Dodge 1500 troubles

[beakie]

My buddies 1500 has been running like crap for some time now. Its a 98, 318, with about 160k on it.


First off it wouldn't stay running. After sitting for a while, I tried starting it, but it wouldn't stay going without staying on the gas. I found out Dodges have had problems re-learning the ECU parameters, and they need to run for a while after the battery has been dead for a while.

Charged battery, new plugs, new battery clamps (old ones were crap) and things ran fine for a bit.

Now it won't get up to speed. It starts fine, seems to run fine, but won't go above 30kph. I have seen another 1500 with a clogged cat cause problems, could this be the culprit again?

What other problems can we look for?

Thanks for the help.

 

[5-90]

Thirty klicks is pretty slow - I'd probably suspect a plugged cat. Does the engine rev normally in Park or Neutral, or does it start to stall at rougly the same crank speed it would be at at 30 klicks?

 

[beakie]

it doesn't stall at all, thats the odd part. it runs normally in P and N, it just won't speed up past 30-40kph.
the other truck a buddy had with the clogged cat ran rough at speeds, and would slow down, this one just won't get going.
I am going to cut the cat out this afternoon, to see if its the cause.

 

[shelbyluvv]

It is not the cat. It is more than likely a map sensor or a bad o2.

 

[beakie]

I don't know much about the MAP sensor, but I have had a bad O2 sensor on my Jeep before. It caused rough idle, bad milege, and horrible acceleration, but it still accelerated in the end. This is running, seemingly ok, it just won't get up and go.

Either way, I'm on my way over to remove the cat, to see if that changes anything.
thanks

 

[anthony]

My buddies 1500 has been running like crap for some time now. Its a 98, 318, with about 160k on it.

What other problems can we look for?

gas fresh ??? throttle opening all the way ???

 

[beakie]

gas is fresh, throttle opens, but after driving it today for the first time in a month... it feels just like the cat being clogged the way my other buddies did years ago. idle is fine, and it sounds ok when feeding gas, but you can feel the lack of power, slight chugging and all around gutlessness of it.
I started taking the cat off, what a wreck that is gonna be. the header to downpipe clamps are rusted to heck and hard to get at. then the quick-connect on the airhose at the garage blew apart while in my hands. then realized my room mate has my sawzall here at this house so I had to try cutting it off with an agle grinder... no room for that. quit for the night, will get back at it tomorrow.

thanks for the help, new options and ideas on this problem.

 

[shelbyluvv]

Why don't you search around on dodgetruckworld.com before you cut a $200 cat off for no reason? Did you try an idle learn procedure? Reset the computer? Rent a odb scanner? Check it for codes? There are a lot of things that will cause a Dodge to run like crap. How many o2s does it have 1, 2 or 3? Is ths downstrem o2 working right?

Do some reading on DTW in their tech section, please, before you hack up your boys truck!

 

[beakie]

exhuast is stock 10 year old stuff, 180 000k's on it. It has re-learned the idle and I have a code reader. It has not thrown a code in some time. The muffler has a few rusted out holes in it, and after running for about 3 minutes the cat was so hot I couldn't even put my hand within a few inches of it. the exhuast that is coming out of the muffler is much hotter than normal.
two O2 sensors, neither trowing a code, no codes at all. and there were no code when my other friends cat went, just sluggish, no pick up, and gutless... much like this one.

he hasn't been able to use his truck as a DD in over 5 months because of ongoing problems (granted not a bad thing at todays prices) but he wants this thing running again for once.
I understand your concern for not hacking good pieces up, but I have looked into
other options, none have solved anything.

 

[beakie]

so the cat is off, combs are busted apart and a lot of dust/debris is in there.
The muffler is off too, it had half dozen or so holes rusted in through it, and has plenty of crap shakin around in it too.

So now we just have to get a new pipe/cat combo and muffler to boot. $400 should get things rolling again.