Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) slight miss

[Kissfan113]

I am currently working on a truck for a friend of mine, it is a 2000 CTD ram 3500 with a 5 speed. It acts like it has a miss in one of the cylinders, and has a fluctuation on the tachometer. I am hoping to get this straightened out for him as this truck is his baby. I am also searching for one of the control arms for the steering, he was driving to his job (logger) and run over a stump pushing it several hundred yards before noticing, a lot of his steering linkage is bent, most has been replaced but there is still one piece, if anyone has one laying around let me know about it.

 

[PC12Driver]

The cam position sensor (or crank, depending on the year) controlls the timing of the engine and is also where the tach gets its information. A bad one could give you both of the symptoms you describe. What rpm range do you see the problem? How much of a fluctuation in the tach do you see and does it correspond with what the engine is doing? Any codes set?

 

[Kissfan113]

never checked for codes, the variation is large, probably 50 rpms or better, the problem shows mainly at idle and low rpms, once you get on it it goes away.

 

[Yooper1]

????

This might sound dumb, but check the torque on your balancer. It will act like a miss and and smooth out at high rpms. . I the right torque should be 92 ft lbs. I would loosen it and re torque it like a tire to that. It might be the problem.