2001 ram 1500 4x4 with 4.10 gears on 37s, somewhere between 5-8 inch lift (long story), 5.2 with ~90k out of a 99 1500, pcm from the same 99.

As of now this truck has the most power it’s ever had. First the engine swap from the 99 helped a little, but then putting on the 37s bogged it down a bit. Then the pcm went bad so I took the one from the 99 and put it in. It starts and drives great, but shows no bus, o/d off, trans temp, and cel. It can break loose around corners, but will not even think about spinning the tires from a stop. Not even in mud. That is my main problem since sometimes I need it to pin it to push me through the mud. If I start getting stuck but am still moving, it’ll be fine. However, if I for some reason stopped there is no chance of my rpms going above 2k (torque converter stall), so I have to put it in 4lo.

I am wondering if there is any cheap/free mods I can do to help it be a little more peppy from a stop. I couldn’t care less about going past 70. All I want is to be able to give it the beans when I need it, and for it to react properly. Sure I could regear but this truck is not worth it. I am wondering if there’s anything I can do to make it a little more fun for these last few months that it’s gonna live. Open to anything, will drill holes into the intake or run it on jet fuel. But I would prefer practical mods lol. Want it to be able to at least get me to the park, don’t want to turn it into a trailer queen.

As of now I don’t think fixing my old pcm or getting a new one will help, the one I have now has given it the best performance it has ever had (maybe it being confused is a good thing?), not to mention it is NOT death flashed like the original pcm.

another important note to add: cat is intact as of now. However a couple of weeks ago I remember smelling eggs. SO much egg. I had to leave the windows open it was so bad. I looked it up and that is apparently a sign of a bad cat. However, the smell completely went away the next morning. Hasn’t came back yet. Could this still mean my cat is bad?

 

If that cat is original, it needs to be removed asap. After three cats, I'm finally running cat-free and the truck runs better than ever with 270k on it.

 

Guess that’s next on the to do list then lol thanks

 

There was actually a recall on Ram cats back in the day. I remember getting the letter. If they failed before 100k Dodge was supposed to replace it. Mine went at 110k. Oh well, I'm done with them anyway.

 

An 01 truck with a 99 PCM? That's a mismatch. You need an 01 pcm, flashed with the correct vin, else the trans simply isn't gonna work right. It's in limp mode now, starting off in second gear. That's why its such a dog.

 

Fully aware it doesn’t match, but trust me when I say this is the best it’s ever been. It’s definitely not in limp mode, it shifts the same as the 01 pcm except for the fact it only has 3 gears now lol (which I don’t care about 4th). Engine def runs better with this one too

edit: I should add that I have had a 2nd gen that started in 2nd bc of limp mode so I know what it feels like, this one is definitely not doing that

 

Assuming from your post you don't plan on keeping the truck?

 

I’m keeping it until it dies, then it’ll sit in my backyard for the memories. Has some nice aftermarket parts I could save too. I’m just using it as a winter beater this year then hopefully some offroading next year but I don’t see myself driving it past that. I’ve got a hemi just waiting to be modified right now lol

 

I would more suspect that the trans is indeed starting out in second, and the 'gears' you are getting is 2nd, 3ed, and TCC engage.

 

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