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1997 dodge ram 1500 5.9L Misfire

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Old 05-19-2017, 11:20 AM
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Default 1997 dodge ram 1500 5.9L Misfire

Hello again everyone. Need some help from you all please. I have a 1997 ram 1500 with the 5.9. When i first bought the truck it had a cylinder 4 misfire code. I ended up replacing the spark plugs and the one wire to the cylinder since i wasn't able to buy all new ones yet. The code went again and i was in the clear. Since then i purchased new wires, cap and rotor. I now have a cylinder 2 misfire code that i cant seem to find out what the issue is. I did a compression test and everything came out good. I pulled the plug and put it on the block to look for spark and nothing. I changed out the plug and did the test again. Then changed out the wire and did the same. Nothing changed and i still have a misfire. I checked my cap and it is good and solid with no movement. Cap and rotor are duralast gold from Autozone and i have never had an issue with them. What would everyone recommend i start with? Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:24 PM
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Got a good connection between the cap, and the wire?
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:37 PM
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Yes, i have double and triple checked that all wires are pressed in and i hear the click on both ends.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:49 PM
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Disty cap with copper contacts are the ones preferred by our trucks. Also, check your spark plug wire routing according to the TSB.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:55 PM
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The one i bought has the copper contacts. I have checked all routing to make sure every wire is about 1" away from each other, or at least covered with plastic wire covers. I checked to make sure i put the correct one to each place and i'm almost 100% sure i did it correctly.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 02:07 PM
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Well, if you had 'em mixed up, you would get codes for two cylinders. Supposedly.

Not sure why the PCM would simply skip firing that cylinder. I would think if you had a crank sensor going bad, you would get THAT code, not a misfire code. The cap is about the only thing I can think of that makes any sort of sense. Wouldn't hurt to pull it, and check it....

And just because it's *new*, does NOT mean that it is *good*. I went thru three of the duralast disty caps in two weeks on my Firebird.... the coil contact kept failing, leaving me stranded. Sure, they would warranty the cap, but, that still left me on the side of the road.... I ate the cost, and bought a high quality cap for it, and never had a problem again.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 02:48 PM
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Yeah i was thinking it would be the cap. My issue was when i replaced it i broke off the bolt in the distributor wing and i couldnt get it out so i ended up putting a self tapping screw in instead. It worked and snugged it up and was hoping id never have to replace it again cause if i did i would have to replace the distributor which i cant get off without taking the whole top end of the engine off.
 
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Old 05-19-2017, 08:21 PM
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The cap may simply not be in the right place.... the spark won't jump too much of a gap.
 


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