Some problems I can't figure out...?

One is a shake or shutter I get while driving. It's only when i am part throttle. If I am cruising at a consistent speed it's fine. If I let off the pedal the slightest bit the whole truck shakes like crazy. It also does it when I first start to move and release the brake pedal just a little bit. I want to say it's because of the rough idle the engine has.

Which brings me to the second problem. Why is my engine running rough? I just did the plenum gasket. But it was happening before that too. I don't believe there are any misfires (I did the pull each plug and see if it changed method. Also with injectors). I've read online that maybe there could be a head gasket leak? Or a valve leak? Any idea? Or how to test?

Final problem. This damn oil light and gauge are annoying the hell out of me. I replaced the sending unit a while ago. Nothing has changed. I believe there is a short in the cluster, but where do I look? I took the cluster apart and cleaned it. Everything looked fine. I say it's a short because when the tach needle gets to about 1000 rpms...the oil light flickers. As the needle drops it gets more consistent until it's finally just on. Sometimes when that happens the gauge drops to nothing as if it lost all signal. I am at a loss for this one. I'm thinking about taking a tach from the junk yard and swapping it out. Maybe my tach is bad internally?

ANY help is greatly appreciated!

id go to the junk yard and get a cheap gauge cluster and check to see if your oil sensor and crank sensor are touching wires........and the shaking i would say might be your track bar on the front axle cause my 96 model did the same thing and it was the track bar lol

Which bar is the track bar? I usually know just about everything about this stuff but the track bar isn't one I'm too used to hearing about.

this is the track bar

its the one that is in an odd shape above the pumpkin on the axle that goes to the frame

Okay I see now. But how would that cause a shake that acts as specifically as mine does? And how do I go about seeing if it is that?

I ha the shake problem on my 99 2wd and it was the idler arm then problem still was there and I bought a pitman arm and problem fixed gauges I'm not sure on the one .


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

Rough idle could be tps or iac .

How many mile are on your truck. To further help !


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

if its the engine shaking do what he said^^^^^but if its at low speeds to check the bar grab it and see if its lose ......cause it keeps the front end stable w/o it ur axle jars back and forth

Also check the track bar bushings they tend to dry rot


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

It has about 135,000 miles on it. Maybe a little more. I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll try checking those things!

Ok try these things get some starter fluid ( ether ) and spray your vaccum lines I forgot to mention that can cause a rough idle .

Check your tps and iac . Possibly replace both .

Back to the vaccum thing spray your lines one at a time if your truck idle up then you have a vaccum leak but if it does not your problem lays else were ..

TexasCornBread


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

It has about 135,000 miles on it. Maybe a little more. I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll try checking those things!

How do I check the iac and the Tps? I can google it but I usually finding an answer on here quicker because my phones internet is slow past its limit.

Unplug them see if anything changes ? Ohm them . Etc....


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

That's not specific. What do I really do? To ohm them? Be specific

I don't know the exact ohms you need for them to know if there good or not . Maybe someone can chime in and help us both of us expand our knowledge


If you can't dodge it RAM it !

I unplugged the tps and started it. The only difference was that the engine revved a little bit higher at first but dropped right back to normal. That's all. I didn't try unplugging the iac yet.

does it sound like its miss firing any??????

No, not really. Like I said originally I checked that.

So...i'm still stuck with somewhat of a rough idle. Now I brake brake problems after replacing the rear shoes. Truck shakes quite a bit while breaking. Maybe warped drums?

And sometimes while taking off the truck seems to "lag" for lack of a better word. I seems to start to go..then go up and down like it's switching in and out of gear? I don't think that's what is is, but it's hard to explain. It's not noticeable on the tach. Not sure what do to.