Anyone know of any good mechanics in the Wayne, PA area? I have a 1995 Ram 1500 automatic, 5.9 with about 98K miles. Truck began running rougher after plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor... O2 sensor and crank position sensor. Seems to almost missfire at idle and runs rough. Runs fine if you bring idle up to about 2k rpm. Main problem is when accelerating or highway cruising. at about 50mph the truck sometimes jerks a bit. Clears up if I bring rpm up by stepping on peddle or taking off over drive. It also happens at speed, could be cruising along at like 65mph and then the truck will suddenly start jerking a bit and I have seen the check engine light flicker.
Had two mechanics look at it and neither of them can diagnose it. Said next steps would be fuel pump or flashing of the brain unit. Any advice? I have already sunk $650 so far to this point and still have a poor running truck.
Thanks-

 

I'm new, need advice- 1995 Ram been to shop can't diagnose problem
Anyone know of any good mechanics in the Wayne, PA area? I have a 1995 Ram 1500 automatic, 5.9 with about 98K miles. Truck began running rougher after plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor... O2 sensor and crank position sensor. Seems to almost missfire at idle and runs rough. Runs fine if you bring idle up to about 2k rpm. Main problem is when accelerating or highway cruising. at about 50mph the truck sometimes jerks a bit. Clears up if I bring rpm up by stepping on peddle or taking off over drive. It also happens at speed, could be cruising along at like 65mph and then the truck will suddenly start jerking a bit and I have seen the check engine light flicker.
Had two mechanics look at it and neither of them can diagnose it. Said next steps would be fuel pump or flashing of the brain unit. Any advice? I have already sunk $650 so far to this point and still have a poor running truck.
Thanks-

 

Has your intake manifold gasket (plenum gasket) been properly repaired? If no, then this combined with a clogged catalytic converter is likely the source of most of your problems...does it use any oil? Try removing the front o2 sensor and see if that makes it run any better...here, educate yourself!

 

Welcome to DF. In the future, please do not post questions in this section. Post them in the "tech" or general discussion area for the 2nd gen ram accordingly. Thanks I'll move this post to the tech section for you.

 

Has the plenum been checked?

 

Sounds like you have a bad TPS sensor. Been there...done that.

 

Yup, blown plenum, bad cat and o2's. Read the plenum sticky on top of this page. It's the one and only most common problem with a magnum motor. After your done fixing that, route your spark plug wires in this manner. http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/18-48-98/18-48-98-v8.htm

 

CEL flashing? I doubt the TPS will cause that. Check for codes first and see what if any show. http://dodgeram.info/Engine-Gas/OBDI/pcm_fault_code.htm After that, unscrew the o2 sensor and take it for a drive and see if it performs any better.

 

if it runs worse after the tune up, then it suggests that something is wrong with the tune up.

the flashing cel is an indication of misfire, where the crank position sensor measures that one or more cylinders is not putting out. i'm not familar with the codes from the 95 obd-1, but if you could get an equivalent code like obd-2 (301-308) it would tell you which cylinder is screwed up. if not - then do it the old fashioned way - one at a time, unplug a plug wire and see how the engine responds. it should skip like hell, maybe even stall. if one wire has no effect, that's your bad one. you can do this by pulling them off/on while running and maybe getting the crap shocked out of you or you can turn off the ignition when making the change. generally the spark will jump to the manifold and snap but every once in a while it'll knock your dick in the dirt.

also double and triple check your wires. it sounds like 2 are crossed up. find the #1 indicator on the cap. front/passenger side, and check your firing order. there's a good picture here somewhere.

 

+1 for all the advice from the above with one question for you... which spark plugs did you use in the tune up?

EDIT: Merged your two threads together, since they are asking the same question.