ok, so recently i had a CEL come on, tonight i was in town and it just went away. so im taking a friend out to about 10-12 miles out of town, where there are a lot of hills and stuff. the first steep hill im doin 55 in 5th, so when i hit about 52 i go down to 4th. then all of a sudden the truck starts jerking back and forth and the shifter feels bumpy as hell. i get over the hill and go back to 55. a little later were going to another place, and after a small *** hill my CEL starts blinking, and stays on. so later we go back to town, it happens 3 more times.

any idea on whats causing this?

 

You need to pull the code. That'll tell you more than anything or anyone else can guess at.

Rich

 

got it in last night, it pulled 4 codes, an O2 sensor was bad, and 3 cylinders that they ran a compression test on came up. cylinders 2,3,5 showed the pressure as 150psi,125psi,and 50 psi. they said about 150 is the normal, and the plug on cylinder 5 was covered in oil, and that one wasnt firing. cylinders 2 and 3 had a lot of buildup on them. they put new plugs in but said ill probably need new piston rings and probably an engine rebuild fairly soon. would it be cheaper to get it rebuilt or order a new engine?

 

Your going to have to do some local searching for a good mechanic to rebuild it and get his price for him to overhaul it or use an exchange short block or long block. I would ask some friends for who they trust and get prices from those shops.

I don't think you can get a price for your town by asking on a forum, unless one of the members lives in your town and knows some shops and is willing to do the price search for you.

BTW, 50 psi compression is the border line for firing and not firing. You can almost bet that cylinder is pumping oil and gas out the exhaust and down past the piston into the oil. At some point the bad cylinder may sieze up and stop you in your tracks.

Good luck.