Hey Everyone,

I had a bizarre problem happen last night. When I started my 2004 Durango (5.7 Hemi, 65k miles), it started fine but almost immediately (less than five seconds), it stalled out. I tried multiple times with the same result. I must emphasize this appears not to be a battery issues - voltage was fine, and the vehicle turned over immediately.

This morning I decided to try it once more before taking the beater to work. This time the engine started up and ran rough for about 10 seconds (on the brink of stalling), and then was fine. I let it run for about five minutes, turned it off for five, and then turned it on again - no issues at all that time.

I'm not getting any codes, and the temperature last night and this morning was warmish for this time of year here (45-55). Is this a fluke, or does anyone have any thoughts on what I should check?

About a month ago I had a stall out at low speed on a hill - my gas was extremely low so I figured it was do to that. Just throwing this incident out for consideration.

Thanks,

Will

 

I would guess the TPS. Sounds like the same problem a friend of mine had with his. Except, when it was starting to stall he'd give it some gas for a few seconds and it would work itself out.

 

Will:

While there are several things that could cause the symptoms you are having, a very common one is a failing battery.

Being an 04, if your battery is OEM it is 5 years old or more.

Before you chase your tail, have the battery load tested. Many folks have thrown lots of parts at their rigs for just these reasons only to find that the battery was on its way out.

If it checks ok, then you have ruled it out so you win either way.

Don

 

It wouldn't hurt to take a look at those plugs either. +2 to the battery though.

 

I put a a K&N FIPK cold air intake kit on my 05 Hemi Durango and have had three or four instances over the last 9 months where I have the exact same problem. Immeadiately after firing her up, she starts to stutter and then stalls out. The second time I fire her up I have no problems. I always thought it had something to do with the engine running a little too lean because of the extra air. Don't know if this helps but maybe it will spark some ideas.

 

I recently had this problem for the first time a little while back. 50,000 miles.
I also had this problem on my old 2000 318 cid. I never figured it out on the old one but I read on another post to check two things. Your battery and your transmission fluid level. My battery is only a year old so I checked my fluid. Sure enough it was 1/2 qt. low. I tow a boat every weekend so I figured I either burned a little or the dealer short filled it when it was in for service.
I have not had the problem since. Now I don't know how it could affect it unless there was some sort of level sensor or something. I can't prove it but I just wanted to pass the info on.

 

As mentioned Battery or TPS