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...

 

The same thing happened to my 1999 Dodge ram 1500 5.9L. It is most likly your Catolitic converter. Start the truck and have your dad rev it up and put your hand under the exhaust pipe and see if there is alot of exhaust coming out of the pipe. If there is not then it is your catolitic converter. You can usually have it replaced with an after-market one at a muffler shop for like 150 - 200 bucks. good luck man

 

if I remember Dodge has admitted the Cats for those years have been rather cheap and tended to clog up and cause horrendous performance.

 

that does indeed make sense. also, it would account for a jingling, slightly metallic noise i hear coming from under the truck when i rev it. and it has gotten much worse since this situation arose.

ok, a few more question then. does the cat just bolt on? can i replace it myself? any recommendations for a good replacement cat?

this is why i love forums, you always find someone who had the same problem and knows what to do. thanks alot guys!

 

They should do it since it should be under the extended warrenty if not. You can get one that bolts up or you can get ones that you weld on. If I replaced it myself I'd go with a Magnaflow(aka Carsound) High Flow cat.

 

As for the fuel tank, the gas is pumped from the bottom of the tank, so it does not matter how much fuel is in it.

 

THANKS GUYS
i have confirmed it is the cat (or at least that the problem is the exhaust).
i removed the O2 sensor from the front of the cat and took a trip around the block, and she is running right again. guess it couldn't breathe before. i plan to now just cut the cat out of there and drive exhaustless for few days...not that that's a problem, the vette i ahd before this truck didn't have any mufflers or cats and had the pipe cut halfway under the car for two years. who knows, maybe the truck will sound bad *** too.

but just in case...
anyone know about how much it will be to have a new converter installed? i look online, and the price of the cat alone(because of the fact that those damn dodge guys decided to save a few bucks by integrating everything) is $420.
and, it looks like the pipe from the two manifolds runs straight into the cat, so it might be tough to have someone just cut it out and install an aftermarket one. any thoughts on what i should do?

 

This is the same problem I have and it could be the cat?[:@] I'll try removing the O2 sensor to see if it goes away (thanks for the idea radwebster ). Many people seem to have this problem with mostly the 5.2L.

 

I would also suggest this. i have one on my truck and not only is it good for performance. you can just cut out your old one and slip this one over the top and clamp or weld it. other cats use the same exact size pipe and magnaflow is expanded.

 

I would highly recomend NOT running with no cat or muffler. Kiss your overall power goodbye, as well as your low end torque and some MPG. I had mine piped from the cat back for a while. What a mistake. It was loud, but a bad loud. It sounded like crap, always has thew annyoying poping noise when I let off the gas. You need somthing for back or you loose that torque and MPG. Go with a high flow cat, cheaper and better!

Also if you do go with out a cat your gonna need an O2 Sim to keep your CE light off.