We have a 1996 Dodge Ram SLT 4x4 that sat for about 2 months. When I tried to start it, the engine didn't turn over, so I jump-started it, and it started just fine, but it won't idle -- it dies unless I give it gas. The battery is fairly new -- less than a year. I'm charging the battery right now, in the hopes that that'll fix the problem, but it doesn't make sense to me that the battery is causing it to die once it starts. Do you have any idea what else it could be?

Thanks.

 

Most likely, though, it's your Intake Air Control (IAC). Replace that first.
Also consider doing a full tuneup.

And welcome to DodgeForum.

 

hang on and don't replace anything yet. a weak battery screws up the idle signal on these trucks. thoroughly charge the battery and verify that you've got 12 volts before start and 14+ volts when running.

 

If the battery doesnt fix it, open the gas cap and make sure the gas isnt bad this new ethanol stuff can go bad quick

 

anytime my battery dies and i jump it it runs like that for 10 to 15mins then starts running right. it will die not idle backfire and sometime hard to start but after i drive it around the block a few time it goes back to running right.

 

same thing happened to me and it was the battery, my truck is rigged with 2 batteries but the way it was setup is one battery was stealing juice from the other, it was not charging them both correctly. I disconnected the secondary battery altogether and no more issues.

 

i doubt we'll ever know. posted once and gone....

 

well if he comes back or not.
so it does stay going when on the gas?

if so my buddy had the same exact problem, turned out to be the battery terminals. but he replaced terminals, battery, and negative ground wire. now it runs like a champ.

 

Sorry for the hiatus. It's just taken me this long to actually try what was suggested. I borrowed a trickle charger from a friend and charged up the battery for a few hours, then put in 1 gallon of new gas (the tank was on empty), and cranked it, and it was the same as before: it would start but would die. I did it again and kept my foot on the pedal and ran it for 5 minutes. Still died. Then I had to run another errand, so I got another gallon of fresh gas (thinking that since I only put in a gallon of new gas, maybe the new gas just didn't get into fuel line). So I put in the second gallon, cranked it, it died, cranked it again and kept the pedal down for 2-3 minutes, and it idled by itself.

Thanks to dhvaughan for his advice, as well as to the rest of you for taking the time to respond. I've got other (mostly cosmetic) issues with this truck, so I'll be posting more questions....

Thanks again.

 

It has been a common problem with mine after the battery is dead as mentioned above. It's just the way they are.