Dodge Ram: Problems & Solutions

02ramman

are you stopped or going 2-3 Mph when you shift it to 4 lo?

ramem

:sick:
Hi

I have a 1996 dodge ram 1500 pickup truck with 160,000 miles on it. I hooked it up to my 2 horse bumper pull stock trailer about a week ago and went on a 6 hour trip up to a campground in NY. It was fine the whole way but when I went to leave after a couple days of camping it would not start. Some campers tried to jump it but the battery was fine so someone hit the starter and it started right up. I noticed there was smoke coming from the tail pipe but it seemed to be running ok so I figured the starter was gone and I would try to make my trip back home without turning off the engine. After a couple of minutes it felt like the trailer brakes locked up so I pulled over and jiggled the connection and it seemed fine so I continued. Then I had to go up a steep hill and the truck started to over heat so I turned the heat on full blast and once I got to the top of the hill I pulled over and turned off the engine. When I opened the hood I noticed that there was no antifreeze at all so I put some more in. A couple of people pulled over to help me and one guy tried banging on the starter again but it wouldn't start. So I had to get it towed but after I unhooked the horse trailer I tried starting it again, just for kicks, and it started right up. I had them tow it anyways because it was obvious it wouldn't make it home.
I don't know much about trucks but the repair guy said I have blown a head gasket and he refuses to replace the head gasket. He also says it has been overheating for a long time but I watched the temperature gauge my whole trip and it only overheated that one time, for less than 5 minutes. He wants to put in a used engine with 70,000 miles on it and a 6-month warranty for $2000. Is that a good price? Is it really a blown head gasket? Oh and he told me that I shouldn't be pulling a horse trailer with my truck because it isn't strong enough. Is that true? Also I saw this stuff online and I was wondering if anyone has tried it >> http://www.rxauto.com/index.html

dustyk

If in fact that's the only problem, replacing the head gasket should resolve any issues.

Without knowing the type of equipment on your RAM, it should tow approximately 2000 pounds without any trouble at all. More with the V8.

Regards,
Dusty

moff

Have a 2002 ram 1500 quad cab. At 70,000 miles noticed rpm surges when going up inclines with cruise on. Shortly after had tuneup and problem was gone (along with other old problems such as problem downshifting when putting the pedal down to merge in traffic and truck lurching until you would let the pedal up to allow it to shift). Mechanic said we had a bad plug wire from day one. Anyway, problem is back. Started at 105,000 with rpm surges when going up inclines when using the cruise at highway speeds (@70). Got more frequent and now does it with and without cruise when holding at steady highway speeds, incline or not. From what I have read online, may be TPS, may be torque converter, or what? Of course, just out of warranty. Please tell me it is something simple!

knifeman

I have a RAM 1500 and I want to replace the spark plugs but the plug connectors are unlike any that I have ever seen. Any suggestions on removing them to tune up the plugs? Also, where can I find a good service manual.

Thanks
Mark

janines

Hi all!

I just bought a low mileage 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab at a dealership in Colorado last week. I needed a bigger truck to pull an 18' camp trailer. I had a 2002 6-cylinder Ford Ranger and it just wasn't able to tow the trailer properly even though my camp trailer is rated as a light-weight for mid-size cars to pull.

Anyways, my problem started when I made a trip to Boise, Idaho this past weekend in the Dodge Ram....I'd only bought the truck last Tuesday night so I'd only owned it a couple days. We got to Boise fine, spent the weekend with my mom and then my boyfirend and I headed back to Colorado on Sunday. We got about 50 miles from my mom's home and the check engine light came on and the oil pressure went down to zero. We stopped immediately and checked the oil level and it was just under the fill line. We were in Mountain Home, Idaho at the time it happened so we went and bought some oil and topped off the oil in the truck. Started driving again and all went well until we hit Salt Lake City in the afternoon. The light came on again, the oil pressure went down to zero again and we pulled off the freeway to check the oil. It was at the fill line this time so nothing we could do. I have AAA towing so all I could do at this point on a Sunday was to get it towed back to Grand Junction, Colorado. It went right to the dealer on Monday, I had to drive it there about three miles from my house. During the drive, right before I got to the dealership, the light came on and the pressure went down. There has been no noise, no smoke, and it hasn't overheated when it did this any of the three times.

