I replaced the motor in my 2003 RAM 2500 (5.7) with a rebuild. The donor truck was one year newer (no MDS still). It starts but has a bad surge from 500 to 1800 RPM and completely ignores pedal input (fly by wire).

I checked all sensors, plug wire position and even swapped throttle bodies with no change. I will run codes in the morning but was hoping someone had ran into this surge issue before. Could it be a lifter or two that have not pumped up after 5 minutes? Anything I should check? Thanks.

 

Ok I somewhat figured it out...

My 03 has no EGR, this motor does! So I need an EGR block off plate for the head (maybe I can make one for this weekend). Do I somehow plug the EGR inlet on the passenger side of the intake manifold?