Ram Diesel loses power then recovers

my first guess is the fuel pump is beginning to fail.

Thanks Huntergreen.....
this has been going on for over a year(25k miles)
should the fuel pump begin to fail over a long period of time?

mike, first isnt your diesel the 6.7? i had 2 5.9 trucks and am not all that familiar with the 6.7s. one thing i do know to check is the turbo and make sure it is not all "sooted" up.
when you say loss of power, is the engine off ?

Hunter, the engine is a 6.7 turbo. This problem can occur at any speed with varying loads.
The engine continues to run at idle,the accelerator pedal has no effect so the truck 'coasts'.
While coasting,shifting to neutral then immediately back to drive results in power immediately restored.This problem may not occur again for many miles (>1-2K)
Internet searches have come up with many diesel problems ( relating to pollution controls), but none like this one.
Your suggestion sounds as plausible as any so I will start with fuel filter replacement and
fuel pump testing and maintenance.

thats where i would start. other than that i am sure will have already thought of everything i would think of. might want to PM brandon johnson, i believe he is familiar with your trucks.

Is it throwing any codes and turning on the CEL at all when it does this? Or just loses throttle response completely? Is the pedal just 100% dead and doesn't do anything or does it feel like the engine lost power?

These trucks are "fly by wire". The throttle is all electronically controlled. It's possible that your TPS (throttle position sensor) on the pedal is shot and cutting out.

I think that you may want to have the fuel pressure checked
that should give you some idea if the fuel pump & fuel filter are ok
or eliminate it as a possible cause

I never liked the idea of guessing which part may be going bad & purchasing & installing the part to see if it cured the issue, then finding that that wasn't it & then buying another part, etc.

brandonjansen said:

Is it throwing any codes and turning on the CEL at all when it does this? Or just loses throttle response completely? Is the pedal just 100% dead and doesn't do anything or does it feel like the engine lost power?

These trucks are "fly by wire". The throttle is all electronically controlled. It's possible that your TPS (throttle position sensor) on the pedal is shot and cutting out.

Click to expand...

the thing" that makes this hard, for me anyway, is the shifting in and out of neutral brings it back to normal.

Reply to questions.....
No CEL comes on.
The pedal IS 'DEAD' and the truck idles.
When its shifted quickly into neutral and back to drive it recovers before the truck stops.
I will install an 'Ultra-gauge' to read trouble codes continuously.
We'll see if it can read fuel pressure as well.

Thanks for everyones help

get back to us on this.

Ultraguage now installed. Symptom appeared after 12 hours on 14 hr thruway trip.
Ultraguage did not register any code.
This time lost power and dash lights. Put it in neutral and restarted while still moving.
Everything worked.Lights,power etc.
No further incident

i cant believe a dealer cant track down and fix this issue.

how I wish.
Truck lives in Round Hill VA, Leesburg Dodge spent $2,500 looking for it,found nothing.
Concluded that connecting code tool catching intermittent was only soln.didnt work.
Truck now in Aiken,SC.
Anyone know of a good diesel mechanic there?

I have a 5.9 Ram Cummins 3500 and having the same issue it loses power when trying to push gas it will get all loose the gas pedal and then when I put into Neutral and then back to drive it will then act normal again?