I purchased a 1997 4x4 Ram from my neighbor. It has 111000 mile on the 360.
The truck starts just fine and other than the slightly rough idle (which I
am told is a pretty normal occurence in this engine) runs great while
sitting still and also has great accelleration and high speed (70+ mph)
performance. The problem is that while the engine is spinning at about
1700-2200 RPM, a miss can be felt which makes the truck, well, "shimmy" as I
run down the road. Not the shimmy you feel when a tire is out of balance or
round but the shimmy you feel when the engine is running sub-optimal. I put
new tires (265/75/16) on all four corners and had them balance them twice
and show me the readings as they did it so that I could eliminate a problem
with tire balance. I also notice that if I shift down while the shimmy is
occuring, it abates quite significantly but does not entirely disappear. I
took the truck up and had new dual exhaust put on (thrustmaster II) and
while in the shop they hooked it up to the diagnostic computer. While there
were no codes set, it was showing that the engine was running lean at those
RPMs. So here is my plan and I want to see if it makes sense.
I have already replaced the pcv valve, cap, rotor, plugs and wires. I have
a K&N drop in that has been cleaned and re-oiled. carb cleaner has been
used to clean the outside (and inside where possible) of the TBI.
Since it is running lean, either the computer is getting input that the
mixture is plenty rich and cuts back on the fuel even though, in reality,
the mixture is now off
or
The computer has no idea that it is lean and is putting the perfect mixture
through the manifold and the leak is occuring where the computer cannot
detect it and fix it.
My logics says I should:
First, start with the O2 sensor(s). Do I need to replace all three or is
there rhyme or reason to which one to try first?
Second, I thooght about the fuel system itself. Is it possible that the
computer is telling the injector to put in X amount of fuel into the
cylinder but the injector is unable to deliver it in the amount of time
specifed? Can injectors really be clean without removing them or is
replacement the only true option?
Third, The intake manifold gasket. It was replaced by Chrysler when the
truck had 36K on it for the vaccumm leak problem and I wonder if it could
have happened again.
I am up for suggestions since the O2 sensors are about 45 bucks each and any
of these option will eat into my precious "sit-in-my-chair-and-watch-nascar"
time. :-)
Thanks in advance for any ideas,
-Jerry
jerrynatlga(AT)gmail.com
BDK - 06 Aug 2005 00:44 GMT
> I purchased a 1997 4x4 Ram from my neighbor. It has 111000 mile on the 360.
> The truck starts just fine and other than the slightly rough idle (which I
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> -Jerry
> jerrynatlga(AT)gmail.com
I have had three 360 powered vehicles:
A 74 Roadunner (best 360 ever by far)
A 77 Power Wagon (Horrible in so many ways)
A 84 or 85 Ramcharger (Cant remember what year, I sold it almost
immediately back 10 years ago a week after I bought it for an insanely
cheap price..
They ALL did this. From day one. I fixed the problem on the Roadrunner
and Powerwagon by rejetting and/or a metering rod change. The Ramcharger
was gone after I changed the manifold gaskets. The 74 had no problems
with the intake gaskets, but the 77 took drastic measures (The most
obnoxious smelling sealing stuff) smeared on them to solve it, after
changing them several times, once by the dealer, once by a garage, and
three times by me. Of course, if the heads would have been even remotely
"straight" it would have helped a lot. The stock manifold was warped to
match the heads, so it wasn't too bad, but it cracked and I wanted to go
to a 4 barrel carb and so I bought an Edelbrock intake and it WAS
straight, so not only didn't it seal well, the damn bolt holes had to be
enlarged to put it on. Fine quality back in 77.
One thing, and I don't know how the later ones are set up, that made
this problem much worse was that the vacuum advance in the 77 caused the
distributor pickup to graze the pole piece at a certain point in it's
travel. I found this out by putting it on a scope and it had a certain
RPM point it started misfiring and we found out if the advance hose was
disconnected, it didn't do it. I ended up buying a Direct Connection
replacement distributor and having it recurved slightly (stock it pinged
badly) and it helped a lot, but the cure was a little more fuel..
I passed on buying a Ram in 2000, I just couldn't buy another LA engine,
so I bought a GMC instead. After it was wrecked, I bought a 2003 Hemi
Ram. I sure don't miss the 318/360..
Good luck..
BDK
EDTHEWARD - 06 Aug 2005 15:37 GMT
"BDK" <kingratay@buckeye-express.com> wrote in message
> I have had three 360 powered vehicles:
>
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> Good luck..
I feel dumb when I read this forum.
Jackson - 06 Aug 2005 19:49 GMT
> I feel dumb when I read this forum.
LOL
news - 06 Aug 2005 21:01 GMT
You are reading this news group which puts you head and shoulders above most
other vehicle owners!
-Jerry
> "BDK" <kingratay@buckeye-express.com> wrote in message
>> I have had three 360 powered vehicles:
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> I feel dumb when I read this forum.
Gene - 06 Aug 2005 22:27 GMT
>I feel dumb when I read this forum.
That's good..I feel like a drooling idiot when I read it :)
Nosey - 07 Aug 2005 00:22 GMT
>> I feel dumb when I read this forum.
>
> That's good..I feel like a drooling idiot when I read it :)
That feeling will pass. Take a deep breath, count to three.... ;^)
news - 06 Aug 2005 21:06 GMT
I replaced the O2 sensors. There were actually only two, one upstream and
one downstream. Downstream went on like a charm, upstream stripped the
threads off the old sensor and had to drive all over town to find an 18mm
tap to clean out the Cat converter hole! WHAT A PAIN!!!!! finally got it
tapped out and 5 hours after starting, the second sensor is in. Now I am
afraid to drive it since it will depress me if I just spent 130 bucks for
two un-needed sensors...
-Jerry
P.S. I bought the gasket set for the manifold so I may be busy tomarrow too!
:-)
Old_Timer - 13 Aug 2005 21:38 GMT
>I replaced the O2 sensors. There were actually only two, one upstream and
>one downstream. Downstream went on like a charm, upstream stripped the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>-Jerry
I resemble that remark. I changed all the parts you did, plugs, wires
etc, before changing both sensors. Still did not solve my problem.
Then bought a Davis CarChip and captured my data flow. I found that
the fuel system in Bank one is running open loop. Oh well, the
CarChip will continue to help in the future.
Old_Timer