1997 dodge ram 1500 5.2L 4x4

1. When driving around 15mph to 20mph, if the rpms are approx 1500, the rpms begin to bounce back and forth between 1100 and 1600, only if I keep the gas pedal still. If I give it more gas or let off the pedal, the fluctuation stops.

2. When driving 50mph or more, if below approx 1800rpms the truck begins to jerk violently. If above 1800 the truck drives smoothly. Cruise control/cruising speed is about 1500rpms which poses as the biggest issue in this case for highway travel.

3. If I turn the steering far left or far right while driving, a loud metallic knocking noise from suspension area begins. Only while driving.

Any explanations to identify possible fixes??? Thanks!

Just for the info, when I first bought the truck, the rotors were warped. Maybe that can help with problem 3. Currently, it has new brakes calipers and rotors, spark plugs, oil and filter, air filter, coolant, temperature switch, wiper motor and washer pump.

I plan on doing the distributor cap, rotor, and wireset next Monday. It was running with a misfire due to broken plug #7 for 2 weeks. Took that long to find out about a bolt extractor deep socket that saved it.

 

Hey there my 95 was acting like that i took off and cleaned the throttle body with some carb cleaner after taking all the sensors off and i gave the iac a nice clean at the same time. it felt like i gained 50 hp! the idle was smooth as silk and i had a nice smooth transition as i got into the pedal. at first i thought it was the lock up torque converter but when i would switch it off it would still stumble. have you checked codes yet?

 

I havent had codes for a week since I replaced the broken plug. I will still try your suggestion. If the cleaning doesnt work I will just replace those sensors. Did that fix problem 1 or 2 or both?

 

i just had years worth of filth on the throttle body the iac was a bit dirty too i just cleaned those two items i had replaced my tps earlier last fall while tracing a transmission issue as it was not in spec.

 

Alright, when I get home on Monday I will take her apart and clean all the sensors. What happened with the tps, and what was your transmission issue if you dont mind? Did you fix it?

 

yep the tranny was dead! i knew when i bought the truck it was going to be an issue as the tv cable was not connected to the valve body! low pressure anyone! i lasted a few months before i had it rebuilt. the tps was reading low voltage causing some odd issues with the converter locking up or not locking up it was kind of erratic so i ran some tests found out was not in spec and it drove much better after i swapped it out.

 

I'd check and clean the throttle body and iac and iac passage too....if the truck still doesn't drive any better if you can replacing the TPS and IAC wouldn't be a bad idea.

it could be as simple as the cap, rotor, and/or wireset being bad. I actually had a bad wire that prompted my tuneup, the truck would shake when going up a hill and I could feel it being off when backing up too.

On the cap and rotor, I'd go brass, everybody online from what I've ever read have said the el cheapo aluminum ones suck. My truck actually had corroded aluminum ones when I got it but it drove fine for awhile till the wire went bad.

the noise when turning the wheel could actually be the often misdiagnosed bad steering column bushing that wears out fairly quick from the factory and needs to be replaced, called the rock solid ram fix if you care to look it up, here's a youtube vid on the matter:
I've been meaning to do mine, my column isn't horribly eroded but it does have a little play when there should be none. My main concern is o2, map sensor and iac at the moment, with a new mopar brand pcv valve for good measure too, then I'll tighten my steering box then probably do that column ram fix bushing later.

some on here swear by the copper 1 step colder than stock range autolite 3923 if I remember correctly. I don't do very many long trips and I read before it's easy to foul/cake up colder plugs if you don't get it up to temp awhile to burn the carbon off. I'm just using some copper ac delco plugs at the moment. Either way, I heard these trucks like and run the best with just your average cheap copper spark plugs, some even swore they ran worse with platinum or better plugs.

 

Got it! So Ill clean throttle body iac and tps. I will replace distributor cap and rotor, as well as wireset. Then I will look into the steering column bushings. Ill keep you all updated next week when I begin to do this.

 

Also,I am using Champion Copper Spark Plugs. Autozone said it was OEM,and also recommended getting it versus the other materials.

 

you're fine, I've read the champion coppers were oem from the factory, let us know how it goes, I've slowly been working on my truck bit by bit since I've owned it, I'll eventually have it in tip top shape lol.