Hard Starting 2004 Hemi

From : eisboch

Q: bought a new 2004 ram 2500 three months ago. it has the 5.7l hemi with about 3400 miles on it. i have noticed that occasionally it will not start right away after a short stop like to pick up some butts or getting gas. it will crank enthusiastically but will not fire up. it has always started on the third or fourth try through. last friday was different. it ran fine all day but then would not start after a 15 minute stop. it then would not start after many attempts over a 5-6 minute period. finally it fired up and ran fine. the next morning i noticed the check engine light was on so i delivered it to the local dodge dealer. an hour ago i got a call from the service manager saying they cant duplicate the problem so they cant fix anything. i asked him to keep looking because it obviously is not right. the truck has had its first service an oil change and was also checked for a recall related to the ecm connector. all was fine. the problem exhibited itself before this check so i dont think it has anything to do with it. i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch .

Replies:

From : jl

had a similar problem with my 02ram1500 4.3l. it would not start and the check engine light would come on. the dealer could not find any problem and the computer was not spitting out any trouble codes. they finally reset the computer and all is well so far. bought a new 2004 ram 2500 three months ago. it has the 5.7l hemi with about 3400 miles on it. i have noticed that occasionally it will not start right away after a short stop like to pick up some butts or getting gas. it will crank enthusiastically but will not fire up. it has always started on the third or fourth try through. last friday was different. it ran fine all day but then would not start after a 15 minute stop. it then would not start after many attempts over a 5-6 minute period. finally it fired up and ran fine. the next morning i noticed the check engine light was on so i delivered it to the local dodge dealer. an hour ago i got a call from the service manager saying they cant duplicate the problem so they cant fix anything. i asked him to keep looking because it obviously is not right. the truck has had its first service an oil change and was also checked for a recall related to the ecm connector. all was fine. the problem exhibited itself before this check so i dont think it has anything to do with it. i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch .

From : nosey

8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. .

From : eisboch

8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. no i bought the truck in ma but currently am in florida. as i suspected the service advisor at the dealership here in fl called this morning and told me that the computer says nothing is wrong with the truck. they had just checked it again with the engine cold and everything is within factory specs. although i have a chrysler service contract that i purchased with the truck that covers a rental he advised me that i would not be covered and will have to pay for the rental because they could not find anything wrong. ok. so i go to pick up the truck which was parked out in the lot. one of the employees went out to get the truck for me. as i watched her start it a big black cloud of smoke bellowed out of the exhaust then quickly cleared. the smoke was black - like a diesel starting - not blue or white. i turned to the service advisor who was standing beside me and asked if he saw the smoke. he h

From : spinman

i had the same thing happen with my 04 hemi.. i have learned to hold the key until it starts and not just a quick flip of the starter... because i had the mil come on when that happened. i just disconnected to battery to reset it.. it must load up on fuel and flood itself if it doesnt start right away. what also worked for me is to turn the key back to the off position and then try again. just my 2 cents vince 8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. no i bought the truck in ma but currently am in florida. as i suspected the service advisor at the dealership here in fl called this morning and told me that the computer says nothing is wrong with the truck. they had just checked it again with the engine cold and everything is within factory specs. although i have a chrysler service contract that i purchased with the truck that covers a rental he advised me that i would not be covered and will have to pay for the rental because they could not find anything wrong. ok. so i go to pick up the truck which was parked out in the lot. one of the employees went out to get the truck for me. as i watched her start it a big black cloud of smoke bellowed out of the exhaust then quickly cleared. the smoke was black - like a diesel starting - not blue or white. i turned to the service advisor who was standing beside me and asked if he saw the smoke. he had not of course. i think there is something wrong with the fuel shut off or something that is allowing raw fuel to enter the engine cylinders after you shut the truck off. the result is basically a flooded engine until it can burn off the excess fuel causing hard starting and black smoke. problem is - unless the dodge diagnostic computer reads a fault code they cant do anything. when the engine is running everything is fine. my problem is when the engine is shut off i think and the computer has no way of sensing it. oh well. eisboch .

