Last night I started it up and it started ok but with a bad vibration, so bad as to vibrate the entire cab and bed. Started it later, with lots of trouble having to crank it a few times, and attempted to drive it. I got to the end of the street and took my foot off the gas to turn it and it stalled. Got it going again and again it stalled when i took my foot off the gas. It does have white smoke coming out of the exhaust that smells like unspent gas, and it has white smoke coming out of the engine itself but that smoke is intermittent. I have changed the spark plugs, swapped the battery, and checked the fuel injectors. The injectors are functioning correctly and the battery swap had no effect as did the new plugs. I also ran a test to see if the head gasket was broken. Took the cap off the coolant and cranked it to see if the coolant came up out of the pipe. It did not so it leads me to believe there is no excess pressure in the head gasket but I still smell the gas in the exhaust. I am thoroughly bested and I need some help.
White smoke is an indication of coolant being passed through the engine. It can be form a blown head gasket or intake gasket. Both would cause the engine to run rough as you described. A compression test would be the best way to check for a blown head gasket.
What is a Compression Test
Blown Head Gasket Symptoms
The compression test came back with only one cylinder being below normal compression (60psi). I started by taking off the valve cover and discovered the rocker arms for that cylinder had fallen off and one of the vale lifters had frozen up. Would the lifter freezing and the resulting rocker arms falling off cause my issues? Or am I still missing something?
I would think it would have made a definite impact for sure.
It is still shaking a lot and has a hard time starting. I no longer have any white smoke. Once it does start, it will idle at normal rpms (about 700-800) then drop down to 500 or 600 after about 10 seconds and begins to sound like the engine will cut out.
I have now gotten the code p0203, for cylinder 3 injector circuit malfunction. I tested the harness with a noid light and it passed. I swapped the injectors and the error did not more with the swap and stayed in the same cylinder. What possible reasons would there be for this? And how can I fix it?
P0203 Dodge – Injector Circuit Malfunction Cylinder 3
Possible causes
– Faulty fuel injector 3
– Fuel Injector 3 harness is open or shorted
– Fuel injector 3 circuit poor electrical connection
When is the code detected?
The P0203 is set if the Engine Control Module (ECM) is detects a low or high voltage drop or resistance at the injector 3.
Engine Control Module (ECM) checks the injectors circuit resistance and monitors the voltage drop during normal operation. The ECM will trigger the P0203 code when the resistance or voltage drop at the injector 3 is out of specifications.
If everything checks out, it may be an issue with the ECM connections or the ECM itself.
I reset the PCM and the code went away and hasn’t come back. The truck runs better but still has trouble starting, especially after it has been running for a bit and has warmed up. My temperature goes up rather quickly so it is overheating now. My oil isn’t milky and there is no smoke so I’m not thinking head gasket. Could it be the water pump or the thermometer? Would those make it start and run a little rough still or is something still hiding from me?
New realization. The truck is running rich. If I put the pedal down black smoke comes out and it smells of gas. When I had the intake off I sprayed some starter fluid in and it instantly killed it. It is having trouble starting after warming up because the cylinders have too much fuel and it floods. What are the possible causes for this? None of the previous things I’ve tried have worked. Perhaps o2 sensor? Or cat converter?
could be a vacuum leak at or near the intake manifold or anywhere on the engine.
Comments are closed.