[Pjd71]

I bought a used Dodge Ram in July with 46,000 miles on it. Dealer said that the previous owner used it to tow and that he needed something bigger to tow bigger loads.

Symptoms:

-Noticed that truck will periodically hesitate after driving a hour going up to higher speeds usually above 40 MPH. With the hesitation, the RPM's go up, but no speed increase. Will then back fire with a smoke. Usually a nice amount.

-Coolant levels are fine and noticed oil was burning. After 3000 miles 46,000 to 49,000 miles, I checked the oil and it was well below the add mark on dipstick (truck is not leaking oil on ground).

-After truck has been run for a while and when restarting, sometimes a puff of smoke comes out of exhaust.

What I have done:

Seafoamed the through intake and put in with gas (what can recommended).


Any help with troubleshooting will be greatly appreciated and I am handy with doing the work myself (for the most part).

2009 Dodge Ram
4.7 L Flex Fuel (use 87 octane)
Mileage 50,000

 

[Chunkem]

Let us know how you make out and please keep us updated......

 

[Tdog93]

Interesting...
My Hemi will occasionally puff of warm startups but I never have to add oil between changes with Mobil 1 full syn.... Also has 170,000 miles on the clock so I geuss it's to be expected.

 

[ArmyofOne]

I bought a used Dodge Ram in July with 46,000 miles on it. Dealer said that the previous owner used it to tow and that he needed something bigger to tow bigger loads.

Symptoms:

-Noticed that truck will periodically hesitate after driving a hour going up to higher speeds usually above 40 MPH. With the hesitation, the RPM's go up, but no speed increase. Will then back fire with a smoke. Usually a nice amount.

-Coolant levels are fine and noticed oil was burning. After 3000 miles 46,000 to 49,000 miles, I checked the oil and it was well below the add mark on dipstick (truck is not leaking oil on ground).

-After truck has been run for a while and when restarting, sometimes a puff of smoke comes out of exhaust.

What I have done:

Seafoamed the through intake and put in with gas (what can recommended).


Any help with troubleshooting will be greatly appreciated and I am handy with doing the work myself (for the most part).

2009 Dodge Ram
4.7 L Flex Fuel (use 87 octane)
Mileage 50,000

Not good. I am thinking because he used it to tow, and realized he needed something bigger, he probably towed too much with it. I am guessing you have a blown piston ring or 2, requiring an engine tear down or rebuild. Its the only thing I can think of that would cause enough loss of compression to backfire. Also would be causing your smoke. Anytime a fuel injected engine backfires, something is DEFINATELY wrong.

Get it to a dealer/mechanic ASAP depending on build date it might still be under warranty.

Interesting...
My Hemi will occasionally puff of warm startups but I never have to add oil between changes with Mobil 1 full syn.... Also has 170,000 miles on the clock so I geuss it's to be expected.

Smoke on startup could be valve seals in the heads, or it could be simply oil in the intake/PVC system.

 

[GTyankee]

damn, your above the 36,000 mile mark
did they give you any warranty that you could fall back on ?

 

[ArmyofOne]

damn, your above the 36,000 mile mark
did they give you any warranty that you could fall back on ?

Shouldnt matter, its definately powertrain related, as such should fall under the 5/60 powertrain that the 09's reverted to if they were sold because the lifetime warranty went away.

My 09 had to have some work done under the powertrain warranty 5/60. I bought it used. DONT WAIT! Have it towed immediately or drive it if you can....but I would reccommend the former.

 

[Arth]

Shouldnt matter, its definately powertrain related, as such should fall under the 5/60 powertrain that the 09's reverted to if they were sold because the lifetime warranty went away.

My 09 had to have some work done under the powertrain warranty 5/60. I bought it used. DONT WAIT! Have it towed immediately or drive it if you can....but I would reccommend the former.

You must have gotten lucky because in 09 they only offered lifetime powertrain warranty to the first owner and that's it. Non-transferable...or that is how it was explained to me.

I don't think any owners after the 1st get the warranty.

 

[ArmyofOne]

It was explained to me that 2nd owners get the 5/60 from the date the truck was first registered to the original owner.

 

[Turbovsix]

Could the two things not be related perhaps? Perhaps the backfiring is a bad coil or is otherwise ignition related? I'm assuming that it's not throwing any codes right? How much oil exactly did it use? My 5.7 uses a little between changes - always has. Not a lot - but enough to notice. I'll get a slight puff of smoke once in a while when I start it. Just suggesting that the two issues might not be related....

Last fuel injected engine I had that popped/backfired was my Grand National, and that was a coil pack problem, so just suggesting that it might not be the end of the world for it to backfire - might be ignition related, and then the other issue might be something entirely separate.

 

[ArmyofOne]

Could the two things not be related perhaps? Perhaps the backfiring is a bad coil or is otherwise ignition related? I'm assuming that it's not throwing any codes right? How much oil exactly did it use? My 5.7 uses a little between changes - always has. Not a lot - but enough to notice. I'll get a slight puff of smoke once in a while when I start it. Just suggesting that the two issues might not be related....

Last fuel injected engine I had that popped/backfired was my Grand National, and that was a coil pack problem, so just suggesting that it might not be the end of the world for it to backfire - might be ignition related, and then the other issue might be something entirely separate.

It almost has to be compression related. Anything related to the ignition system would throw a code. Each individual coil pack is designed to fire within certain parameters. Firing early/late or with a spark that is too powerful or not powerful enough, or not firing at all will result in a code being thrown and a CEL. It could be 2 separate issues, but then you run into the code thing again. 98.5% of the time something is wrong with a 4th gen, it will throw a code. The other times, there are only a couple of real possibilities.

If its smoking/not running right/backfiring its got a loss of compression in one or more cylinders more than likely. ESPECIALLY if there is no code. A surefire way to tell is to do a compression-test on each cylinder.

 

[Pjd71]

Wanted to give an update, as I need to check on the power train warranty. I will be taking it into a dealership to get it checked out. I took it to a local mechanic and he cannot find anything wrong and nothing on the computer. More to follow....

 

[Pjd71]

Warranty

Shouldnt matter, its definately powertrain related, as such should fall under the 5/60 powertrain that the 09's reverted to if they were sold because the lifetime warranty went away.

My 09 had to have some work done under the powertrain warranty 5/60. I bought it used. DONT WAIT! Have it towed immediately or drive it if you can....but I would reccommend the former.

You must have gotten lucky, I just read that the power train is not transferable. Here is the warranty information for all Ram Trucks, very specific to year and type.

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/warranty/#

 

[ArmyofOne]

You must have gotten lucky, I just read that the power train is not transferable. Here is the warranty information for all Ram Trucks, very specific to year and type.

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/warranty/#

LOL, no, the LIFETIME powertrain is not transferable. ALL vehicles sold from chrysler in from 2008 to 2009 were sold with lifetime powertrain warranties valid for the ORIGINAL OWNER only. Once the vehicles were sold, they reverted to chrysler's 5 year/60k mile powertrain coverage. Read the manual, it says it in there. My 09 said it too. I ended up buying a lifetime for my 09 and for the '11 as well.

What I am saying is that if someone bought a 2009 ram, and their truck had 10,000 miles on it 2 years later and they traded, that truck still has powertrain coverage until 60,000 miles or 5 years from the original date the title was first issued.