Need some help diagnosing this.
I have a 1999 Dakota 4x4 club cab w/a 5.2 engine and manual transmission.
I purchased the truck new and have 178k on it.

The truck starts fine and idles fine around 800 rpm for two minutes. After that it stutters once or twice during the next minute. During the next minute the stutter becomes very bad and the engine 'hunts' to find a stable idle between 600-900 rpm. About one minute later it stutters hard and dies.

After sitting for about a minute, and cranking it over a couple times, it will start back up and go through the same cycle.

I can hold the idle steady with the gas pedal at any rpm.
The fuel pump and filter are less than two years old and it was the first time I replaced them.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions you may have.

 

Unplug the front O2 sensor, and see if the issues goes away. (that will set codes....) If it does, replace the sensor. NTK or Denso please, skip the bosch, our trucks don't like 'em.