From : bdk

rerikss@bellsouthnot.net says... 8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. no i bought the truck in ma but currently am in florida. as i suspected the service advisor at the dealership here in fl called this morning and told me that the computer says nothing is wrong with the truck. they had just checked it again with the engine cold and everything is within factory specs. although i have a chrysler service contract that i purchased with the truck that covers a rental he advised me that i would not be covered and will have to pay for the rental because they could not find anything wrong. ok. so i go to pick up the truck which was parked out in the lot. one of the employees went out to get the truck for me. as i watched her start it a big black cloud of smoke bellowed out of the exhaust then quickly cleared. the smoke was black - like a diesel starting - not blue or white. i turned to the service advisor who was standing beside me and asked if he saw the smoke. he had not of course. i think there is something wrong with the fuel shut off or something that is allowing raw fuel to enter the engine cylinders after you shut the truck off. the result is basically a flooded engine until it can burn off the excess fuel causing hard starting and black smoke. problem is - unless the dodge diagnostic computer reads a fault code they cant do anything. when the engine is running everything is fine. my problem is when the engine is shut off i think and the computer has no way of sensing it. oh well. eisboch sounds like you might have a bad injector one might not close all the way the black smoke means theres fuel laying in there. you might want to park it and maybe videotape it cold starting after a long sit. do it three times and show them the tape. i had a camaro do the same thing once the extra injector one that runs when its cold to richen it up was leaking really badly. no codes were ever seen when they checked it. i taped it starting cold a half a dozen times and they finally cleaned the injectors and that fixed it. some dealers are really stubborn about this kind of thing. my jeep had a horrible vibration in the front end when i hit frost heaves or uneven pavement. the dealer insisted that the steering stabilizer wasnt bad and didnt need to be replaced. the front end was checked by three different places and nothing was found. i finally went ahead and did replace it and the problem was solved. a couple of weeks later the service guy told me that they had another couple of grand cherokees come in with the same problem and they replaced the stabilizer on them and fixed it. good luck bdk .

From : fmb

forgot to bleed the air out right nope..that was the odd thing. found a couple pretty good balls of tin rolling around in the thing...the replacement that we got when we swapped it out was 100% better in the quality. literally. btw...just in case anyones still thinking up ford jokes...be my guest. we bought another one and we got a hell of a deal on the last b vans pop had...so far sold off one of the bs and the other is in for its 2nd complete rear replacement. the older b is on its 2nd tranny...no surprise there and no it wasnt due to a fluid issue it was due to the input shaft bearing and pump going south and we could not keep it on the road long enough to be profitable. looking at the sprinters but i keep looking at the tiny hogshead on them and just dont know..looks like a serious weak link and from what i understand from the frieghtliner guys and several techs there seems to be a few electrical issues still with the north american model...and i dont really want a mercedes automatic in one... i had a 65 falcon that did the same thing till it was bled. -- budd cochran in tribute to the united states of america and the state of israel two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife and terrorism. ------ cbhvac stephenaddressscfrewedonpurpose@carolinabreezehvac.com wrote in lol i gave him a good ribbing about it and when he gets home on tuesday im going to explain how its important to not run them anywhere except to a gas station when they hit empty. he plans to bring the car to me in february since he couldnt get enough leave time for christmas and give it to me for my 57th birthday. ill bet he stops for gas every time it hits 1/4 tank on that trip. vbg -- budd cochran in tribute to the united states of america and the state of israel two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife and terrorism. ------ i got a good one for ya... last week the 95ferds heater core went kabloowey and we replaced it. no big deal. while toying around under the truck we hooked the air line back up oin the air pump that had lost its clamp. about 1 day later and 200 miles we started to get a really really loud whine at higher rpms and after much debate and looking and poking and prodding the smog pump seemed to be the suspect part. got a new one and sure enough the old one was about the fall apart..really. get it on and crank her up and take off down the road and at the same rpm it sounded like the dash was coming out. so...back to looking..and you wont freaking believewhat it was.. turbulence in the new heater core....clamp the heater hoses off and it was just as quiet as ever...open em up and good god...it sounded like the front end was about to come off... ok i never claimed to have the worlds smartest kid just the best. he ran the lebaron out of gas because he was thinking he had more of a reserve amount left in the tank. yeah well.... it happens happened to me way back when... borrowed a parents vehicle suburban and had it spit sputter and stall on me about 1/2 mile from home. pushed the beast home not easy to do... friggin things are heavy tried to figure out why it wouldnt start... threw a whole bunch of tune-up parts at it needed it anyway but... and still wouldnt start. my brother-in-law came by studied the problem for a bit rapped his knuckles on the gas tank and proclaimed dude - youre out of gas!. in my defense if you can call it that the gauge did read 1/4 tank. funny thing was even after we dumped some gas into the carb and drove like hell to the gas station down the road and filled up it still read 1/4 full. well at least we finally figured out the problem .

