ORIGINAL: radwebster

hey guys, i recently traded my 1984 corvette for a 1998 dodge ram 1500 5.2L auto 4x4 reg. cab longbed, with 156,000 miles on it. anyway, it has some problems with it, but recently, it came up with an engine issue.
a few days ago, i stopped at a gas station to refuel. a few minutes later, down the road, i realize that i cannot accelerate over 35 mph. i pull over onto a side street, and i find out that i can't rev over 2800 rpm. if i put my foot all the way down, the revs start dropping, and it sounds like its bogging. now, a few days later, it won't rev over around 2200 rpm. also let me say, that the check engine light has been on intermittently since i got the truck a few weeks ago. now, when i press on the gas hard and it bogs, the check engine light blinks.

my dad thinks it may be a clogged fuel filter, which sounds like it could be true. by running the fuel level low, it could have sucked up crap from the bottom of the tank. so, i go to the store to buy a fuel filter. and as i'm sure many of you know, there apparently is no seperate inline $8 fuel filter like every other normal friggin car on the planet. instead, i would have to purchase a new $250 fuel pump/strainer combo.

so, my questions are-- do you think it is indeed the fuel filter/strainer/whatever that is causing these problems? there was no issue at all until i got fuel. could the filter get clogged that quickly? could it be bad gas? is there a way for me to check fuel pressure to see if i'm at the right level? what is the correct fuel pressure for a 5.2L? can the fuel strainer be changed independantly from the fuel pump? what is the procedure for accessing the fuel pump/strainer?

thanks to all who respond, this truck is starting to seem like its more trouble than its worth...