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Greetings All:
I have a an 05/Ram/1500/2wd/5.7. This morning while driving my girl to school, I punched the gas(to get across the road into traffic) and all of a sudden the truck started idling rough, sputtering/fluttering while driving(never stalling). Within a second or two the engine light would blink slowly(only while gassing it) and when I let my foot off the gas the light would go away, but the truck would continue to flutter/sputter. I did seafoam the truck this past weekened. 1/3 in the crankcase, 1/3 in the tank, 1/3 slowly through the brake booster vac(let sit for 12min). No smoke show(assuming clean engine,and have done it in the past with same results). I have done the key trick(on,off,on,off,on and no Pcodes were displayed). Me and my daughter are supposed to go to Monster Jam this Saturday in Jacksonville and I would like to take my truck, but if a no go I will hijack wifey’s Honda. Any thoughts?Many Thanks:
Don
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When the engine light flashes it means the engine is misfiring.
either spark plugs or coil packs would be suspect. Try doing a power
balance test.http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Misfires can have all kinds of causes from mechanical issues to fuel and spark as mentioned. The key is to find the problem while it’s happening. A power balance test is a great place to start when dealing with misfires. Also, since you just worked on the truck, it’s probably not a bad idea to go back over everything that you did. Perhaps something came loose or was not hooked up correctly. It’s worth looking into. For additional information, including a video on how to do a power balance test, you can find it at the link that College man posted.
Keep us posted on what you find.
Well, I had a few moments to quickly pull a few wires from the coils(3 or 4,each plug on mine has a separate coil), but there wasn’t any rpm drop that was noticeable.I did not have time to do all of them. I don’t recall if I had mentioned this in my initial post but last night while making a few rounds in the area, the hemi was running just fine. The issue only popped up this morning after gunning the gas to get into a flow of traffic. YOU GUY’S ROCK!!!
It’s possible that the sea foam loosened some carbon and has stuck to a spark plug tip and is shorting it out. I would remove the plugs (all 16) and inspect them carefully. If they are due to replace them it might be a good time to do it regardless.
I have had this happen to me before.
I did a few plugs(not all) with the balance test and could not notice rpm drops. Today I went to autozone and they did a scan which came up with a P0301(only code, supposedly a cyl-1 misfire). So I changed out the two plugs on that one just to get an idea if that would clear up. Unsuccessful, it still does the same things. When I took out the cyl-1 plugs they seemed to be in cruddy shape(see photo).
Honestly, to me it looks like those plugs could be changed. Try changing the plugs and see where you get from there. With misfires, always start with the easy maintenance stuff first. Plugs are a great place to start.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Keep us posted.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=89125]Honestly, to me it looks like those plugs could be changed. Try changing the plugs and see where you get from there. With misfires, always start with the easy maintenance stuff first. Plugs are a great place to start.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Keep us posted.[/quote]Those are the Cyl-1 plugs that I pulled. And I replaced them with two of the same, gapped to .045 and the truck is still running the same. I am fearing that I have some severe internal damage. But the p0301 is the only code showing.
Finally finished changing out all 16 plugs(family issues forced me to take a short holiday with the job). Truck seems to be working well now, and took it for a 5 mile spin. Idle is smooth, punched it a few times and it held it’s own. After taking out each plug and checking the gap, each one was at about a .052!! When I think back(to my last plug change), a member of a dodge forum recommended to me to increase the gap to .052 because he had done that and his performance slightly increased. I realize I was a dope for doing that. I gapped all of the new ones at .045(recommended for the 05/Hemi). I will be doing an oil change tomorrow, and time will tell if this holds. All of my sincere thanks to everyone on this forum for your valuable help(especially Eric for creating these forums). You guy’s rock.
Oh, here is a photo of the old plugs.
One more question? There was a code P0301(cyl #1 misfire). I had changed the plugs for that and it did not clear the issue, but changing all of them did. So why would I get the code for #1 cyl and not any of the others if #1 cyl was “supposedly” the culprit? Thanks gents.
Don
Sometimes ECU may read misfires wrong so it might have been another cylinder.
Or in the system the system in 16 spark plug hemi every coil controls two spark plugs another being in other cylinder (spark plug 2 fires late and is there mostly for emissions). So the other spark plug that the coil of cylinder 1 plug 1 uses (cylinder 2 plug 2) may also be culprit.
college man: If I understand correctly he first changed plugs on cylinder 1 and misfire code came back. Then he changed all spark plugs and code stayed off.
[quote=”hemified05″ post=89781]One more question? There was a code P0301(cyl #1 misfire). I had changed the plugs for that and it did not clear the issue, but changing all of them did. So why would I get the code for #1 cyl and not any of the others if #1 cyl was “supposedly” the culprit? Thanks gents.
Don[/quote]
Glad to hear your making progress. As for the p0301 not going away
when those plugs were changed? Did you reset the computer itself?[quote=”valde” post=89789]college man: If I understand correctly he first changed plugs on cylinder 1 and misfire code came back. Then he changed all spark plugs and code stayed off.[/quote]This is correct.
[quote=”college man” post=89790][quote=”hemified05″ post=89781]One more question? There was a code P0301(cyl #1 misfire). I had changed the plugs for that and it did not clear the issue, but changing all of them did. So why would I get the code for #1 cyl and not any of the others if #1 cyl was “supposedly” the culprit? Thanks gents.
Don[/quote]
Glad to hear your making progress. As for the p0301 not going away
when those plugs were changed? Did you reset the computer itself?[/quote]I did in fact reset the ECU. On my truck I pulled the #23 fuse(ECU), pulled the neg batt term, waited 30 min, then plugged all back in, test drive, then all reappeared. I did this as well last night before the test drive. And I took my daughter to school this morn, and no issues so far. I will be swapping out the oil this morn, and I have an hours drive to a doctor today(taking the truck) so I hope the trip goes smoothly. Or should I take wifey’s car and see if after a few days if things are solid?Sounds like progress. If the light did not come back on after the reset, you should be fine.
Misfire codes are interpreted by the computer as it looks at the crank sensor reading after each ignition event. This causes the crankshaft to speed up and the computer interprets this as successful combustion. If it does not see the speed increase it’s expecting it sets a misfire code. Thing is, it’s not always accurate and as a result the computer may throw a code for a cylinder that isn’t actually misfiring. I hope that explains that for you.
Keep us posted if things change.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=89852]Sounds like progress. If the light did not come back on after the reset, you should be fine.
Misfire codes are interpreted by the computer as it looks at the crank sensor reading after each ignition event. This causes the crankshaft to speed up and the computer interprets this as successful combustion. If it does not see the speed increase it’s expecting it sets a misfire code. Thing is, it’s not always accurate and as a result the computer may throw a code for a cylinder that isn’t actually misfiring. I hope that explains that for you.
Keep us posted if things change.[/quote]
Actually, I keep reading your above explanation over and over, so this way I will make it a point to really make sure I do understand. That’s just the way I am. You people have been troopers to me and I truly appreciate it. You know, last night my wife and I were watching America’s Funniest Home Video’s, and she asked me if I was proud of myself for fixing the problem with the truck, and I said “no”. I told her I was proud to have a thoughtful bunch of folk standing next to me giving me assistance. I took the truck from Palm Coast here to Jacksonville(about 45-1hr each way), no engine light, and good idle, no bucking or misfire. My mpg has also seemed to increase a slight amount. All smooth so far. And I will let you boys know if anything pops up.
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