From : Annonymous

maybe hes big hearted and the donation is more important than the write off bill i hear that kbb.com has a value guide now for those donations. lets see s10 no options 180k must be worth about $800 maybe and you are in the 25% bracket so thats a $200 write off provided you have enough other deductions to itemize i think id take and sell it for $500 and be ahead dealer options added. it will give me enough time for my s10 to trip 180k on the way to work that morning. its done all its going to and is headed out to pasture as a donation and a tax right off. ill start watching reality tv shows when i can vote people off the planet. .

From : Annonymous

you should be able to switch the key through three cycles of on off on off on and read the fault codes on the odo display. look up the codes in the factory service manual or here http//dodgeram.org/ if the mil light came on it set a code. since you did not know how to look you do not know if there was or was not a code set so now you are paying the rental cost. i will bet that the cost of the fsm book will be less than the rental car cost to find this problem at the rate you are going. the stupid and the ignorant always pay more so get the fsm and get educated! from my experience on this type of problem most of the time it is 1. the crankshaft or cam shaft pickup sensor. 2. a rusty connection in some connector. 3 a bad engine computer. i would first read the computer fault codes and replace the low cost stuff first. this sounds sort of like the lady that just knew that her car did not like her buying fudgy nut ice cream. if she drove to the ice cream store to get fudgy nut ice cream her car would not start but if she got vanilla the car would start and there was no problem. the difference was it took a longer amount of time to scoop up the fudgy nut and package it while the vanilla was pre packaged and the car did not sit and heat soak as long. on tue 16 dec 2003 103441 -0500 eisboch rerikss@bellsouthnot.net wrote 8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. no i bought the truck in ma but currently am in florida. as i suspected the service advisor at the dealership here in fl called this morning and told me that the computer says nothing is wrong with the truck. they had just checked it again with the engine cold and everything is within factory specs. although i have a chrysler service contract that i purchased with the truck that covers a rental he advised me that i would not be covered and will have to pay for the rental because they could not find anything wrong. ok. so i go to pick up the truck which was parked out in the lot. one of the employees went out to get the truck for me. as i watched her start it a big black cloud of smoke bellowed out of the exhaust then quickly cleared. the smoke was black - like a diesel starting - not blue or white. i turned to the service advisor who was standing beside me and asked if he saw the smoke. he had not of course. i think there is something wrong with the fuel shut off or something that is allowing raw fuel to enter the engine cylinders after you shut the truck off. the result is basically a flooded engine until it can burn off the excess fuel causing hard starting and black smoke. problem is - unless the dodge diagnostic computer reads a fault code they cant do anything. when the engine is running everything is fine. my problem is when the engine is shut off i think and the computer has no way of sensing it. oh well. eisboch .

From : redneck tookover hell

you do not know if there was or was not a code set so now you are paying the rental cost. i will bet that the cost of the fsm book will be less than the rental car cost to find this problem at the rate you are going. the stupid and the ignorant always pay more so get the fsm and get oh man da guys gonna be all over you for calling a poster on here ignorant doncha know if the poster wanted a mechainc or to actually fix his problem he wouldnt have posted on here ill start watching reality tv shows when i can vote people off the planet. .

From : fmb

have you tried to drive it around awhile then go park it at the dealer and have him come out and try to start it of course it would prob start fmb 8- - - i know i am going to get a final call telling me to pick up the truck because they cant find anything wrong with it. i also know it is going to happen again and again and again. anybody have any ideas eisboch i get the idea you took it to the same dealer i used to go to. dallas dodge in ga. no i bought the truck in ma but currently am in florida. as i suspected the service advisor at the dealership here in fl called this morning and told me that the computer says nothing is wrong with the truck. they had just checked it again with the engine cold and everything is within factory specs. although i have a chrysler service contract that i purchased with the truck that covers a rental he advised me that i would not be covered and will have to pay for the rental because they could not find anything wrong. ok. so i go to pick up the truck which was parked out in the lot. one of the employees went out to get the truck for me. as i watched her start it a big black cloud of smoke bellowed out of the exhaust then quickly cleared. the smoke was black - like a diesel starting - not blue or white. i turned to the service advisor who was standing beside me and asked if he saw the smoke. he had not of course. i think there is something wrong with the fuel shut off or something that is allowing raw fuel to enter the engine cylinders after you shut the truck off. the result is basically a flooded engine until it can burn off the excess fuel causing hard starting and black smoke. problem is - unless the dodge diagnostic computer reads a fault code they cant do anything. when the engine is running everything is fine. my problem is when the engine is shut off i think and the computer has no way of sensing it. oh well. eisboch .