I just got off the phone with the Dealership, they told me last night it was just a plug in the oil pressure line and they'd put on a new oil pump and have it fixed by today. Well, now all of a sudden it is the Crankshaft and Bearings that are bad and I have to wait until Tuesday to get the part and get my truck back.

Any suggestions of comments on similar problesm? I do like the way the truck handles on the road and I really do need something that will pull my camp trailer. As it is, we won't have the truck now for this coming long weekend so we won't be going camping. I didn't expect a vehicle with less than 50,000 miles on it to have any major problems. I'm about ready to ask for my Ranger back. I had a 1998 Dodge Ram Dually 3500 prior to the Ranger and I just loved it but I didn't like the high price of diesel so I sold it last year. I've read some things this morning about Dodge motors and tranny's though that have me worried!

Thanks!
Janine
GJ, Colorado

dustyk

Dodge truck engines are among the most solid and durable in the industry. Catastrophic failures like yours are very rare, and problem sets are few. This is a "RAM Problems" website, so you are likely to read posts about problems.

Loss of oil pressure can quickly damage a crankshaft or connecting rod bearing on any engine. I am not terribly surprised that you've encountered that kind of damage with a plugged lubrication system.

Once repaired correctly you should realize thousands of trouble-free mileage.

Best regards,
Dusty

96dodge

i have a 96 dodge 1500 and what i was wandering is has anyone out there bypassed the catalyst converter , i mean take it off and put a straight pipe there mine has an o2 in front of it and behind it , will it affect it in anyway, ive also had a problem with it being hard to start after it is warm, when it does start you can smell the converter any ideas out there ?

dustyk

You don't state the mileage on your truck, but by the age it sounds like your catalytic converter is about to reach end of life. You can eliminate the cat with a straight pipe, but it will upset the engine fuel and emissions control. You will likely realize decreased performance and/or increased fuel consumption by eliminating the converter. With the straight pipe installed, because the downstream O2 sensor will not see a difference from the upstream, you'll throw a DTC and the "Check Engine" lamp will be illuminated.

Regards,
Dusty

96dodge

i have a 96 dodge 1500 and i had the same problem, i would just loose oil pressure, my problem was sludge it , my engine had alot of it in it , i flushed it out and i didnt have anymore problems with it , the screen in the oil pump gets full of sludge and it cant circulate

96dodge

do you think that the cat would make it hard to start when its hot, it sounds like its sufficating trying to start

dustyk

Yes. In fact, that's a symptom of a failed catalytic converter. When they start fine cold and run like they've lost all their compression, start hard hot...it usually is a good sign that the catalytic converter has had it.

When it is running look under the truck at night. I wouldn't be surprised if that baby glows orange-red. If it does, the cat is bad. It may not glow, but it could still be bad.

Bests,
Dusty

mucheetil

Nobull, we took off the catillitic converter. It was empty. What next do you think the problem might be? Please help. Thank you

kiwiroadrunner

I have a 2003 diesel ram and have lost overdrive. It shifts through all other gears normally. The cruise control also wont work. (the instument cluster lights however still go on and off when c/c or O/d off is pushed but nothing happens). I have tried disconnecting the battery & then reconnecting & each time I do this the c/c & o/drive function normally again but only for about 5 miles before again failing. It sounds like it may be electrical as the mechanical side of it works proven when I did the battery disconnect. Someone else had this problem msg# 1428 & # 1433 but I cant find any response in answer to that posted question. Would appreciate any assistance in diagnosing this problem.

