I have a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 with stock 318. This thing is a Pooch. 11 MPG is the best it has ever gotten and on the freeway empty at 70 MPH I can't keep it out of passing gear. This thing has no power. What can I do to give it more power and mileage? How much will headers or exhaust help? I'm trying to get the best results on a limited budget.

 

K&N FIPK, Gibson headers, Flowmaster/Gibson/Magnaflow cat back, synthetic oil would be a good start, pick one. I've got a 360 w/K&N FIPK, msd wires & 3923 autolites and average 12.5 city/freeway combined, 15 on the highway.

 

Check for a plugged Cat..

 

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
(not at the suggestion, just at the wording)

 

SuperChip Micro Tuner !!!!

 

Good point, & there are 3 of them too...

 

Will these mods help the 318? I've talked to three different people that have put headers and cat back on thier 318 with only minimal gains in mileage and power. On th Gibson web site they list only a 20 horse gain with the headers and don't list any gains for the 318 on exhaust.

 

It really sounds like you've got some out of the ordinary issues going on. I think it may be time to visit a mechanic. Passing gear at 70mph I could understand... IF you were towing a boat. Something is definately holding your motor back. When's the last time you've done a tune-up???

 

Just did a tune-up two weeks ago. (plugs, K&N air filter,cap, rotor, 3 cans of injector cleaner in tank 15 gallons of gas and a full spray bottle of intake cleaner down the intake) I had it in to visit two Mechanics one being the dealership. They can not find anything wrong. Still working with the one mechanic. The dealership was worthless charged me 90 bucks and got nothing for it. All they did is put it on thier computer that found nothing. The other mechanic had already done that. This weekend I plan on taking the exhaust apart just ahead of the converter and run it a short distance to see if that helps. This should rule out a pluged converter. Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks.

 

There is no were to unbolt the exhaust ahead of the converter so I disconected the O2 sensor. 0 to 60 time went from 14.1 seconds to 13.6 seconds. Not sure if that means the converter is pluged or not.

Anyone have anything else I can try to get this pooch moving?