'96 RAM 1500 5.9L SLT 4x4 suddenly won't idle this week.
From : denny
Q: truck is stock with 110k miles. wed-fri it wouldnt idle until completely warmed up. it just stalls as rpms go to zero unless you keep your foot on the gas a little. drove fine when warm. sat it had same problem several times even after warmed up. its always run great other than this happening now. any ideas anyone efi doesnt have a choke that could fail does it any help would be greatly appreciated. as dumb as it sounds have your battery tested. thats a classic symptom of a battery starting to loose it. denny .
Replies:
From : denny
as dumb as it sounds have your battery tested. thats a classic symptom of a battery starting to loose it. i doubt highly its his battery hold-down denny... and even if the battery wasnt tight it wouldnt cause the erratic idling. it could be. if the battery was rattling around all the little volts inside it get scrambled up and forget which way they were headed and after theyre good and lost the engine dont run right.. bg denny on the other hand if the battery were losing its ability to hold a charge well... then you may be on to something! ^ .
From : peterdpeterd
on sun 10 feb 2008 083916 -0700 miles nope@nopers.com wrote peterd wrote 1. more difficult to sell on the used market sometimes only certain people will entertain buying a log-cabin style home. and 2. if the quality of construction and design is not good they can be a pita to keep up. dunno about that. in the mountains of northern az there are scores of log cabins. several lodges b&bs etc. too. much has to do with how well of a foundation is built first. that may well be true im in nh where we get cold sometimes really cold winters hot summers and even stick built houses can be problematic in that respect. good foundations are vital too. personally i like log cabin style homes there is one about five miles from me about 4000 sf yes that big! that is incredible. built by a builder for himself he went broke before he could finish it. the bank then sold it as partially finished ive not seen it since it was done went though it when they were selling it but i think probably it has been finished very nicely inside now. ive often wished i could have bought it myself. .
From : tom lawrence
as dumb as it sounds have your battery tested. thats a classic symptom of a battery starting to loose it. i doubt highly its his battery hold-down denny... and even if the battery wasnt tight it wouldnt cause the erratic idling. on the other hand if the battery were losing its ability to hold a charge well... then you may be on to something! ^ .
From : bob az
that lets you really swab out the inside of the throttle body and i think it does a better job of cleaning. tom cleaning the throttle body says to me that one cleans out the interior of the throttle body. so how do you gain access to the interior of the throttle body i have a 2001 chrysler lhs and a 2001 dodge v8 pu. thanks bob az .
From : dang ol boomhauer
as dumb as it sounds have your battery tested. thats a classic symptom of a battery starting to loose it. i doubt highly its his battery hold-down denny... and even if the battery wasnt tight it wouldnt cause the erratic idling. it could be. if the battery was rattling around all the little volts inside it get scrambled up and forget which way they were headed and after theyre good and lost the engine dont run right.. bg denny on the other hand if the battery were losing its ability to hold a charge well... then you may be on to something! ^ you know i halfway wondered about that. about a month or two ago when it was colder i noticed a hesitation once or twice when cranking on cold mornings. ill check the battery... thanks everyone! .
From : tom lawrence
in addition to dennys battery suggestion im going to suggest a can or two of techron injector cleaner. ive seen that stuff clean up some really odd idle problems around here. couldnt hurt... but the fact that the engine holds idle when slight accelerator pressure is applied indicates that the idle air control motor isnt allowing enough bypass air around the throttle plates due to the lack of voltage from the battery and thus requiring the throttle to be opened up slightly to allow the proper amount of air into the intake. for the ops benefit... your question about a failing choke isnt far off the mark... in the efi world theres no choke specifically but there is an idle air control motor... this is a little stepper motor on the throttle body that drives a pintle back and forth and regulates the amount of idle air thats allows to pass around the throttle plates so that even with the throttle closed off the engine gets enough air to idle. that iac motor is controlled as is everything else by the computer. however the computer is very sensitive to voltage... give it too little voltage and strange things begin to happen... one of them is its inability to properly position the iac motor thus preventing enough air from getting into the intake. step one is to load test the battery and exchange it if it wont hold a proper charge. step two is to remove the iac motor from the throttle body i believe its on the back side closest to the firewall held in with a couple of torx screws. while holding the motor with the electrical still connected switch on the ignition. if operating properly you should see the pintle fully retract then fully extend then settle somewhere in the middle of its travel. it should operate nice and smooth. if you notice any stuttering or if it looks really fouled up with carbon and such disconnect it from the electrical line and soak the pintle end in some carb cleaner. if it still doesnt operate correctly its time for a new one. while youre there it wouldnt hurt to give the throttle body itself a good cleaning... unlike a carburetor your throttle body is dry - only air passes through it... no fuel to help wash away crud. over time you get some nasty build-up around the throttle plates. throttle body cleaner in a spray can works but i prefer the type of cleaner that comes with foam swabs they look like marshmellows that you soak in cleaning fluid and hook onto the end of an applicator. that lets you really swab out the inside of the throttle body and i think it does a better job of cleaning. .
From : tom lawrence
cleaning the throttle body says to me that one cleans out the interior of the throttle body. so how do you gain access to the interior of the throttle body i have a 2001 chrysler lhs and a 2001 dodge v8 pu. http//www.run-rite.com/industry/9710.html .
From : nunya
that lets you really swab out the inside of the throttle body and i think it does a better job of cleaning. tom cleaning the throttle body says to me that one cleans out the interior of the throttle body. so how do you gain access to the interior of the throttle body i have a 2001 chrysler lhs and a 2001 dodge v8 pu. thanks bob az here is the product i like. it is made by 3m and does a fantastic job without having to dig around in you fuel system with a spoon. http//tinyurl.com/35s5tl it requires a specific hose and regulator kit that isnt cheap but the money saved by doing the job yourself will make up for the hose/regulator/canhanger. http//tinyurl.com/2ru38l you inject the cleaner while the vehicle is running and it will smoke like a freight train so dont be up wind of a gripy neighbor when you decide to give it a whirl. my trucks will start getting a rough idle about every 80k and ill pull out the air cleaner and clean it. then i run the 3m system and i am good to go for another 80+k. we have our own fuel tank and only stock premium fuel but if i end up having to buy fuel out in the wild and get a bad load i feel it immediately. when this happens i load the fuel up with isopropal alcohol and after a couple of clean tanks i run the injector cleaner. this is one instance where the ol mechanic in a can is a good thing. michael .
From : tbones a king
had a 94 5.2 that did this. would clear up after a day or two and run fine for a month or so. finally got a check engine light turned out to be o2 sensor. si dang ol boomhauer wrote truck is stock with 110k miles. wed-fri it wouldnt idle until completely warmed up. it just stalls as rpms go to zero unless you keep your foot on the gas a little. drove fine when warm. sat it had same problem several times even after warmed up. its always run great other than this happening now. any ideas anyone efi doesnt have a choke that could fail does it any help would be greatly appreciated. .
From : curmudgeon
egr valve stuck with carbon. ruins idle. exact symptoms you describe. remove and replace or you can try cleaning... truck is stock with 110k miles. wed-fri it wouldnt idle until completely warmed up. it just stalls as rpms go to zero unless you keep your foot on the gas a little. drove fine when warm. sat it had same problem several times even after warmed up. its always run great other than this happening now. any ideas anyone efi doesnt have a choke that could fail does it any help would be greatly appreciated. .