I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 2 wheel rear drive. My lovely boyfriend decided to back my truck FULLY into the snow BESIDE my driveway in order to get it turned around in my driveway. Needless to say that wasn't a brilliant thing to do in a 2 wheel drive and it got stuck.

In an effort to get it out, we did the usual- rock back and forth, etc. After about a half hour of this ( and taking some breaks and throwing stones under the tires), my Ram stalled out. It gave a heck of a time restarting and really bogged down. I could hear a winding noise coming from under the hood when it did this. Well, after 1 and a half hours total, we got the truck out and had to go run errands. We stopped at the Auto store and I picked up plugs and wires as frankly, the truck has had a rough idle since this snow started and I wanted to see if that helped. Since the driveway is still a mess, we will have to put the plugs and wires in tomorrow and see if it helps.

The whole time driving though, he had to drive with his foot on the gas. At red lights, he had to have his foot on the brake and gas. If you let off the gas, the truck stalls out rather quickly without warning and gives you a hard time starting it.

As I said- my truck never, ever had this issue until all that rocking back and forth trying to get it unstuck. And wouldn't you know it, but during this episode, I went to roll the window down to say something to him and my ENTIRE window fell down in my door. At that point, I just sat there and about cried my eyes out.

My truck is in really good condition and has never given me ANY problems whatsoever, except a stuck caliber once. For its year, it has low miles and has been maintained.... I never go anywhere. But this winter, it seems like a whole lot of little buggy problems are starting up that started with a very rough idle.

Any ideas? What is the likeliest thing that may have happened? Except the fact that a 2 wheel drive never should have been COMPLETELY backed into the snow/yard to begin with? Next thing you know, he might try to take it 4 wheel mudding. Ahem.

 

First of all, welcome to the forum!

The cold has a nasty habit of causing and/or aggravating existing problems in vehicles.

I believe the non-idle issue is usually a result of a TPS going bad. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

Run back to the store and grab a distributor cap and rotor as well if you don't mind another trip. Get ones with brass contacts. Usually a good idea to replace those to, because if anything goes wrong with the cap/wires/plug setup, I usually read about it being the cap/rotor more often then the wires. They wear out over time faster than the wires, it seems.

Also, make sure you route those wires properly. If the wires aren't positioned correctly around one another, it could cause misfires/loss of power/many other weird issues.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/18-48-98/18-48-98.htm

 

#1 smack him upside the head!
#2 Have make up sex!
#3 Make him buy you a new IAC tomorrow morning!

 

Thanks for your replies. I didn't get them until after we did the plugs and wires. The easier part, believe it or not, was resetting the window that fell down in the door after I got window crank pin out .

SO ANYWAYS, we did the wires and plugs. While he had his head under there doing that, I looked down at my antifreeze bucket and it was BONE dry. I had asked him to fill this up three darn weeks ago!

With the plugs and wires, the truck is different now, but here is what it does: it still has issues starting. it REALLY tries to start, but you gotta keep layin on the gas to keep it on. Once it is up and running, it DOES idle now... no more driving with both feet. So the idle problem is fixed, but it doesn't want to start. It takes about 3-4 hits on the key to get it to turn completely over. He also brushed off my battery terminals as they had some funky blue foam stuff coming out of them.

He did not buy a distributor, but what I am going to do is just drop it off at my regular mechanic tomorrow and get it completely fixed.

I am PRAYING that he did not blow a head gasket or something, since it was bone dry on antifreeze and he kept revving that engine hard to get it unstuck ( which was another thing I told him to stop doing, but he didn't listen). However, I can't even check for antifreeze or water in the oil because the cap is completely seized on for some reason. Joy, I know.

In all due honesty, since he has been driving my truck ( since October), I have been running into more and more problems. Some people just shouldn't drive vehicles, especially when they cannot maintain them. It was also almost completely out of brake fluid- easy problem and all better now.

Well, again thank you for your replies. Granted the winter is going to bring up issues with vehicles, but also a message from me- don't let anyone drive your truck! LOL! Another infamous thing he likes to do is put it in drive before it is even done reversing, with no breaks in between. I have told him up and down he is going to give me tranny problems doing that and sure as heck, the last two months my truck has been slipping.

Hopefully the starting problem is an easy fix and not something major. I'll find out tomorrow and my boyfriend's wallet will be a bit more empty.

 

either TPS on drivers side of thottle body (about $40) or IAC on the back side (about 50). i used to think all idle problems were IAC related, but after being wrong a few times i'm not so confident any more.

if it doesn't start with no foot on the gas, and then it does start easily by pressing the gas pedal just a smidgen, then i'd guess IAC.

with engine dead cold, refiill radiator and coolant tank to the max line and check it regularly. if you're loosing coolant, keep adding some to the overflow tank to prevent overheating.

 

oops, i missed where you said you turned the key several times before the starter engaged. the funky blue stuff is corrosion. you need to completely remove the battery cable from the battery and clean both the post and the inside and outside of the cable with a wire brush.

 

You are right- it will not start at all unless your foot is on the gas. However, you have to try it three or four times. It really tries to start, but it will barely start and bog down and stall out. it will bog down and stall out about 3-4 times and then start, ONLY if your foot is on the gas.

I did look up prices on the IAC, and they are very cheap. I will keep that in mind when my mechanic tries to charge me 400 to fix it LOL, I will be learning real quick how to do an IAC myself.

 

Check the coil too! And BTW, the battery connections need to be removed and cleaned. Not just taking a wire brush to the outer part of the terminals.

 

Is the truck running really rich, like black smoke comming out of the exhaust? I had the o2 sensor go bad behind the cat and it messed my truck up big time. Was getting like 4 miles to the gallon and it blew black smoke like a desiel.Is the CEL on? My truck wouldn't idle at all unless you kept your foot in it.

 

did your exhaust get smashed up in that snow bank?