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Make: 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9L

Symptoms: After reaching warming temps. and 4 or 5 miles the damn truck starts getting goofy.When slowing down after warming up the tach starts bouncing up and down acting like its starving for fuel or a vacuum leak. I can keep it running by applying the brake and accel if at a red light. Then it straightens back out again.Or when the truck cuts off it starts right back up again like nothing ever happen. Kinda like when you stole a cookie out of the jar and grandma ask whats in your mouth and your reply is NOTHING.. She knows something is not right LOL

I have checked all vacuum lines and numerous other things like installed the following item to narrow my problems. TPS, AIS, Solenoid behind the carb (forgot what it is called) all plugs are hitting and the coil is good. Also cleaned out the carb with sea foam and cab cleaner. When I spray carb clean into the intake instead of it racing up it bogs down instead.(maybe nothing)Also I have back probed all of my connectors for votage and resistance. And also installed a new fuel filter/ pump in the tank. I did notice that there are 2 actuators on the passenger side next to the front with vacuum lines coming into it. One of the pumps begins working when the truck hit a certain temp.

Now I have taken it to a near by machanic to be inspected. These are the results that were given to me.

There is a relay or something under the dash on the driver side that clicks when the tach starts to fall below 500. That may be normal or not be normal.
He also informed me that with his computer hooked up to the truck he noticed that when it starts to jump erracticly the Crank and Cam sensor jump out of sinc. Losing votages to the crank..No fault pops up when this happens. Again all of this happens in drive and not in park.....

So can anyone help me?

Sign,

I love my truck!!!!!!!  

Hi!!

Take a look to your truck's EGR Valve, it´s near the dist. cap. One of the actuators you noticed, is the egr valve purge solenoid, maybe its clogged, or inoperative. You have two options, change the entire egr valve assembly (egr valve and purge solenoid- about $100.00 at your local AutoZone) or sealing the vacuum lines going in and out from the egr. there is a lot of sites that explain you what is the function of the egr valve. I got that problem on a 94 1500 5.9l gas regular cab ram, I block off vaccum lines to egr valve, and the engine runs fine again. (After a couple of weeks guessing what tha F****k whats happening with my truck).

E. Molina  

I also have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 with a 360 gas.
For 3 months now the truck is driving me crazy. I've also changed everything from plugs, wires, cap, rotor, MAP,IAC,TPS,Temp sensor, even the intake gaskets.

The truck will puke, buck, stall, especially when it is cold. Later when she's warm, not as bad, but still pretty much the same results as in the morning, just not as frequent. For instance, I'll be driving along the highway at about 60 miles an hour and she bucks like a cylinder shuts off and it refires. It feels like the engine is trying to break the motor mounts.

The tach always drops at least 1000 rpms and shoots right back up. I haven't changed the fuel pump but it always fires up after it stalls. There's even days when she fires up, pukes for about an hour or so, I'll park it, fire it back up and she runs great.

I think the truck is possessed! What can I do before I run it off a cliff?

Thanks.  Frustrated Frank!  

General rule: your tachometer, even at idle when hot, should never drop below 500.  My 5.7 engine low idles at 550.  Yours should do something similar.  So if it's dropping below 500, you can raise the idle.  That might help some.

I wasn't aware carburetors were used in that late of model years.  Interesting.