Ok I am picking up my daughter from Texas, and i live in North Carolina, driving my 98 ram 1500 sport 5.2 auto... The whole trip the truck ran like a champ until I was 2 hours away... In Texas, the road I was on had a speed limit of 75mph.. I noticed as I hit close to 80 the truck started to shake a bit, so I tried to keep it around 75-78 and it drove fine, then I noticed an odd metal kind of knock, no rhythm .. It was random.. But I noticed increased a bit when I sped up.. Then suddenly the check engine light started flashing and right away I slowed down to 60.. The knock stopped and the light went off... The road is long and dark so I drove until I found a gas station... Probably 5-10 miles, it never happened again and I did get back up to 75 for a short period, but was afraid to continue... At the station I checked the oil, which was fine , coolant was also fine.. But oddly the cap was cool to the touch, I still waited because the hose was hot.. The transmission was rebuilt about 20000 miles ago, and when i bought the truck I noticed it seemed to have too much fluid..but when I checked it tonight, it was very low... I've checked it 4 times on the trip and it was in the normal level..I looked under the truck and didn't see an area where it leaked.. But it's hard to tell because it's pretty messy under there..but it looked that same way when I changed the oil last month... I added a qt of fluid, it's in the "ok" level at the moment... I don't know what to think, to look for or try... As I said I'm far from home and still 2 hours away from my destination ..in between Houston and San Antonio and there isn't many places along this road I can go if I have any issues, for now I got a room and plan on trying to leave in the day time so if I do break down, I can at least see ... Please any suggestions, ideas or any kind of help would be useful.. Thanks for reading! Oh yeah, I did notice before this trip, that around 55 mph there was a slight jerk/jump , but only around 50-55...

 

the flashing check engine light is an indication that a misfire is in progress, as determined by the crank position sensor. it's sensitive enough to measure each cylinders contribution and can determine if one is underperforming.

if the CEL light stays on, your 98 might or might not display the codes in the odometer. turn ignition to on - off - on - off - on and give it a minute or so. it will end with p-done.

the misfire could be a plug, wire, dist cap, O2 sensor running it a little lean. lots of things. a skip can cause a buck or thump feeling in the driveline.

my son's honda accord had a running spasm when i was driving it on a long trip. on a whim, i unplugged the front O2. that gave me a check engine light but it fixed the bucking problem that it was doing.

you're in an isolated area, so be careful how far from a mechanic you get.
me - i'd check all fluids and gauges. test drive it much slower 55-60 to see if it can run right, and if so - drive on, at least to your daughters. if it won't run at a slower speed, park it.

 

Thank you, I will look into everything you said, going to head out in about 30 minutes and see how she handles.

 

Hey Onthabuzz, hope you found the problem with your truck, when you head back to NC and if you are in need of help I'm in Beaumont TX hit me up and I'll help as much as possible.

 

You are checking trans fluid with truck in neutral? Don't think the key thing works on the 98 and 99's. Could use a reader from an auto parts store to at least see what cel's are. Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't the flashing cel also indicate the misfire's are dumping enough unburnt fuel that can damage the catalytic converter.

 

^ i think the flashing cel is just an indicator that the misfire event is currently being detected, as opposed to the stored code it will set.

Buzz- how you doing? if you need help in Ga give me a post/pm/call.

 

I wish I would have read this yesterday, I live in Houston, I could have helped.........relieve your mind a little pull into a place like auto zone get the code read...let us know

 

Hey everyone... This trip has been a pain... I'm actually leaving San Antoino today... Let me bring you up to date... Since I am here to pick up my daughter, when I got to town (drove mostly around 70, no problems to speak of, except noticed a whining coming from gas tank) I first asked her mother if she knew of any good mechanics that wouldn't take advantage of me being out of town... HUGE mistake.. I spoke to the guy, let him know the issue, told him I don't have my tools with me and I needed him to change my fuel pump and give me a tune up minus the oil change, but I wanted a nice set of plugs and wires ... If needed I could go buy... He told me not to worry, he hates using cheap parts and had a discount he could use to give me a better price because of who I was... So I foolishly trusted his word and gave him the ok... Also thinking he was a trusted friend of the family I let him take the truck to his shop and I spent the day with my daughter... 6 hours later ..He charged me a total of 470 bucks, 340 parts.. 130 labor... A far cry from the "discounted fuel pump and 50 labor" I was promised... Because "I didn't know I had to drop the tank".. He used cheap *** parts like autolite plugs... He never changed wires ... There is a whole story as to how this went down... Involving the police...but it will be a book I don't have time to write... And in the end, I spent 470.. Don't know if the fuel pump is actually changed.. It isn't whining is all i can say for now..So I guess.. Cheap plugs.. Same wires and cap as I had on before.. And not a bit of justice, because I decided to trust a family friend whom they defended which the cops bought... And even they said the plugs were new, even thought they are faded and dirty, with a different name then on the reciept... So forget it , ima leave feeling dumb and ripped off... If I have any issues before I leave Texas I will let you guys know, wish I would've seen your offers sooner...

 

WOW... THAT IS CRAPPY!!!, Makes the good mechanics furious....there are a lot of bad ones, BUT what could you do, you were stuck ..... I hope it all goes well on the drive home....at least you have the daughter, which is the one good thing about that whole mess......

 

ouch. well, look on the bright side.
1. i'll be positive and assume you have a good new fuel pump - denso, delphi, bosch. they are expensive at $250-350.
2. you'll make it home safe and sound and not be stranded in the middle of the night and killed by an escapee from hell.
3. you didn't have the experience from hell that my sister once had with a rental van, a carload of people, and two flat tires. the two (yes two) towing bills, plus tires, plus wheels (yes) put the cost up near that of a transmission.
4. you didn't blow your cool during the police episode and need a bail bondsman on top of everything else.

if you get into trouble coming back this way call us.