Hi, new to dodges. I just bought my 98 Durango SLT 5.2 4x4 with 114,000 miles a week ago. It ran great on the drive home. But ever since then if i start it up and let it idle after about 1.5 minutes the idle will drop to around 200rpm but it wont stall. Sometimes it does this for a while then the rpms jump to about 1500 before retuning to normal, and sometimes i have to shut it off and restart and its fine. Other times if i just start it up and start driving at every stop i make the vehicle hesitates very badly and stutters until i get to about 20mph. No CEL, no codes. Any ideas?

 

Check the battery terminals for corrosion.

How old are the spark plugs.

How old is the gas in it?

Do you know when it last had a tune up?

Just some things that come to mind. I am sure others may be able to help more.

 

The battery terminals are clean.

The plugs look pretty new and they're gapped properly.

I just filled up the gas yesterday. When i bought it a week ago it was completely empty.

I have no idea when the last tune up was done.

I thought it might be a fuel problem. My old subaru did this when it needed a new fuel filter, but i found out the fuel filter is on the fuel pump. Weird.

 

Take off the air cleaner breather to the top of the throttle body and look into the chamber. Likely your throttle body needs a good cleaning. Could be a dirty Idle Air Control motor, it attaches to the back of the throttle body closest to the firewall and meters air flow via a stepper motor that moves in and out as necessary to maintain idle. You could also have a failing throttle position sensor. That is located on the driver's side of the throttle body. I would remove the throttle body and clean all ports and passages with carb cleaner and then see how it responds. Make sure to remove all sensors before spraying cleaner in there Report back on how it runs afterward and we can help troubleshoot further from there.

 

Sounds like battery connections/battery or the IAC to me. Take off the battery terminals and clean them and the posts with a wire brush. Check where the wires clamp into the terminal too.

 

Okay, i did this and it seems to have worked. Ive only taken on one drive though so i will let you know. Thanks.

 

Well the durango ran fine for about 2 days. But the problem came back yesterday when i went to the store. The idle has smoothed out and is no longer a problem but the hesitation is still there. I've realized it only does this before it warms up. When it gets to operating temp it runs perfect. I have put a new iac on. As well as a new TB gasket. Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Did you reset the computer after you replaced the sensor?

 

Sure did.

 

And you took a wire brush to the battery connections? How old is the battery too?

Does the engine hesitate to pick up rpms in neutral too, or just in gear?