dmr2

I currently own a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab w/ factory "Off Road" package, with 80,000+ miles on it. A few weeks ago I put on (4) brand new Good Year Wrangler ATS tires that are 275-70R-17 (The original stock size tire that came on the truck). Previously I had 265-70R17 Durango MT mud tires on the truck. The Good Years are 99.9% quieter than them ole mud tires could ever be.
Well, now that my ride is a lot quieter and smoother, it drives like a Cadillac, but I can also hear the engine and suspension more to where I can hear if something is wrong, -if that makes any sense.
I noticed while "styling and profiling" with my new tires, :shades: driving down the street, I noiced that everytime I steered towards the left, no matter how little I turn the wheel, it seems as if something in the suspension is rubbing or grinding... and is making a somewhat grinding noise. It is not a real intense sound and can only really be heard with the radio off. It does not make any noise what-so-ever when the wheel is turned straight or to the right. The noise also does not seem to increase or decrease with speed. I've looked over all of the outside components, and found nothing I could see wrong with any of the axel u-joints or anything. There's no fluid loss coming from the front axel either. I'm not sure if its something that may be caused by the tire dealers that put the tires on and performed my alignment, or something that's been going on before hand. I've heard it could be a number of things from bearings to the differential gears in the front.

Is there any one out there who may know how to put a finger on what might be causing the noise, and what I can do to check it for myself without going to a shop to verify what's making it??? :confuse:

Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Thanks.

luckyman1

I have a 2003 dodge van 3500 with 5.2 (318) with166000 miles it has been miss firing and running rough and it has burnt up two sets of plugs wires cap and rotor in less than three months need help thanks d.l.

runemovr3

it seems lik eit wont downshift out of 4th sometimes even just cruising at around 40 i hit the throttle and it sounds like its supposed to be downshifting but it does...maybe actuator or something int the valve body??....at take off it feels its being held back also

Ryan

runemovr3

Will a transmission from a 1998 3/4 ton ram with a 360 bolt into my 99 with a 318?...i believe the 3/4 ton has a 47re tranny and mine is a 46re i m just curious if the computers r the same and if it will control the transmission correctly.

luckyman1

i think i seen a message about using champion plugs in some dodges ???

dustyk

The catalytic converter was empty? Are you sure?

The cage and pellets that were in that catalytic converter had to go some where if it was removed initially. The pellets can exit through the exhaust on most cars or trucks. But the retaining cage and bisket cannot. You might need to think about replacing the muffler, because I'm guessing that's where everything is.

Good luck. Keep us posted on what you find.

Regards,
Dusty

dustyk

Champion spark plugs are what's shipped on almost all Dodge truck engines from the factory.

Regards,
Dusty

dustyk

Are you getting any diagnostic trouble codes?

What engine do you have?

Regards,
Dusty

dustyk

What year and what engine do you have?

Regards,
Dusty

luckyman1

thanks dusty for the answer on the spark plugs ;; do you know which ones i should use ?? also did you see that i am having trouble with my 2003 3500 van with a 5.2(318) miss firing and burning up my plugs wires and cap and rotors. do you have any ideas ? thanks d.l.

dustyk

Can't tell you which Champion plug number off hand.

I need a little more information on your problem. How exactly are the plug wires, cap and rotor "burning up?" Are they physically melting, or are they breaking down in some way?

What is the engine symptom and ignition component's failure mode?

Regards,
Dusty

luckyman1

the rotor end is short and black caps ends are black and burnt. code is miss fire on #5it idles rough and you can feel it missing at high speed to

02ramman

Luckyman,

The correct plugs to use should be on your VECI label. It is a sticker either under the hood, or stuck on the radiator support. It should tell you the # and the gap.

Steve

coty

When driving the truck its fine, but when slowing down to stop and even at complete stops, it idles high. At first it wasn't that bad, but its getting worst and worse. No one seems to know what is wrong. We have had an engine diagnostic ran, but since nothing seemed wrong and the mechanic told us that since the engine light wasn't on we shouldn't be worried. I have heard of other complaints of high idle before. Does anyone have an idea of what could be causing this??? Any help is greatly appreciated.

luckyman1

they are burning the contacts in the cap and on the rotor

dustyk

There is always some corroded metal on the distributor cap terminals and the rotor tip from operation. I guess I'd have to see the components to make a judgement.

