Another idea (that could be completely wrong but worth checking) is your
breather on the drivers side valve cover. Mine blew off and at 50MPH it
would drive like shit, it was fine most anywhere else. I stuck the breather
back on and everything is great. This kinda blew my mind as for a while I
drove it with the breather plugged and it ran great, then I stuck a K&N
breather in there when I put my blower on and reset the PCM, it ran fine
until the breather blew off. I have the breather in there good now and it
runs great.
Shawn
Blown 98 5.2L 4x4 CC
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET]On Behalf Of Bob Tom
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 12:23 PM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: Re: DML: DML : Hesitation between 45 and 50 mph...
At 08:02 AM 7/20/01 -0400, you wrote:
>I have a '98 Dakota CC 4X4 with a 318. So far I have performed the
>following mods: 180 t-stat, JBA headers, K&N FIPK, Mopar Performance
wires,
>Autolite 3923's, JET II chip. Generally the truck runs fine, and I can't
>even try to make it ping on 87 octane fuel. However, a few months ago, I
>started noticing a slight hesitation or "bucking" between 45 and 50 mph in
>OD. The engine RPM's are about 1600 (I have the 3.55 LS and 31"
Goodyears).
>The hesitation is more noticable with the A/C on and going up a hill. If
the
>transmission downshifts out of OD or I give it a bit more than light
>throttle, the truck responds fine. --SNIP--
It sounds like it's a case of mild pinging (increasing load at low rpms in
OD).
If I had this, I would first try a tank of 89 and try to repeat it under
similar
conditions before starting to replace things. If it disappears, then most
likely
the combustion chambers or valves have some carbon buildup and the higher
octane will be needed. Also, do a quick check for a leaky valley pan
gasket.
Is most of you driving non-highway type? You may be able to clear some it
out by taking OD off and doing a WOT run a few times, listening carefully
for detonation and watching rear/side mirror to see what comes out of
your exhaust pipe.
HTH. Bob
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:02:10 EDT