Hi all!

I bought a '98 Ram 2500 a few months ago. I love the truck, never gave me any problems until the other day.

I pulled into my driveway, which is on a slight incline. I shut it off, and the next day I hopped in and went to start it, it wouldn't fire. I looked at the fuel gauge and saw it was on E or almost there.

Okay, simple enough, I was a dumbass and ran it out of gas. Quick run to the gas station with the car and a can. Put 2 gallons in it, and it took a while to prime I guess but it fired up.

The problem now is it doesnt always idle, and often stalls. Never did that before. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Barry

btw, it's a 5.9

 

You may have suck up some debis fromthe fuel. You may have to remove the gas tank and replace the fuel filter on the pump.

 

Okay, thanks! I'm going to do that first.

Just another thought, could it be the throttle position sensor? Because it doesn't starve for fuel at speed, only at idle.

Thanks again for the reply.

Barry

 

interesting that it runs fine at speed. i'd think that a clogged fuel filter or pickup would run better at idle and worse at speed.

although, it seems like a lot of coincidence that the problem started immediately after running out of gas.

so eeny meeny miney moe...

if it is a sensor, its more likely to be the idle air control (IAC) which is on the back side of the throttle body and controls the idle by moving a plunger in/out of an air well. this is how the engine gets its air with the throttle plate closed. the TPS is for telling the pcm your foot is mashing the gas. the IAC is very easy to remove - just a couple of bolts and an electrical connector. its not very expensive, about $50. its a small electric motor that moves the plunger in/out. DONT twist the plunger or force it in/out as you'll break it.

i don't know of any way to test it. i suppose you could remove it and crank the truck. i'm not sure and never done this so be ready to shut it down if you get a super high rev. the way it works is that the plunger moves deeper in the tb to restrict air and slow the idle and moves out to allow more air flow and higher rpm idle.

anyone else ?

 

Good suggestion. I didn't know there was a separate idle sensor, I thought it was controlled by the TPS. Huh, ya learn something new everyday.

Yeah, I have to wonder if it was just coincidence that it started stalling (doesn't do it ALL the time btw), when it ran out of gas. I'm going to take a good look at it tmrw, and I'll let you know what I find.

I appreciate the help from everyone. Thanks!

 

Okay, it was the IAC.

Swapped it out and all is well again. The old one was pretty nasty, the plunger was covered with carbon.

Just got the truck inspected and it passed with flying colors.

Thanks for the help guys!

Barry

 

ahhh. another satisfied customer. a few more of those and i'll be.... still poor. [sm=violin.gif]