rwb77w
Junior Member
I just bought a 98 ram 1500 2wd 5.2 less than a week ago. So far I have replaced the fuel pump. Had a trouble code for random misfire, changed plugs and wires, as well as re routed the plug wires. New distributor cap and rotor. Misfire code went away. Its hard to say, because I've only had the truck for a few days, but I believe its showing signs of a faulty plenum gasket. Saw very small amount of oil inside the throttle body, and checked the pcv. It was shot, so I replaced it. Still pinged a little, so I put $20 worth of 93 fuel along with a gumout fuel system cleaner in the tank. Seemed to help a little. That was before I researched about this "chronic" ilness the magnums suffer.... the plenum. I am comfortable doing the repair, and found the kit from hughes engines, plan on replacing the O2 sensors and possibly removing the cat(no emissions tests in FL). The vehicle has 143k and had one previous owner, an older gentleman who seemed to care for it well. It sat for a while prior to my purchase. My main concern is, how do I know if any internal damage has been done to the engine. Is it too late? Tranny is fine. Runs good, well seems to anyway. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.