Hello everybody, I will be buying a 1997 Ram 2500 Van with the 5.2L (318 cid) engine. This van does have a problem that the current owner has had me look into but so far the van will not repeat the problem in my presense. It seems that after it runs for about 20 to 40 minutes that it all of a sudden starts acting like it is having problems with the fuel or exhaust stopage. The rpms will drop, it won't want to run correctly, an does not want to pick the rpm back up when the throttle is mashed to the floor. Let the van cool completely down and it will run like a champ. My question is will the catiliatic converter cause this odd behavior? The van has at least 131K on the odometer. And are there any other known culprits regarding this problem? Thank you for your input.

 

A more likely problem is with the fuel pump, especially if there is less than 1/2 a tank of gas in it.

 

Thank you. I will look into it. I foundsome threads, onethat talked about running fuel cleaner, and the DIY Cleaning the IAC. I will gives those a try first before I look into removing the fuel pump. It does not hurt to try the least exspensive ideas first.

 

Actually you don't have to remove the fuel pump. If you connect a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail, you can watchand see if the pressure drops off while the engine is stumbling.

 

Thank you for that suggestion, I will keep one handy to hook in and see. I should have the van either tomorrow or at least by the end of next week.