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Magnum motor or run a carb in an '89 Ramcharger

2K views 19 replies 4 participants last post by  CHEROKEEMUDMAN01 
#1 ·
I've got an '89 Ramcharger on 40'' IROK's. '89 is one of the years with tbi and I’m having all kind of issues. It's running like shit in 1st gear, the tps is idling high at start up, sometimes if it hit the gas then let off it stalls out and when I put it in gear the idle is high it wants to take off.

All the usual parts for bogging down in low rps have been replaced and everything for erratic idling that I can think of. I’ve been hard at it for the past few days and this has been an issue for a long time. I'm about to just pull it. I've got a '70 360 with "J" heads in the garage I’ve been debating on rebuilding and swapping out. OR If I decide to just pull the tbi all I would have to do is change the intake and put a carb on right? What about fuel pressure from the pump? Is that going to need some sort of regulator to lower the psi? Also imot sure about the ignition system would that need to be changed? OR I pretty sure all dodge small blocks are the same so I should be able to drop a magnum in it right? What about my tranny? it's a non od tranny (727 i believe). With that being said all I would need is the computer and harness from a magnum right?

Basically I'm sick of pissing with this tbi bs. I've tried a different computer, new tps, new injector, plugs, wires, cap, fuel filter and a few other odds and ends. Even with the new tps as soon as I start the truck I can watch it move out and into an erratic idle. its about a steady 3,000 rpm's.

So if anyone has a good idea of what the problem would be thats fantastic if not what would be the easiest swap? The '70 will have a mild build. If I go magnum it will prolly be bone stock. .

Sorry this is so long but also for magnum motors would I have to put a cat and 02 sensors in my exhaust to get it to run right?
 
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#3 ·
I'm buying a cummins within the month for my DD. I've got the dealership in alma watching the auctions now. This will be my mud/trail weekend truck. None of these trucks nor myself will be involved in any **** activity nor will penis be involved in any way shape or form. Thanks for the input though bud
 
#4 ·
were swaping a magnum motor in ramchargers89 rc soon also. from what we decided was going to be the best rout for us is to swap the cam out for an older 360 style 360 cam prob a 510 lift with the ext on front so it can operate a mech style fuel pump on the motor which also means a timing cover would be needed from older la small block. also changing the distributer and getting a magnum intake for a cart and ditching the tb setup. as for the sensors were going back to old days so swaping the flex plate also and ditching exciter wheel setup and bolting it to an 727 trans we have built allready. also going with a fuel cell so the pump wouldnt be needed. now u could put a regulator on the pump at motor and use old stuff but were removing the harness and computer completely and all sensors so this just seams better for us. luckly we have a garage full of mopar parts so most things we have excapt the correct intake and cam. hope this helps
 
#5 ·
I've got a .474 lift purple cam that came with that '70 360 ive got. kinda thinking about running the pre emissions motor cause ive already got it. I think im gonna end up building that motor and just swapping them out. Until then im gonna try and get the tbi running right.
 
#7 ·
not for shure on that part but a few years ago i tried swaping out heads and a cam on a 89 ram pu. prob is with the 80's motors they went to lean burnors. if u loot in intake the is a post sticking up. i swaped out heads and intake and cam thinking that would get read of the leanburnor part but it didnt. they must have made some changes in lower part of block i will assume so the motor ran good but just didnt make the power i was looking for just never seamed right to me. not for shure what ur plans are but the internals of a magnum motor and heads are diff the the LA smallblock motors so if u run mag motor u need to stick with the parts for that style motor. the mounts are the same and the block on outside is same but heads and cam and all inside bs are different.
 
#11 ·
It's a nice ramcharger, but its got a long ways to go. All it really is, is a lift and a set of tire. Almost bone stock besides that stock axles 9.25 and D44 both open, stock motor except headers it does have 4.10 gears. I've got a long way to go. It's sort of a long story but I lost the rc for about 1 1/2 years then i was looking through craigslist and found it again. I called the guy and bought it. I just got it back about a week ago.
 
#14 ·
Yeah when it was sold it wasnt my decision and there was nothing i could do about it. it wasnt in my name. Anyway it was like a sign from god when i saw it on cl! Im gonna call comp cams and see what the biggest cam i can run in a tbi setup is. I'm just gonna go full roller, decent cam and prolly be done with the motor for a bit. Ive been reading through some of these threads on gl4x4 and i think i wanna build a dakota truggy. Something i can just beat the piss out of and not care when its dented or rolled over.
 
#15 · (Edited)
yah me and the wife needed a down payment for a house so i had my rc parked for the most part of 3 years cause i didnt want anything to happen to it since it was near mint and my first truck. so decided to keep wife and sell rc man i have been paying for that decision since then lmao.

dont mean to jack ur thread figured i post a pic of me driving ramcharger86 truck(my uncle) 89 rc with dana 60's and 40" irocks. that is the truck were preping the mag motor in my garage right now for.
 
#17 ·
Well for one the previous owner had the firing order wrong and the distributor was loose. I knew the miss was something with the ingnition system. Its set by sound right now but i know its still a little off. The other thing i did was pull every vacuum line off and make sure it was on right. I also cleaned everything up with contact cleaner. I did that in the parking lot of my work and it ran 10x better. When i fired it up in my driveway last night it was idling high again. I threaded the tps in a few turn which settled the high idle down a little bit. Something in that truck is telling the tps to open the throttle up. So what could that be? Its averaging about 2200 rps now. So it thinks it cold? Tonight when i get home im gonna fire it up and spray it all down with wd40 and see if i have i vacuum leak somewhere. I think my intake gasket might be bad? CHEROKEEMUDMAN01- thats a sharp rc. It sucks you sold it and still have to work on it. Its like all the work of owning it but none of the reward of wheeling it. Hey i hate to get off topic but where do you guys stand with body lifts? Pros and cons.
 
#18 ·
nody lifts arnt a bad thing with a suv but the prob is most rc's body mounts are soft or rusted away its one of the many places thease things rust out. so i would go over ur mounts and make shure there still there and very solid.
http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/catalog/7993_Full_Size_Dodge_Truck-p-1452.html this is a great fix to the dodge steering slop and also slides in and out so if u do a body lift then this will reconnect ur steering up to 3" i believe.
 
#19 ·
Thanks bud. The drivers window in the rc was busted so i put a new one in it. Then i went to the car wash to vacuum it out and it started acting up again. As soon as i get the pedal past about 1/4 throttle it just cuts out. Even in neutral it just cuts out. My buddy and I are gonna set the timing right with a light when i get outta work and if that doesnt do it im gonna check the fuel pressure. Maybe my fuel pumps going out?
 
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