Just bought this truck back in July. 2001 Ram with a 318 (=turd). Its my first Dodge, so its hard for me to tell when things are "normal". I had a new muffler put on right after I got it, as the existing one was rotten. The shop put on a muffler that was shorter than the stock, and that was fine with me cause I like it to be slightly louder than the stock. Problem is it still sounds like its coming out of a rusted out shot muffler. No exhaust leaks, it just sounds like crap.
Could it be the catalytic converter?
I know I need emissions/fuel control work as it seems to be running rich and I have a CEL, think that is the cause?

 

Get a scanner and check to see what codes you have in the computer. You'll be able to narrow down your problem search greatly. You may want to get a scanner / tuner device from Hypertech, Superchips or something like that. You will be able to tweek the computer to get rid of some bad original factory tuning. It will be well worth the investment.

Also... That truck came with more than one cat set up. If you purchased it in California it has two monitored cats (one on each side) and one down stream cat near that muffler. If you are not in CA you might only have one cat at the Y. Either way, yes, the cat can drastically affect the sound. Mine has the CA three cats and no matter what muffler I use, it is not loud at all. It sounds good, but then again, I know my cats are still very healthy.

 

I'll bet it is the cat. Which means the plenum is blown(do a search here for that, and the o2 sensor is no good. Take it to the muffler shop and they can pressure test the cat. You can check the codes yourself by doing this https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...code-list.html Let us know what comes up.

 

Out of curiosity, is the pressure testing to check for external leaks, or will it tell them something else about the cat? I'm pretty sure there is only one cat BTW. I am in Missouri. I only noticed one, but I can't say that I was looking for more than one.
I pulled the codes a while back, seems like one was rich exhaust another was large evap leak and another was small evap leak. I looked at it for a while, found and fixed a couple large leaks but the codes came back. Looks like I have a lot of work to do!

 

They will check the pressure before and after the cat. You can also check the exhaust by having the vacuum of the engine tested. But with the other probs I would check the cat directly. Do what that link says, and tell us what codes you have.

 

I would hazard a guess saying that your plenum is blown, the cat is clogged, and you have the deathflash.
Fix plenum and cat, then get a tuner. You'll be happy.
Welcome to DF.

 

Dodge dude 94 hit the nail right on the head. Zman's suggestion you look at the O2 sensors was right on too.

 

So I'm wrong? LOL

 

Negative Zman. I was in the process of reviewing and editing my post as you were commenting. I almost beat you to the punch on that one! For the record, you are very right.

 

Just screwing with you. I'd still like to know what the codes are though.