06 5.9L rough idle knocking and jerking

[jevenbell]

I bought a 2006 ram megacab with 5.9 from the dealer this past Saturday with 225k. has a K&n intake, mbrp exhaust, and a powermax CR TST. test drove it drove amazing with no problems. Took it home and drove it all day and night without a single hiccup. The truck did have what seemed like a slight injector ping. The following morning I drove it to the shop to detail the underbody and engine bay with a pressure washer. After leaving I went to get on it a little down the road and the truck spooled up, but at max psi the turbo blew off and the truck started missing. It sounded like it was running off 3 cylinders, and lots of white smoke. Shut it off, turned it back on and it idled like it never happened. However anytime I floored it from that point I risked it happening again and now it just shut off randomly for some reason (about a 6/10 chance that it acted up). I realized I had a check engine light next day so I checked it, 2 fuel injectors, cam sensor crank sensor and boost pressure sensor. The tune instruction manual has troubleshoot for these so I realized part of the problem must be the tune, so I completely took it out of the truck. No more blow off problems no more stalling. NOW it idles rough and unsteady as hell, and when accelerating it jerks and hesitated and sometimes makes a rapid knocking sound and then stops. Sometimes the truck seems like it almost goes into limp mode like a cylinder is lost or something. I was thinking maybe it needs new injectors or somethings wrong with the fuel delivery ? I don’t know I’m pretty new to diesels let me know what y’all think

 

[jghflys]

I am betting you caused the problem using the pressure washer. I would remove and dry the ECM connectors and see what changes.

 

[GrantP]

I would agree, something got wet. I'm not a fan of using a pressure washer in a modern engine compartment.

 

[DavidC]

I would agree, something got wet. I'm not a fan of using a pressure washer in a modern engine compartment.

I agree with no pressure washer. That said, if I take a hose etc. when I cannot clean by hand I disconnect the batteries and when done use a leaf blower, compressed air and leave it sit for quite a few hours before I would attempt to reconnect batteries. There are just to many connectors, different voltages, computers etc.. Even doing all of that is not a sure thing and could get very expensive if you can find the parts or send things out for repair.

 

[cerberusiam]

Take the TST off and completely disconnect it, they will cause just what you are seeing for problems. I frequently wash the engine bay and no issues EVER like that, bet it is the TST or connections that are the issue.

Get rid of the K&N filter and get good dry filter with an Outerwear's pre-filter. with the K&N on there hard telling what the rings and cylinders are like but lose it fast.

 

[jevenbell]

Take the TST off and completely disconnect it, they will cause just what you are seeing for problems. I frequently wash the engine bay and no issues EVER like that, bet it is the TST or connections that are the issue.

Get rid of the K&N filter and get good dry filter with an Outerwear's pre-filter. with the K&N on there hard telling what the rings and cylinders are like but lose it fast.

I took the tst off and it stopped randomly blowing off and stuff, the engine codes even after clearing. When I took the tst off I got a new code saying something about the internal processor. Now it just runs super rough, under full throttle it’s mostly fine, but idling and anything under full throttle it jerks and hesitates really bad. I plan on losing the K&n too

 

[AH64ID]

I would check all the connections where the TST was. Make sure they are dry and tight.

 

[jevenbell]

I am betting you caused the problem using the pressure washer. I would remove and dry the ECM connectors and see what changes.

I would agree, something got wet. I'm not a fan of using a pressure washer in a modern engine compartment.

 

[jevenbell]

You think if I go through each connector making sure they are dry, tight, and maybe even hit them with some dielectric grease it would help fix the problem?

 

[jevenbell]

I would check all the connections where the TST was. Make sure they are dry and tight.

I’ll do that and check the pcm too

 

[cerberusiam]

If you are seeing internal processor faults you likely need a new ECM. The ECM is the complete brain for that truck, no PCM to cause other issues. Pull the A and B connectors on the ECM and look for corrosion or water intrusion, that would be the place it could effect things.

