensor is in the mail. is that front one easy to get to?

 

I'm thinking , well you all know what I'm thinking. I'd unscrew the 02 from the pipe and see what happens. If the cat is just about done, you'll want to know asap. And not be driving for another week. After all it is a 98 and there is no mention if/when the plenum has ever been checked. Even if its just the o2, no telling how long it's been bad and dumping fuel into the cat and damaging it.

 

this truck has nickle and dimed me so badly over the past year that if its the plenum, its probably not getting fixed and the truck is getting traded in/sold. :-(

Sadly, I cant spend anymore $ than absolutely necessary. I'll get in there and check it with a flashlight / magnet sometime this week.

 

Better trade it in.

 

You're not much of an optimist - lol - It still could be just a faulty O2 sensor - which is a significantly less expensive repair than a new Cat and a plenum job. If it requires a plenum kit and a cat, it might not be worth fixing. And I'm still debating on trading vs parting it out. Its still my daily driver, so its hard to justify that with it being so problematic, as of late.

This issue started suddenly after the truck sat parked for a week. (I had my Transmission sensor on the output side) go out, as well as the Governor pressure sensor/ Solenoid in the trans.

 

Just going by what you said.