Noob here, nice forum, good info. I have a 2001 Dakota, 4.7L V8, auto. with ~80k miles. Bear with me on the long post...
About 4 months ago, it stalled, but started and ran rough (the check engine light had been lit for a while). It needed O2 sensors, but not all of them. It ran fine after that. Shortly after, the engine light came on again, but it continued to run smooth. About a month ago, it ran rough again, and I noticed the "check engine" light went out. After a couple of hours, the light came back on, and it ran smooth again. Two days ago, I had to jump start it, and it was running rough again, and the engine light was back off. It' not holding idle... if I don't keep the RPM's up with the accelerator, the RPM's drop and it dies. It's as if the problem component brings itself back online, turning off the engine light, causing problems. Maybe another O2 sensor? I work on my motorcycle, but obviously, not so much on the truck. I read in another post where the "front" O2 sensor controls the air/fuel mixture. How many O2 sensors are there, and what is each's function? Thanks in advance.

 

you have 4 o2 sensors, all of them have somthing to do with A/F.. if you replace them, replace them all at once, also you could have bad cats, your truck has 3, so good luck. Also have you checked your battery or altenater for problems?

 

Thanks for the reply. I haven't check batt. or alt. yet. Come to think of it, it actually runs okay after I get it started... it just drops to 0 RPMs and dies. I wonder if it could be the throttle control valve? I found the post that tells you how to display the codes on the odo... I may try that first to hopefully get headed in the right direction.

 

Sounds like a battery.