Alright, i am looking for some help. For all the other 1996 dodge ram 1500 5.9L 360 owners out there. I am having a really bad problem and it has me completely stumped. My dodge idles beautifuly, and as soon as you drop it into gear she shutters, spits, then dies. The transmission is bran new with less then 300 miles on it, and I have no idea where to go from here. I am in desperate need of help guys and gals, whatever you guys say can only help me out. I never had this problem before, and it recently started occuring. I removed the throttle body, cleaned all ports, the IAC, MAP, MAF, TPS, and douched the entire throttle body and shes still doing it. I dont know if the tranny is to sluggish and kills the engine when engaged because it only does it when its cold. Once she gets to 200 degrees she acts like it wants to stall and the RPM's drop to 400 or so but she doesnt quit then. Really stumped on this one. My old man has a 2001 ram 2500 5.9l and that thing has never given us any problems. I just really need help, willing to try anything you guys have to say. Please help me out here, I have seen other posts with the same problems, but no solutions. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!

I bought my Dodge Ram 96, 4x4, 1500 v8 engine used. About two weeks into using the truck, it began to stall when I first used it during the day after backing out in reverse of the parking space and then switching into drive gear. The wheel was paralyzed too and the engine light would go. I would simply put the truck in park and it would start up right again. I thought this was a morning problem with the truck not being warm enough, but it soon started to happen more often after changing gears, and then when decelerating the gas on the road, which made me real nervous due to a car crashing back into me. One day, my neighbor-friend and I worked on it, checked the vacuum hoses, replaced the PCV valve and cleaned the IAC valve area. The problem stopped. Yet recently, when I changed the fluid and gasket of the front differential because it was leaking, the problem has started again.

Taking off from a stop, even slowly, still jerked, or hesitated.. had difficulty climbing hills, or hauling..At first I believed it was the transmission because it seemed the 1st-3rd gears (on an automatic tranny) didn't want to shift easily or sometimes refused and over revved the engine. Had the transmission replaced and problem continued. Put on a speed machine, and found the 3rd cylinder was misfiring.. replaced spark plugs and wires... Problem continued. Checked the spark plugs a week later and seen that oil built up on them... had it checked professionally and was told the oil leaked into the combustion chamber due to busted heads and seals from wear and tear... was estimated to cost around 1000 dollars, to have completely fixed on a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 V8 5.9L 360 4WD...They told me it needed the heads replaced, the spark plugs and wires, some other various parts and seals...

I would suggest, starting with the spark plugs and wires, and doing a tune-up to see if anything changes. If problem continues you may want to take to a mechanic and ask for them to check for the same problem. Instead of doing that I just had the engine replaced.. still waiting to get it back..Hope this helped..

My radiator was leaking and I lost power all of the sudden 3 nights ago. I paid $400 to have a new radiator installed. The loss of power problem was still there. My truck is now at the shop getting a new catalytic converter installed ($340). But the mechanic said that this might not solve the problem. After he drove it he said that the truck should have reached 2500 rpm even with a bad converter. So I'll be picking it up in a about an hour with my fingers crossed. But knowing my luck the problem will still be there. We will see... Has anyone else had this problem? Any tips?