Excessive erosion of the terminal metal is usually due to long term operation with existing components. If spark plug gap is excessive or the plugs are badly worn, this could cause the ignition voltage to increase significantly and could cause a problem.

I'm suspicious that you may not have the correct spark plug installed in your engine. An incorrect plug could cause high terminal voltages and erode ignition parts.

Best regards,
Dusty

wholalu

it wont start sound like it wants to turn over help

kandj8395

I had a very similar situation with my 2002 Ram 1500. In my case, both my rear brake lights were not working, but the 3rd brake light up top continued to work. The filaments in all bulbs were good when inspected by vision. Backup, and parking lights were all working too. I suspected I had voltage getting at least to the 3rd brake light, so I tested at the harnesses attached to the bulb holders in the brake light assemblies. Voltage was good here too. Now I was really scratching my head, so I looked at the bulb base on the brake light bulb to try to understand how they attach to the bulb holder, when I discovered that one of the conductors (basically a bare solid wire) was sunk down into the plastic, and the plasic around it was melted. Viola! The bulb would not function because it could no longer make contact. I have had this truck for about a year and a half, and this is the second time I've had this problem- the first time I just replaced the bulb despite the filament looked good. This time, because both were out, I investigated it further. What I don't understand is that my left brake light had this problem, but the right did not. But, when I replaced the left bulb, the right started working again. That part, I'm still scratching my head about- but at least I now have working brake lights again. So, long story short (I know, too late now), check your bulb bases for melted plastic. I know that can't only be happening on my truck, and may be an overcurrent problem or something. Good luck.

sparky340

Sandy,

I have a 2001 1500 sport and have owned it since new. It has been an awesome truck. This only thing that I have had replaced is the sending unit in the gas tank at 92,000 miles. I am currently at 119,000 and the trans is starting to slip. My buddy at the tranny shop says that is pretty much normal. Other then these two things, I have never had a problem. I average about 30,000 miles per year.

sportys

the truck will back fire and acts like it wants to die but wont. then it might not happen for a few days. I have had a complete tune up with no help new fuel injectors with no help. Dodge can see the problem but they say they dont know what to do to fix it I have 80,000 miles on it so I guess its all on me
HELP from anyone Please

KCRam

Sporadic backfiring can be a sign of an exhaust system problem. You could probably use a thorough headers-to-tailpipe inspection to make sure there's nothing bent, pinched, plugged, or otherwise damaged.

kcram - Pickups Host

dmr2

Is there anyone who is knowlegable about suspension / axel components? I'm lost at figuring out a sound coming from the front under-carriage of my 2001 Ram...(SEE MESSAGE # 1869)... I'm completely stomped at figuring the problem out and hoping someone out there could help. Thanks.
Dave

luckyman1

engine light comes on after about 30 miles and code is 1740 manufactures transmission code / what should i do /

rt764

I am also having the same problem...
I removed the left front wheel and found a, what looks like a small U-joint was loose/broken....

The dealer originally said it was the oversize tires rubbing against the frame....
Yea, Right....

muhktar76

My 2001 Dodge Ram 5.2L 4WD just recently started revving to 1000-1200 rpm at idle and it revs while I use the cruise control at any speed. I checked all the vacuum lines and have found no sign of a leak. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

magpie2

giturdone

I purchased a 2005 2500 ram CTD 4x4 with a 6speed manual trans. It makes a growling and vibrating noise through the shifter. I was told told this a "new" trans for dodge and that the shifting forks float and they tend to rub against the gears and this is what the noise is. So its not fix able so get use to it. I don't know if it is a G56 trans. my 1995 ram CTD has a 5 speed with 251000 miles on it and the trans is quiet going down the road. What gives with dodge? :confuse:

magpie2

I have a Dodge Ram 1500 (5.2 ltr. auto trans) that all of a sudden developed a problem. Started the engine and the check engine light,fuel,air bag and ABS lights came on as well as the odometer started flashing and came up with message "no bus". Also lost function of instruments(speedometer,fuel,oil,temp gauge.) Checked all fuses.
Possible problems and what to look for before taking back to dealership? (no warranty left) Ex mechanic of 20 years ago. This is beyond me.
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

KCRam

If you have your window sticker (the actual paper one, not the online one from the dealer website), your build date is the 4 digit number at the top right of the barcode at the bottom of the sticker. If the build date is this year (meaning 01xx through 06xx), and there is no $400 charge for the 6-speed in the options list, you indeed have the new G56. The G56 also has its reverse gear on the left side of the pattern; the old NV5600 has R on the right side.

