Hello,
I have a 1996 Dodge Ram B2500 Conversion Van.
I bought it back in 2001 with 30k and had to put in a new transmission at 60k. That, needless to say, was lame.
But now I'm having an ongoing problem that started half a year ago and won't go away:
A random misfire on two of the cylinders.
So far, several different mechanics have done the following:
-- replaced the rotor & dist. cap (3 times)
-- replaced all of the plugs (2 times)
-- replaced the wires (2 times)
-- replaced the coil (2 times) -- both of these times, they noticed it wasn't putting out enough power.
-- done a full check on the distributor (it was fine)
-- done a full compression check on all cylinders (they were fine)
-- checked out the O2 sensor (it was fine)
Here are some other facts about it (forgive me, I'm not so mechanically inclined):
-- it *seems* to occur when the vehicle is low on gas
-- it sometimes has appeared to occur when going over bumps...maybe
-- once it starts, the whole car will shake. I can get rid of the shaking by putting in high-octane gas and fuel system cleaner, usually, but the check engine light stays on (i.e. the misfire still occurs?)
-- it seemed to start when I took it to a Dodge dealer for a tune-up. When I took it to my neighborhood mechanic, he noticed they had wired the plugs incorrectly. This was the first time I fixed it, though, and it's been back about 10 times now.
Has anyone seen this before? Could it have anything to do with that second transmission? With the fuel system? The engine mounts? (these are all theories that friends have posited).
HELP!