John-you are correct, I did mean volts, not amps. It just shows my lack of knowledge in this area. But I will definitely take your advice. Thank you.

Here is the latest. They are now saying it's the battery. He said it was pretty much dead. Why they did not realize this yesterday, and why it ran fine last night I will never know. So they replaced it with a better model, and I was able to get my money back on the one I purchased in October. He said the alternator was fine, and that there were no "shorts" in the system. I guess the proof will be in the next few weeks to see if this battery lasts. That being said, I have a few more questions. I know this is probably covered in a high school shop class, but as I said I really know nothing about vehicles:

1. Could a loose ground wire cause the battery to drain? When I brought it in this morning, and they popped the hood, he was able to pull the ground wire right off the negative terminal.

2. Can someone, in layman's terms, please explain to me how a dead battery can cause a truck to stall if I took my foot off the gas? I mean, I could literally be going 40mph, take my foot off the gas, and the thing would stall. I put it in neutral, and it starts right up again. I always thought dead battery=not starting.

3. Finally, even though the problem seems to be solved, at least tonight, would it still be wise to take it to a dealer, or Goodyear, and have them run a diagnostic test? My mechanic said he tested everything with his "machine", but I have no idea what this means exactly. And there is no check engine light on. Would it be able to pick up a problem if there was still one there? And if the answer to this question is yes, I should, what test am I asking them to perform?

Again, I'd like to thank everyone on this forum for their help. While I don't understand a lot of what you are talking about, this site is still fun to read.

 

The PCM doesn't really care about the battery, or the alternator. If voltage is too high, or too low, it might get annoyed, and set a code, but, that's the extent of it.

The loose cable might be the whole problem... then again, it may not. Usually, a loose connection will manifest itself as a truck that everything seems to work, but, won't crank the engine...... now, if you hit a bump with your cable that loose, and it lost connection for a second, that would indeed cause a stall. (ground goes away, so ALL sensor stop working, including the PCM...... which isn't really a sensor, but, you get the idea. ) Do I think that is what was happening? No. Not really. An internally shorted battery will give some truly odd symptoms though.... It is possible that the one you got was faulty when you got it. Only time is going to tell. If it behaves nicely for the next few days, you are probably in the clear.

 

That's what worries me in regards to the battery. The one I returned today was not the first, but the second battery. I purchased the original on October 8th. 4 weeks to the day later, dead. Now this one lasted 3 weeks before going kaput. Granted, same store, same brand battery both times. But for two of them to be bad seems odd and highly unlikely, at least to me. But as you said, I guess time will tell.

I had the A/C compressor and condensor replaced about a month before all of this started happening, and it was at that time they replaced the negative battery terminal. So who knows.

Man, I have literally never had a problem with this truck. Finally get it paid off and alll hell breaks loose, lol.

 

Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less.

 

So I'm having the same issue with my Ram. Old battery, replaced when truck was dead one morning. Everything good to go, few days later, dead. Battery checks fine, alternator good, when truck starts it wont idle. Only code on computer is 720 output speed sensor. Would the IAC, MAP or TPS show a code if they were bad?

 

Not necessarily....... First thing to do is clean the throttle body, and IAC motor. (reset pcm as well.) If that doesn't help, check TPS, and verify it works the way it is supposed to. If that's ok, replace IAC.

 

My brother who is a mechanic told me that I probably got a bad battery the first time even though it tested fine. He said the not idling was related to this because the PCM is very sensitive to low voltage. Initially the vehicle will run like crap or not idle until the PCM recalibrates.

So I changed out the battery for a better one and so far that has fixed my problem. After charging it up the old battery all day I carried the truck back to Autozone where they tested it. The tester said that the battery needed to be charged. The guy told me the battery I bought was not very reliable (Valucraft) so he recommended the yellow top Duralast. So far so good. I do have one code however it is P720 Output speed sensor which is unrelated to my problems.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

Of course when dead battery issue comes up (beating zman to this) I think it is worth checking the glove box light. My crapastic mount broke leaving the light hanging - and turned on. Removing bulb solves problem, don't need to see in there anyway.

 

I found draw from the light under my hood causing my battery to die. the mercury switch contcts were mucky and must have been leaking current...I used a multimeter to track down the draw.

 

my truck stalled yesterday on the way to work. it would only start by me giving it gas and popping it into drive. i replaced my tps and its all better. your tps is your throttle position sensor. it is connected to the throttle body on the driver side you take out the two torque bolts holding it to the throttle body, disconnect it from the connector and replace. really easy. i bought a new one from autozone for 36 dollars after tax. and now have no problem