Hi I'm new to Dodge and have a little problem. First off here is what I own:

2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad
4 Dr Ext Cab
5.9L V8 SMPI OHV 16V
It has 136K miles

Yesterday I drove 40 miles to work, the truck drove perfect as always. Then yesterday afternoon when I got in it and cranked it, it idled and sounded as it normally does. After of about 20 seconds the engine started to violently shake and the idle went all over the place. I cut the truck off and poped the hood looking for loose vacuum lines and plug wires. I have an computer reader in the truck so I plugged it in and got an OK, no codes. I cranked back up and it was still rough but not quite as bad so I cut it off and checked under the hood again. After cranking it several times it leveled out close to normal. But sitting in the cab I could feel a vibration and it didn't accelerate smooth. After idleing a few minutes the check engine light came on, so I checked the codes again. This time I got 4 here they are in order:

po304 - cylinder 4 misfire
po205 - ejector circuit open - cylinder 5
po300 - random misfire
po302 - cylinder 2 misfire

I called my dad (has a tire shop) and told him what I had, but he is a Chevy man through and through and told me to start with a tune up (plugs, wire, distributor, rotor pin), but that he didn't know anything about that motor. I tried to call the service manager at the local Dodge dealership but couldn't get him (he use to go to our Church some years ago). Where I work at is in the middle of nowhere so by the time I got to town the parts stores where closed so I went to Wal Mart and got plugs.

So my question is am I on the right track or do I need to be looking at something else?

 

Was it raining while you were at work and truck was sitting?

 

No. Clear day with temps from high 30s when I got to work to low 60s later in the day (12 hour span).

 

My truck used to do the same thing you describe when it was wet outside. Just for the heck of it pull the coil wire and see if a bunch of black corrosion falls out. Run the truck at night and look under the hood and see if you get any arcing from wiring or connections.

 

Fuel pressure.
Distributor cap & rotor. Wire problem shouldn't cause that many different misfires.
Electronics sending signal to the injectors.
Trash in fuel rails. slim
Water in fuel.

 

If the coil wasn't firing it could cause a few misfires on diffrent cyliders. I'd check your fuel presure too.

 

Dito... check the coil bud.

[sm=exactly.gif]

 

Thanks for the replies. I finally got up with my friend at the dealership and he said that he has seen an increase in bad fuel in the area lately.

After I get it going, I'll let you'll know what it was.

 

I had a broken valve spring and bent push rod on cylinder 4.

Now I still have a misfire on cylinder 4. The idle is a little rough and in OD the truck runs rough between 1250 and 1600 RPMs. So far I've done a tune up (plugs, wires, distributer and rotor), switched ejectors around and moved plugs and wires around.

I'm getting ready to follow the TSB and route the wires to factory specs and I'm going to check for the plenum. After that I'll check for vacuum leaks with carb cleaner.

Any other advice and or things to check?

 

Who fixed it? Did they/you check the valve stem and do a compression check on that cylinder?