New, With Questions!!

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that4wdwagon

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Apr 15, 2015
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Ram Year
1982
Engine
Slant 6
I recently traded a Volvo for a 1982 Dodge D-150 with the slant 6, and a granny 4-speed. I'm not to familiar with carbureted engines and am used to fuel injected imports but I thought I would give this truck a go. I've started messing with it a little bit, got a decent looking Carter BBD, rebuilt it and threw it on. I can't get the truck to run right still though. It revs up just fine in neutral, but in gear under load it spits and sputters and kind of acts like its skipping. Any one have any advice on what could be wrong?

The steering is also very loose and I've been looking around and it doesn't seem like it is the common steering coupler that is loose, I haven't taken it apart to verify this, but it still doesn't look like that is the problem.

One last question I can think of, is there any way to tighten up the shifter? Theres so much play in it I can barely find my gears and am mostly afraid that I'm going to slam it into reverse when trying to find 1st.

Any help, advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Dillon
 

HeavyD

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Location
Medicine Hat, Alberta - Canada
Ram Year
2004
Engine
4.7 SOHC 5 SP Auto
1 - sounds like now enough fuel or distributer is worn out.
2 - the steering is most likely the steering box, there is an adjustment on the top of the box- wrench & screw driver.
3 - the top of the tranny is where the shifter sits, there are pieces that wear out, or the fork is really worn, or internals in the tranny.

Sounds like nobody did ant maintenance on the truck.
 
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that4wdwagon

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Ram Year
1982
Engine
Slant 6
I've been saying its something to do with the distributor also, as in plugs or timing may be off, those are too essential things that I honestly haven't checked. Everyone keeps telling me that the bbd can't be made to work on a slant 6, but I've read online that it can be tuned well enough to run on a slant. Also a lot of people have been telling me that its vacuum leaks somewhere, which I still need to check for also.

I need to check out the steering box adjustment too, my dad twisted it a few times but didn't really adjust it and it feels the same if not worse...haha

I probably need to get under the truck to see where the shifter is loose at, for all I know its just worn out bushing or a loose screw or something...

And tell me about it... When I got the truck, someone had installed a carter bbd and it didn't have the accelerator pump or choke linkages, and almost all of the vacuum ports were sucking in free air...plus, the vacuum advance for the distributor was unhooked...I hate fixing someone elses problems because they didn't know what they were doing, but they thought it sounded soooo cool to slap a double barrel carb on an engine that calls for a single barrel...and then they decide to spray paint everthing under the hood with shiny black paint....hahaha, If you don't understand what your doing then you probably shouldn't do it... ohhh well thats life right?

Thanks man! I'll report back when I've checked everything out though!
 

HeavyD

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2004
Engine
4.7 SOHC 5 SP Auto
vacuum gauge is cheap to see what the vacuum is.
The advance might be the problem on the distributor.

& a two barrel is no prob on that engine.

I would also do a compression test.
 
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that4wdwagon

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Slant 6
Well I think I found the problem....I'm not sure how it happened or what caused it but it doesn't look good....These are from cylinders 2 and 3, the demolished plug is from #3, the smashed down plug is from #2.....

Also did a compression test...

#1-75 psi
#2-80 psi
#3-50 psi :(
#4-75 psi
#5-75 psi
#6-75 psi

Sounds to me like either the rings in #3 are really gone, or theres hole in that piston...

But my next question is what could've caused the pistons to slap the plugs like that, could it be really really bad rod bearings possibly?

Thanks for the help, sounds like a rebuild or swap is in my not to distant future....
 

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HeavyD

Senior Member
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Engine
4.7 SOHC 5 SP Auto
75 psi is even low, should be 90 - 120 or more.

check the plug #'s & make sure they are right, if they go into the head to far that can happen as well.
 

crazzywolfie

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81 93
Engine
5.2
as far as the steering goes you may want to check the tie rods and ball joints. jack up the tires 1 at a time. put your hands at 3 and 9 on the tire and push and pull to check the tie rods/center link and you put your hands on 6 and 12 and push and pull to test the ball joints.

as far as the engine goes something don't look right. if the correct spark plugs are in the engine then there is no reason the pistons should come in contact with them. if anything the engines are pretty low compression and you can shave the heads to increase the compression ratio on those engines. when you did the compression check did you hold the throttle open all the way? you may also want to do a wet test after you do the normal dry test. just squirt some oil in the cylinder and if the rings are shot the oil should seal it up enough to increase the compression by a noticeable amount.
 
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that4wdwagon

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Ram Year
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Engine
Slant 6
I was thinking 75 was low also, I'll check the plug numbers tomorrow and see if they are the right ones and I'll also do a wet test and post the results.

I did notice that whoever put the plugs in last tightened them down more than I'm used to, I had to use a small breaker bar to break a couple of them loose...

And yes, I held the throttle fully opened as I did the test and turn it over for about 7-10 seconds for each cylinder on a full battery with a charger on it. Does that sound like about the right amount of time?

Lets just say if the wet test doesn't increase the compression, what else would cause low compression? Valves not completely closing? Are these adjustable or are they hydraulic?

And I'll also check the ball joints and tie rods out next time I get it on level ground. I'm pretty sure they'll need replaced because the previous owner of this truck didn't take care of this poor truck at all... but on the plus side it has a new clutch and pressure plate (even though they left the lower half of the bellhousing off...)

Thanks y'all!
 

crazzywolfie

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5.2
75 psi is bad. you want to at least see 100psi across all cylinders but 150 is what you would wan to see on a real good engine. i think you are pretty much just suppose to keep cranking the engine till the gauge stops moving but i think it should have stopped moving after 7-10 seconds. if the compression does not increase with a wet test it could possibly be bad valves or head gasket. anything might be possible especially with the shape those plugs are in. i don't think there is much adjustment on the lifters or rockers. stock dodge engine are usually fairly simple.

as far as the steering goes i find the front ends on these trucks are pretty good. they are pretty strong. mine is still pretty tight and the only thing i have replaced was the center link. i have no clue how old the rest of the parts are.
 
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