Hello,

A couple days ago I drove to the grocery store when everything was fine then when I came out I started my truck and instantly it started to chug. I just took it to O'Reilly and they ran a diagnostic and it had a Random Misfire on Cylinder's 1, 2, 3, and 4 and also had an EVAP emissions systems purge flow.

Its a 1996 Ram 1500 with the 5.9, AEM intake, and Flowmaster Exhaust. It also has 216,000 miles and the plugs and wires haven't been changed in about 5 years.

The guy at O'Reilly said that he thinks it is a vacuum leak, but my brother recommended changing the plugs, wires and distributor before I go get a vacuum test.

I was wondering what all you thought would possibly be wrong. I am hoping it is something I can fix because I am in my final year of college and really need this truck to last me.

Thanks!

Patrick

 

Also I forgot to mention that the O2 Heater circut was on there too. However, I had my cat plug on me over summer put I ended up just clearing it out and welding it all back together. I didn't do the O2 sensor mod but I haven't had any problems for about 6 months

 

Have you pulled one of the plugs to inspect it? I would think after 5 years they would at least need to be re-gapped. I think I'm with your brother on this one.

 

And when you put on the new wires reroute them per the TSB about routing the wires

 

No I haven't gotten the chance yet, my ride from La Crosse came home today for the holidays and I am going to work on it when I get back next week. Should I just go ahead and buy new plugs, wires, and cap and do it anyways? Or do you think I should pull one out and check?

 

The ignition stuff is cheap enough, just replace them, go from there.

Or at least pull those plugs and see what they look like.

 

Also are the parts from rockauto.com good enough for the replacement. I wanted to try to keep it cheap if this is the fix. Also I read somewhere to not buy Bosch, is this true?

 

No Bosch sparkplugs. I've had Bosch wires in my truck for over a year now and it still runs great. Either use Champion Copper plugs or Autolite. No platinum.
I've got an Accel cap and rotor, but you can use anything with brass or brass plated contacts.

 

Awesome thanks for all the help! Much appreciated =). One last question, where do I find the TSB for my truck?

 

How does this look?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...648&cc=1095702 - Plugs

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...935&cc=1095702 - Rotor, Cap, and Wires