If you are running the G56, have the fluid level checked. There was a delay in releasing the trucks that had it - they needed an extra quart added through the top of the trans (aka via shifter). The G56 uses the same ATF+4 as the automatics. Have the service dept check that the fluid is topped off per Dodge instruction, and see if that makes a difference.

kcram - Pickups Host

ramtruckman

I have a 2002 Ram 1500, small V8, 4 X 4, automatic. My a/c only works when driving. The compressor cycles on and off in 5 second intervals when stopped and will not cool the cab. I checked the a/c pressure and it is just a little above normal. Any solutions to the problem?

moff

No DTCs. Had our mechanic check just in case. Also, in looking back over previous work on the truck, he also cleaned the throttle body when it was doing this back in October 04, when he did the tuneup (also it was actually at 83,000 miles then). Everything then cleared up. Now 23,000 miles later is doing it again. Also, noticed for the first time the rpm surge when idling just after starting it this weekend. (Yes, we drive a lot!) The engine is a 360. Don't want to pull the horse trailer until we get this fixed. We also had the transmission serviced with new filter kit and fluid about 3 months ago. This truck has 106,000 on it already, but it has been serviced regularly for everything. Thanks for replying.

moff

Dustyk,

spent a bit of time going over older posts and noted you have a Dakota. My Dakota is the reason I bought this Ram 1500, because it had been so reliable. Maybe you can help with the problem with the Dakota as well, though not in line with this forum.

I have a 94 club cab dakota with 318 engine and 234,000+ miles on it. It is on its third transmission (last replaced at 190,000 and out of warranty). One day it seemed to not want to shift up from 3rd to 4th. Next day was worse. By the time I got it home it would hardly upshift (any gear, starting from a stop). Pulled into my driveway and tried to back up and even reverse seemed to be revving high but little power to move it. Called the transmission guy who replaced the last one and he said it sounded like a valve in the transmission. What do you think I'm looking at? As you can see, having trouble with both vehicles and need at least one to work. Still, at 234,000, how can I complain?

dustyk

It's sounding more like Idle Air Control Motor (IAC) or valve or a fuel injector problem. The IAC is really the only major component in the throttle body that gets dirty, although the passage can become clogged as well. This is probably the simplest thing to address, so I'd have it cleaned again and see what happens.

Regards,
Dusty

dustyk

Hmmm. Shouldn't have this problem in 40K. Sounds like you've lost pressure, either from low fluid, clogged filter, or a bad pump. You could have a multiple problem with the valve body that could cause this, and yes a bad torque converter. Hard to say.

Are these rebuilt transmissions by your guy, or does he buy them already rebuilt?

One thing that should be checked. Make sure that after the rebuild that Dexron-Mercon IS NOT USED. There are still rebuilders out there that use Dexron in Dodge transmissions. Dexron should not be used -- period! Not even with a so-called additive.

Good luck,
Dusty

luckyman1

this keeps coming on and have had sensor replaced and it stiil is coming on ???

vette76

My 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 (5.9L) has what sounds like the exact same problem. Mine does everything above without the "no bus" message but with the lights staying on long after the key was out of the ignition. It seems like the truck doesn't realize the ignition is in the off position and that the key is out of the ignition switch. I checked all the wiring until I found burn marks on the ground prongs in the starter (?) (the black box that fits into the ignition switch cylinder). I have a new starter on order. I will let you know later this week if that work.

If anyone else out there has this problem, I'd like to know what you did too.