 

[brods]

Take the TST off and completely disconnect it, they will cause just what you are seeing for problems. I frequently wash the engine bay and no issues EVER like that, bet it is the TST or connections that are the issue.

Get rid of the K&N filter and get good dry filter with an Outerwear's pre-filter. with the K&N on there hard telling what the rings and cylinders are like but lose it fast.

Ahh, but you know what to spray and what to stay away from. A newbe to the 5.9 may not know the engine controller is mounted on the side of the block, etc. Pressure washing the ECM or the IPM is probably not a good idea.

 

[jevenbell]

Ahh, but you know what to spray and what to stay away from. A newbe to the 5.9 may not know the engine controller is mounted on the side of the block, etc. Pressure washing the ECM or the IPM is probably not a good idea.

Can’t lie I really had no clue it was there lol, most ecm/pcm’s for vehicle are up on the firewall, I know for sure I got it with the pressure washer a few times

 

[jevenbell]

I bought a 2006 ram megacab with 5.9 from the dealer this past Saturday with 225k. has a K&n intake, mbrp exhaust, and a powermax CR TST. test drove it drove amazing with no problems. Took it home and drove it all day and night without a single hiccup. The truck did have what seemed like a slight injector ping. The following morning I drove it to the shop to detail the underbody and engine bay with a pressure washer. After leaving I went to get on it a little down the road and the truck spooled up, but at max psi the turbo blew off and the truck started missing. It sounded like it was running off 3 cylinders, and lots of white smoke. Shut it off, turned it back on and it idled like it never happened. However anytime I floored it from that point I risked it happening again and now it just shut off randomly for some reason (about a 6/10 chance that it acted up). I realized I had a check engine light next day so I checked it, 2 fuel injectors, cam sensor crank sensor and boost pressure sensor. The tune instruction manual has troubleshoot for these so I realized part of the problem must be the tune, so I completely took it out of the truck. No more blow off problems no more stalling. NOW it idles rough and unsteady as hell, and when accelerating it jerks and hesitated and sometimes makes a rapid knocking sound and then stops. Sometimes the truck seems like it almost goes into limp mode like a cylinder is lost or something. I was thinking maybe it needs new injectors or somethings wrong with the fuel delivery ? I don’t know I’m pretty new to diesels let me know what y’all think

I checked all my connections, grounds, and my battery terminals, cleaned them up and greased them, and I pulled the ecm out and it had water in the connecter so I dried it and cleaned it. But the truck still had the same problem.

 

[DavidC]

I checked all my connections, grounds, and my battery terminals, cleaned them up and greased them, and I pulled the ecm out and it had water in the connecter so I dried it and cleaned it. But the truck still had the same problem.

Definately not a good sign with water in the ecm connector. There are a lot of different voltages and feed back.

 

[cerberusiam]

If there is water in the connectors form pressure washing it will get moisture form driving the rain and snow etc. Check the accordion seal to make sure it is not ripped and you don't have missing wires in the connectors that are open. Blank spot sin the connector should be sealed with a plug put QC missed them occasionally. The weather pak connectors work well and will stop most indirect moisture unless they are compromised. If you went in thru the fender well and stuck the nozzle right on the connector that was a mistake, if all you did was come from the top with indirect spray then you have a compromised connector that needs fixed. If you still seeing processor faults and given it is an 06 with known random ECM failures, you probbaly need a new or reman ECM.

 

[Ozymandias]

Do we know the history of the Truck?
Stock Injectors or not? Even Remans or Worse?

 

[Prairie Dog]

TST's are total junk. I got so tired of the stumbling, code throwing and intermittant issues that I cut the damned thing into little pieces as I plopped it in the trash. I couldn't in good will even sell it to anyone.
The tiny connections they use are fine for digital logic in a clean enviroment but put it in a vibrating, temperature changing and sometimes damp one and they're going to give you headaches.
Have a simple Smarty Jr. now. Reliable and honest.