Hello, I just recently purchased a 1989 Ramcharger with the carbureted 318 in it. It runs very well most of the time but if you open the throttle up it will cut out and jerk a few times and then eventually finds its way to power again. Its almost like I hear it cough then it cuts out for a split second and it tries again and again till its running right again. It will also start to miss and jerk a little at highway speeds every once in awhile but it has never completely died on me. Also after driving the truck for a little while it will develop a poor idle, but if I let it idle for a good 10 minutes it will work itself out. It has been sitting for a long time so I figure it has bad gas still in its system. Im going to change plugs, cap, wires, rotor, coil and run sea foam through it,but Is there anything else that commonly goes wrong I should look for? Like a bad O2 sensor or EGR valve?

 

Is it carbureted or Throttle body?

Carbureted sounds like the accelerator pump n the front of the carb, check the timing.

 

I would check through all the engine electrical grounds. Also, check for corrosion in connectors.