Truck chokes and almost stalls after warming up

Asked by Cori May 20, 2018 at 10:16 AM about the 2001 Dodge RAM 1500

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2001 Dodge 1500 half ton. After it's warmed up for about 10
minutes or so, it starts to sputter, choke and basically stalls out. It won't
restart immediately. But after a couple of hours or so, she fires right back up.
Only to do the same thing. The codes I've gotten are 442: evaporation
system (small), 455: evaporation system (large), and 301: cylinder 1 misfire.
I think the fuel filter, at least, has been changed. Possibly the fuel pump,
though not positive on the last.

1 Answer

4,780

The cylinder misfire can either be a separate issue or an effect of the first. To begin with, addressing the evap system issue is your biggest concern. This is a part of the gas tank vapor removal system. If your tank was ever topped off, the overflow of raw gas went into your vapor canister. If this happens enough, the retainer membrane dissolves n little charcoal pellets get sucked up into your evap purge solenoid (this regulates how much of a vacuum is put above your gas to suck out fuel vapors), either clogging it or trapping it open. If it gets trapped open, your gas tank gets a vacuum above it and the fuel pump can't overcome the vacuum created by the purge system. On the other hand, if your purge system has leaks in it (busted or leaky vacuum lines) your ECM learns about this n sets off it's check engine light. To check to see if the purge system is trapped open, there are 2 tests. 1) does it take a long time to fill your gas tank n does it run fine if the tank is full getting worse as the fuel bleeds off?, and 2)remove your fuel cap n drive around n see if the problem goes away. Don't worry about the chk engine light rite now. Your only diagnosing at this point. Last but certainly not least, if you intend to do more repairs on your own, invest in an engine scanner with live data capability. They run $30-50 depending...

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