Hello all,

I have a 2001 dodge ram 1500 quad with the 5.2L which has about 130K miles on it. It has ran great for me over the years, with the exception of the fuel pump and the water pump going out. I was able to change both of those myself with success. Now there is a new problem that I think I have narrowed down to being the catalytic converter. The symptoms are as follows:

* Bogs out when giving the truck gas, accelerating.
* Pops with a backfire sometimes when doing so.
--- The backfire sounds like it is coming from the engine compartment

The catalytic convertor doesn't seem that hard to change out. It looks like it would be 6 bolts and nuts, and then it pops right out.
What do you guys think. Is there a cheap and easy way to test it? Should I take a stab at it and change it out? Does that sound like the problem that I am having?

Thanks!

 

Converters aren't cheap...... So, pull the front O2 sensor out of the exhaust, and go for a drive. (yep, it'll set a code.....) See if it runs any better.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that and see how it goes. After researching for a few minutes, it seems that the O2 sensor is just ahead of the CV and I can pull it off there. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

Might try just disconnecting it first, and see if anything improves, if not, pull it out of the pipe, and try again. Might just be a bad sensor. PCM doesn't have a clue if the sensor is lying to it....... so long as the signal does what the PCM thinks it should, it believes all is well.

 

Looks like there may be four O2 sensors. There are 2 upstream and 2 downstream. Are there any in particular that I should be pulling, or should I pull all of them? @HeyYou , You wrote that I may be able to disconnect them instead of pulling them out? is there a connecter that I should be looking for? Seems like the sensors are all one piece at the exhaust tubing. Almost looks like a hard-wired, spark plug shaped device that I would be able to disconnect at that point. Any tips would be great. Thanks.

 

Only have 4 if it's a Cali truck. Follow the wires the is a connector it is anchored to the trans on a bracket

 

Yes, bought it in Cali, but now in Idaho. OK, so I am going to follow the wires up and see if I can find the connectors.
Thanks @MoparFanatic21 .

 

So, I disconnected the 2 rear O2 sensors and drove it around for about 45 minutes. It ran fine on the way to put some gas in it, then I got it washed. After that I drove it for about another five miles, by this time it was nice and hot. On that second part of the drive it started choking out again and was popping in the engine compartment again. Funny thing was, once I got it back home again and put it in park, the engine revved up just fine. If it were in drive it would have bogged out and backfired. Maybe I am looking at the wrong things. I am at a loss at this point. Any other thoughts? Maybe I should disconnect all four of the sensors and see if that makes a difference? Maybe it is something completely unrelated to the exhaust. Something else I just remembered is that when it first started doing this I had stopped at an auto parts store to get a reading from the machine. One thing that the machine said was going on was that there was a misfire on cylinder 3. Could that be causing such an extreme reaction from the throttling? And as mentioned before, the truck seems to run pretty good when it is cold and I am just starting a drive. Thoughts???

 

Check the #3 spark plug and spark plug wire.

 

Need to disconnect both front O2 sensors. Yeah, the ones that the connectors are likely up on top of the transmission..... fun to reach. If it still runs like crap, remove them from the exhaust, and see what happens.