1997 ram, bogging and accelerating problem

hey guys my ram today bogged and jerked then died at a stop light. I started it back up and did it again. Finally i started it and got out of the intersection and tried to drive it the 2 miles until my house. It was bogging and not accelerating the entire way home. If i stepped on the gas hard it would backfire and hesitate. Need some help asap!! would it be the timing, plugs, fuel filter??? Also when i pulled the oil dipstick out there was alot of gunk, even on the stick like a lighter shade of brown in color...any help woudl be appreciated

hmmm that's weird... i was initially gonna say that it could be your throttle position sensor because my mom's car refuses to accelerate sometimes, and when you stomp on the pedal, it starts acting up. Then you mentioned the oil situation, and my opinion changed to something more serious. You have something mixing in with your oil, and that's a serious situation for the engine's life. Look at the exhaust coming out of the car, does it look normal (white, not too thick, smells like regular exhaust). Then check the level of your coolant. Did you notice a decrease in your fuel efficiency? Post all of that on the forum, and maybe some of the guys will have an idea of what COULD be wrong.

I'm no expert on exhaust gases, but maybe others on the forum can tell you the problem if your exhaust looks abnormal. The reason I asked about the coolant level is because your head gasket could be fried and you're leaking coolant into the oil. The fuel efficiency thing has to do with the fuel mixing with the oil, in your crankcase due to a busted Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. A busted PCV valve would cause the buildup of sludge, and decrease performance.

Keep in mind, this is all just recommendations. I'm no expert, but I've had my fair share of issues. Just keep those things I mentioned in mind. If it turns out it's something else, please post it here so that I learn something, and hopefully you learned something too.

thanks for a reponse..I actually looked at my exhaust today and seems quite a bit of water was coming out through the exhaust. Also my gas milage has been terrible, maybe worse than a 5.2L should be. And the coolant doesnt seem very low it was low and somewhat dirty

Just dirty, or was it oily?

whats your coolant level/color look like?

the discription of the oil could be water contamination

Might have a blown head gasket or leaking intake manifold. I'd expect the latter on a 5.2 over the former. But then, if its been overheated badly, anythings possible

the coolant level was fine but it did look like there may be some oil in it