Ok have to say I am one of those people that HAS NO clue about vehicles..engines...and all that good stuff. So any help would be appreciated.

today I bought a 97 Ram 1500 Laramie (Auto, 5.2L V8 SFI OHV 16v) , only has 80k miles and everything ran fine when I test drove it. Ah thats where my problem comes in..Since I can be a speedster at time I decided to see what this puppy could do since it was a new toy. ....it has no get up and go and I can't get the danged thing past 85....and thats with the petal to the floor. Someone sugguested it might be a blocked fuel filter or the exhaust could be blocked....whats the worst I could expect? I ran a check with carfax and everything looked great.

As I said everything else seems to run just fine. It shifts gears with no problem, no rocking, banging, or clanging. Really a bummer since the Texas Lemon law does not apply to used dealerships.

Now ask me something about one of my horses, and no problems...but I am in no way whatsoever mechanically inclined.

 

Catalytic converter is most likely clogged. That's the first thing I'd check. It's a common problem with the 2nd generation Rams...especially when the problem is a lack of power.

 

But wouldn't he get a CEL from the rear o2 for clogged or inefficient cat?

 

I'm not real sure 97's had the second o2 sensor for monitoring the cat.....full blown obdii wasn't introduced on trucks till like 2000.
Check engine light bulb could be out also....

Buck

 

ODBII was introduced to the 2nd Gens before 2000 (started in 96...98 was the first full year), but the 2nd gen Rams never seem to set a CEL light for a plugged converter. That's why it can sometimes be misleading...because there is no code to pull when trying to find the problem. There have been so many people that have ended up with a plugged converter and not even known it.

The easiest way to test it yourself is to straight pipe it...to remove the converter and put in a regular piece of pipe. If you notice that your truck is running right again, then your converter is plugged and you should replace it.

I do believe some shops have equipment to test converters if you'd want to go that route.

 

my 97 318 had a problem. the spark plugs were gapped wrong. they were off by 4 thousanths. ran horrible and kept back firing up intake. replaced plugs with factory champions and ran fine. also there is no sensor for a clogged cat.