2001 Dodge Ram 1/2 ton

At 55 to 65 miles per hour, feel a surging symptom, not constant, comes and goes. Does not seem to be temperature related.

Does it with cruise control off or on, makes no difference.

When it does it, the tachometer goes up one to two hundred rpm, but instead of feeling acceleration it feels as if the engine is missing.

Took it to the Dodge dealer and an independent mechanic. Both said there were no codes stored in the computer, they could not find anything wrong.

Has been doing it quite a while, might be getting a little worse, maybe for the last 10K miles or so.

Have installed new plugs, rotor, wires, filters etc.

Truck has 93K on it.

Anyone have any ideas?

If I remember right, there was a recall for surging. It had to do with the EGR valve gasket. My truck was a '95 so they may have fixed it by 2001. Check Fritz's Ram Tech page. They list all of the recall's and TSB's.

Transmission slipping or converter unlocking & locking again??

Was it surging before or after you put the plugs & wires on If not reroute the plug wires back into the right place. A friend of mined had same problem and it was a plug wire in the wrong place it somehow was over the cruise control cable rerouted the wire and fixed problem. Good Luck

Interesting question about the time line. Not real sure if it was doing this before the new plugs and wires.

Can't seem to remember.

Exactly what does the routing of the plug wire cause in regard to cruise control?

I suppose (?) it caused a binding symptom?

Transmission or converter problem sounds expensive, hope it is something else.

Have had EGR valve problems with other vehicles, sometimes is hard to diagnose, caused problems at other than expected driving conditions.

Hopefully someone who has had the same problem as I am seeing will see this.

Thanks to those who have responded so far, have given me a couple of things to check out.

My 1997 Dodge did the same thing.

Get the RPM sensor changed.

It will only get worse and get hard to start and eventually quit running.

If the RPM sensor goes bad it sends no signal and the ECM (electronic control module) thinks the engine is not running and shuts everything down such as spark and the fuel pump.

This works this way so if the truck is in an accident and the engine stops but the key is still in the run position and the RPM sensor is not sending a signal the ECM any more since the egine is stopped the ECM will shut down the fuel pump to keep it from pumping gas all over the pavement to prevent a fire.

I've replaced a many of RPM sensors on Ford and Chevy Diesels. The dodge sensors are a little bit more complicated to replace though.

I would guess that would be your tps going out on you.

It is a very common dodge transmission problem, It is your torque converter unlocking/locking-up. Doesn"t hurt anything in my experience, but it will drive you nuts. I finally gave in and had the trans rebuilt. Try some of the dodge forums for the details.

www.dodgetrucks.org

P>S> Find a good dodge mechanic or transmission shop...

Take it back to the Dodge dealer and ask them to look at bulletin number: 18-006-02C
for a PCM reflash/recalibration.

DONT LET THEM { FLASH THE COMPUTER }IF THEY DO THAT, THE POWER GOES ALL TO HE!!/ I know we had a problem they Told me a New Computer[ They have to flash in the Codes for the year of the truck,THE EPA / HAD DODGE CHANGE SOME OF THE SETTINGS TO DOWN POWER THEM. would FIX the Problem/ HO! HO! It didnt do any thing Just CUT the Power in Half ,There Cure ! Was For us to Trade for a newer model with a Hemi ! HO! HO! well we still have the truck a 98 4+4 1/2 ton 360 motor,I WISH I HAD NEVER LET THE DEALER FLASH THE COMPUTER.Look at other things First ! Just like some of the other guys are saying !!!!

I deal with this one all the time. Don t worry, more than likely not an internal trans or converter issue. Start with a throttle position sensor. Chrysler part #4882219, cost about $40.
This is a potentiometer like your fuel guage. The harder you press on the throttle the higher the voltage reads from the sensor to the computer. The computer uses this info to know when to lock or unlock the converter clutch. If the sensor gets a weak spot in it at just the right position it will drop voltage and the computer will command the converter to lock and unlock as the voltage spikes up and down. Because you commonly drive between 55 and 65, that s where the sensor wears. The computer will virtually never throw a code because it just thinks your foot is twitching like crazy on the gas.

I m not big on just throwing parts at something, but because it can be intermittent and the voltage drop is millisecond fast, it will cost you more time and money to hook it to a lab scope and find the glitch than it will to just replace the sensor.

Start here anyway, there are other causes for this, most of which are electrical. IF the TPS doesn t fix it let me know, I can give you some other things to check. Good Luck BW

There are tons of NO CODE drivibility problems out ! I would have check bulletins for updates as Brad mentioned ,first. A PCM reflash will not cut power in half . Next I would check fuel pressure and volume . Distributor sync should be checked. Also I would check TPS ,,typicaly they fail in the off idle portion of travel though . You can sweep test it with an OHM meter . Seen alot of egr solenoind failures on these . Also mentioned ,trans problems . Like I said,just because there are no codes ,,does not mean something can fail and cause drivibility problems .

Brokenwrench, how can I get ahold of you?

My 97 Dodge was having the same problem as yours- until I read this thread, I went out an bought a TPS and put it on about 2 hours ago and it fixed it right up !! Thanks everybody, This site is GREAT- mike

I think this should work, my email should be open now in the bottom corner..