I really need help here. I am totally stumped. People that remember me on here-I bought a 1995 Dodge ram 1500 318 engine last summer and had all kinds of probs with. I did as suggested here and found the stock manifold did have a blown plenum, then to top it off, the intake barrel manifold leaked as well. Thats when I bought the Hughes Intake manifold and installed. That solved 80% of the problem. But a few problems remain.
Whats its doing is this. If its before 10 am, Ill start the truck and it will run like only 4 cylinders are firing. Sometimes if stopped at an intersection, it blows out white smoke like it just broke a piston ring. After maybe 15 minutes everything just smoothes out, and purrs like a kitten. If its later than 10 am, it doesnt do this as badly. If a drive like 20 miles, 70% of the time the truck is running like its supposed to, but once in a while it does the misfiring thing for a bit, and then goes back to normal. Sometimes revving the engine helps cure it.Everytime it does this it throws a code 27 which is a malfunction in fuel injector circuit. I now have brand new injectors, still does this.
Being that I used the Hughes intake manifold, there is no provision for the EGR valve, so I blocked that off and I also bought a PCM that supposedly didnt have the egr code in it, but it did throw a code saying the EGR wasnt working. So I just hooked up the old EGR valve and layed it on the back of the engine and that cured that. I suspected it had something to do with the vapor canister. I have replaced that with new also. It now has brand new fuel injectors, Brand new fuel pump, Brand new Vapor canister. the fuel pump was totally worth replacing as its screen was plugged. It runs so much better now, but still has this problem of misfiring at times and sometimes smoking! It almost acts as if carbon builds up somehow, makes it misfire and smoke, then it clears out and runs fine. A while back I had a code for the cam sensor in the distributer. It was rusted inside so I cleaned the best I could and replaced that sensor. It no longer throws that code. I only have a few items I have not replaced now, thats the cat-which I stuck a screwdriver in the hole where the oxy sensor is, and hit NOTHING, so I think thats gutted. Then theres the wire harness going to the injectors-havent replaced that. Could it possibly be a map sensor that does this? I had bought a new one last year, but a certain tire store mechanic swapped it for an old one I know, because one of the screws was left out and Im not sloppy like that-lolol.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Oh! I wanted to add, that when it does smoke, which is just once in a while, it smells like stale gasoline. But that cant be when I just cleaned out the tank, brand new fuel pump!! HEEEELLLLPPPP!!

 

Where is Edmond?

Do you know someone with a good scanner that does more than just reads and clears codes? Mine will graph live data. If you can find one of these, you can check the various sensors and see waht they are doing and help eliminate them as the problem or confirm.

 

White smoke? Generally, that's coolant finding its way to the combustion chamber......

 

Edmond is actually a suburb of north Oklahoma city. I actually live in North Oklahoma city now.
Id like to buy one of those scanners someday-=if you dont mind what did yours cost? And can I program my own computer with it?
AS far as coolant Hey, I dont have ANY coolant loss, but like I say there is a stale gasoline smell when it smokes like that. Another thing odd- I hadnt changed the oil for almost a year because of low funds. When I did change it, the old oil had that stale gasoline smell so bad it stung my eyes when I got near it!-Maybe the oil is bad from being old and overdue; or is gas mixing with oil somehow?? Thanks for your replies

 

Losing any oil? How old are you plugs, and the rest of the ignition parts? O2 sensor?

 

My 2000 dodge ram has a winning noise while driving??? I was told lots of dodges have rear end problems??? Gear oil is full u-joints are tight........Also bucking/miss when driving ....accelerates good and no trouble codes...tried sea foam no difference ,,

 

I bought mine on ebay. Here is a link for the MT 2500. I got the MTG2500 (whihc has graphing capability). I bought it with a lot of modules and keys becuase I have way too many cars. But shuld be able to get it for around $100. I think you will need a K13 key.

If oil smells of gas, it is dumping too much fuel, not being burned, and going past the rings into crankcase.

 

is there a part number on the ECM that would confirm that it is indeed a 318 ECM and not a 360 ECM that the PO swapped not knowing the difference? I would also do a compression test. Bad and persistent misfire can be caused by bad compression.

 

You have an OBDI so a scanner isn't going to tell you too much.
The cam and crank sensors will make it run bad but your other symptoms lean me away from them.
There could be a stuck open (or is it closed) loop issue.

 

Since the computer keeps giving the code 27 which is fault in fuel injector circuit, I decided to check wiring, replace weak areas, etc. I did find quite a few. I also found the Evaporation purge solenoid partially un plugged, plugged that back in and the smoking problem seemed to stop, but havent had a good drive yet to test it out. To answer some questions, most of the sensors, oxygen sensor is less than 1 year old. I recently took out the oxy sensor and looked at it, it had some carbon fouling on it, so I cleaned it with carb cleaner, wiped it off and reinstalled.
As I was saying, I undid the wiring harness and checked for any cracks, or weak spots in any wires and replaced. I found several spots that looked weak. I thought sure this would be the problem-but nope! Soon as I restarted the engine the engine light comes on again with code 27 AAARRRRGGGH! I took it for about a 3 mile test drive, even though the light came on it ran good most of the time, but at one point it started to run rough, I revved the engine and it smoothed out. Hey you-I do have to add oil, maybe a quart every 3-4 months at the most., all ignition parts are less than 1 year old as well. This has suddenly started dying at intersections again-which is what it did after I first bought it and it turned out to be a vacuum leaking around the manifold, and the plenum gasket. So tomorrow im double checking the torque on the manifold bolts.
Greensboroguy: I hate to tell you this, but its sounds like the rear axle is going out! I know, because 3 days after I bought this truck, the rear axle locked up on me. After I bought it, driving home, it whined. I highly recommend getting that truck fixed soon and don't drive very far from the house, because if that axles locks like it did on me you will have to call a wrecker, AND probably get the whole rear axle rebuilt