2003 Dodge Ram hesitation

Question

I am having hesitation under loads and on acceleration. It does it in higher gears, like its trying to shift down but instead studders then I get off of it, hit the gas to make it shift down, and go from there. I have searched, seems like plugs and wires. I tried injector cleaner no help. I also just read that the battery has to be 14.2v, I checked mine and running its at 13.5v. Could this be my problem. This is where I read it at..... http://dodgeram.org/tech/gas/Trouble/Problems.htm .

Also, about a week ago I had a engine light come on, then went off about 2 days later. I went to Auto Zone to see what it was and nothing showed up. Could the problem be the o2 sensor????

Answer 1

You could have a bad sensor yes and for sure to me the studdering could also be transmision related.

I'd start with checking the batterys voltage while vehiles engine is off and note the reading , then try starting the engine and again checking battery but also check the alternators input connections to see if it's same reading when engine running and when engine is off,plus check the alternators belt when engine is off and see if it could be loose etc. Then try the alternators output voltage reading while the engine is running and be sure you check to see if the belt is jumping or the alternators pulley is warbling etc.

By the way the info you got regarding the voltage is the alternators output voltages and not to be confused with the battery's regular current with engine off.

You need to take the vehicles age and mileage into factor here when dealing with the studerring problems bec Dodge adds a special addictive to their transmission fluids that can wear out and cause studerring , in fact transmission shops have special treatments they use just for Dodge transmission shuddering problems.

To me if 5 yrs old then it be a good idea to change the gas filter and if over 100k kms on it then for sure have the transmission fluid and filter changed too.

Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way gas filters should be changed on a yrly bassis and also make sure you use the factory recommended transmission filter kits and fluids and be sure that is what the person uses if you get the work done for you.

Answer 2

probably

Answer 3

you could have a bad throttle position sensor on it causing this too happen or the 0-2 could be going bad,they wont always throw a trouble code ,sometimes if its an intermittent problem they will erase the code if the problem goes away or doesn't get bad enough to cause the light to come on,your still with in range on voltage,but if it drops any more than that you may need to get an alternator for it,you could also have a fuel pump getting weak in it that will cause the problems your having also,good luck on it.

Answer 4

Check the fuel pressure,  How long since the fuel filter was changed last ? change it anyway

Air filter ?

Is the throttle body fairly clean ? clean it anyway

How many miles on the O2 sensor? often a fresh one will help more than you would expect

The check engine should activate when something is out of perimitors in the emissions.

13.5 v is on the low side but not necessarily bad in itself as long as the battery stays charged 12.8-14.3 v