im having problems with my 97 dakota with 3.9 v6 engine. This only happens in cold weather but i can go out in the morning at start my truck and it runs great, however after i drive it and try to restart it, it stalls or the rpms drop real low and almost dies. I have replaced the iac motor, cleaned the TB, and put in a new battery. However it is still doing it. Anyone have any ideas what my problem could be, i have already put about $400 dollars in it for paying a mechanic and still have the same prob. One more question when i had my battery load tested, they said the battery was ok but i tried replacing it anyway just to see if it would fix the prob. but when he tested it he said the alternator was only putting out 69 amps instead of the 90 it was rated. I dont seem to have a problem charging the battery or anything but could this is part of my prob. Thanks for any help anyone could provide.

 

My 97 3.9 use to do thisit would start the first time like it the morningthen if i shut it off and tried to start it wouldnt or it would turn over a very long time and start or start and just drop RPM's and die....My problem was mycatalyic converterwas really reallyclogged i changed that to just a straight(didnt want to spend the money for a highflow cat) and my problem went away you might want to try that

 

well when is it doing 69 amps at idle this is better than normal...then have the computer flashed if that doenst work go with the cat replacment

 

ok thanks for the ideas, is there a way to check the catalitic conveter or do you just have to replace it? again thanks for the help

 

yes a good shop can or you can check with the o2 pre and post cat

 

mine had a smililar problem, ended up being the O2 sensor was bad and causing the engine to run lean and cold. replaced O2, t-stat, idle speed control( i think)

 

Sounds just like what mine was doing. It would start, idle really low around 400-600 rpm then die. Had to give it gass for a few minutes to get it to idle.

I fixed the problem about a month ago. I took off the throttle body and cleaned the butterflies. There was a lot of carbon buildup on them. Now she runs fine . Use a toothbrush and some handcleaner with pumice in it, like fast orange. It's free basically so you might as well try it.