My husband and I baught this used 98 dodge Ram 1500 and its non stop issues, we origionaly got a cilinder 8 misfire code come up when the check engine light came on... my husband did some work on it replaced the altinator,distributer cap, crank shaft positioning censor, rocker inside the distributer. the truck will turn off when we first start it unless we have our foot on the gas, then if you reverse b4 its all warmed up it will shut off.. going forward isnt such an issue but is sometimes, expecially when going from reverse to drive. Also blinkers dont work when we are breaking so we have to manually turn on and off the blinker (feel so ghetto!) The truck is making a humming noise that just started. The truck has a lack of power. My fear is if we dont figure out whats going on my husband will continue to just keep working on it and it will never really fix the issue which means $$$$$$$$$ =( not ok with it. Please someone help up figure out whats going on. I am going out of town soon and my husband needs to be able to use his truck at this point i am fearing it will just die on him! Also my husband is saying its only getting 9mpg which seems very low I was expecting about 15.... I could be wrong the only exp. I have is growing up in a home where we all had dodge trucks I am in no way a machanic =)

 

Read the stickied plenum thread at the top of this forum for starters. That will address a fair few of your concerns.

Also, in the DIY section, there is a thread about cleaning your throttle body. (relates to idle issues/stalling)

Check trans fluid level as well. Gotta check in Neutral, won't get an accurate reading in park.

Welcome to DF!

 

Thank You! Will do so!

 

I'd further recommend the fluid check after running up to normal operating temperature as best ya can.

Ditto on the welcome

 

Thank You!, I am learning so much on this site its amazing.. Tonight we will be checking fluids, cleaning throttle body, and the plenum. How long does it usually take to do this? (wanna try to do it b4 sun goes down)

 

Have your battery checked cause my truck was doing the same thing it would shut off unless I had my foot on the gas, my battery completely took a **** got a new one and it starts on a dime and doesn't shut off

 

Did you and your husband test drive this truck before you bought it and maybe run it thru the paces to check things out??? Sounds like alot wrong from the get go unless things started showing up a little at a time, if you bought it from a dealer I would be going back for a discussion.

 

ok, you got a lot of different things going on.

for failure to idle - verify battery is full charged to 12+ volts. if its not, it won't idle. next look first the IAC (idle air control), and if that doesn't fix it, then the TPS (throttle position sensor). remove IAC and clean the port in the bottom of the well and the pintle. if the well is clean and the pintle is clean, then replace it.

need more info on the humming.

normal mpg should be about 11-12-13 city and a couple better on highway.

for blinkers, replace the flasher in the end of the dash fusebox.

 

Thanks for all your help we will be doing all that was suggested. Yes he test drove it. It all started happening within the first couple weeks of owning and unfortently we bought from a private party. NEVER AGAIN!