I have a 2008 Ram 1500 Hemi with about 49,000 miles. Recently it has been driving sluggishly, so I've been monitoring it from time to time with my Bluetooth scanner. There are no check engine codes, and to my untrained eyes, nothing looks out of the ordinary except the engine load calculation, which seems crazy high (40-75% under even light acceleration, and ~20% with the truck parked).

My question is, how is engine load generally calculated? My brief bit of research turned up several methods, and I'm not sure what formula the Android Torque app I have uses. But I'm wondering if I have a sensor going bad; perhaps the TPS?

The truck just generally seems to be hesitating when pressing the accelerator pedal, and accelerating slowly thereafter, almost like I'm trying to pull a trailer. I was wondering if I had one or more stuck brake calipers, but the fact that the engine load is reading high when the truck is sitting still makes me think otherwise.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I also forgot to ask if perhaps the MDS function affects the effective calculated engine load displayed by my scanner. I am admittedly quite ignorant about how the MDS works, but would that make any sense?

 

Have you done plugs yet? Clean throttle body? PCV? air filter? Run some sea foam in the tank, cleans up the injector's.

 

Yes, the plugs were replaced at about 38,000 miles. I have not cleaned the throttle body recently, so maybe I will give that a try. Good suggestion.

The PCV is also original to the truck. I'll replace that soon too. I do run Sea Foam or Techron in the fuel tank at least once per oil change interval, and have been doing so since I purchased the truck with 16,000 miles on it, so I am hoping the injectors are all fairly clean. I use only top tier gas.

I think I will also reset the PCM and recalibrate the accelerator pedal. That has made a difference in the past. I really hate the way the PCM seems to want to "learn". After a while, the truck seems to start driving like it has a 4 cylinder engine.

All that aside, the high engine load readings still have me wondering if there is something else going on. Can anyone offer any insight into that?

Thanks again.

 

What plugs were used? No need to replace the PCV valve - cleaning is sufficient.

 

I've always went with the "drive it like a rental" policy during the learning phase, just sayin'

 

Plugs were replaced with OEM....I don't remember what the OEM spec is now, but that's what I installed.

I'll inspect the PCV valve; if it seems to be working properly, I'll just clean it up.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Haha, yeah I have the same mentality. I try to drive it hard every time I reset the PCM, but it seems like after a while it goes back to constantly turning on MDS. I don't mind the MDS when I'm at highway cruising speed, but it's incredibly annoying to have it kick in/out when driving around town. There are times when it turns on when accelerating from a stop, and then when you give it gas, MDS turns off and the truck jolts and takes off hard. It can be dangerous if you aren't expecting it.