1997 Ram 1500 5.2L 2wd

Recently started getting longer crank time before start. Has gotten progressively worse.

I noticed I could crank it a second or two, stop and crank it again and it starts faster than just letting it crank. Kinda feels like the first crank fills the cylinder with fuel and the second crank fires it. It seems it has trouble coordinating the two events without a little coaxing.

Other day I stopped cranking it on what seemed like a firing attempt and started cranking it again and it drug down to the point it stopped cranking for a half second and then was very hard to start. I thought for a second it was vacuum locked or something but it continued to struggle to crank again almost like timing was way too advanced. Took a couple of minutes of cranking to start after that. It would start if I held the pedal down a little but not idle. I could hold pedal down a bit and keep it running but poorly. After a couple of these tries I started it, held down the pedal a bit, and put it in reverse. It started idling normally, backed out of the driveway fine and ran fine after that. But I am back to the extended crank time to start.

Extend-o-crank is cold or warm start and sluggish like timing is too advanced. The battery and starter are taking a beating. So, I think if it was one of those, one or other, or both would have died by now.

I found in the Intrepid forum someone uploaded a link to a spot with the shop manual for the LH same year as my Intrepid. Was hoping to find the same here for my truck but no luck with that so far.

I know there are a lot of possibilities but without a shop manual I am looking for some "What-to" and "How-to" testing steps.

I miss my old cars that had no sensors

Almost forgot, before the extend-o-crank started I had trouble getting it to perform when I really needed it to kick it in for passing. Power was bad and the valves rattled if I pushed it harder. Again like the timing was off.

I bought it with 115k miles on it and it ran fine until the last couple of weeks. It has close to 135k now and I have yet to get more than 13 mpg. Not sure what is normal but that is terrible.

Only code I get with the key dance is 12 and I haven't had the battery disconnected since last fall.

Anyway let me know if you folks need more data on this(these) problem(s).

Thanks!

 

Sounds like a failing fuel pump. Grab yourself a pressure tester, and see what fuel pressure looks like with just a key turn, and also with the engine actually running.

The 'funny' cranking may be dirty battery terminals, (which I would check and clean anyway, as it just might solve the entire problem....) or, a battery on its way out, or, a failing starter motor. And of the national chain auto parts stores should be able to test both the battery, and the starter. Just drive the truck there.

 

Thanks for the reply!

My battery cables may need cleaning, I'll check them. I hope it isn't the fuel pump. Is it true that I have to drop the tank just to change the fuel filter?

On the way home tonight I pulled out of a street onto another and it started running rough then it backfired through the intake a couple of times and ran fine after that.

As I pulled in the driveway the check engine light came on and it is showing a code 31. Assuming they are the same as my intrepid codes it is "EVAP solenoid circuit" according to the table of codes I downloaded. It also gives me a list of things to check. They are Evaporative purge solenoid / Clogged purge line / Vacuum hose / Evaporative emission canister clogged.

Seems like the list of things to check is growing.
Oh well
Thanks for the input!

 

Problem is I am not familiar what these things are or how to test them. I need the service manual.

 

There is a service manual for the 01 model year in the FAQ section.... it is pretty close, with some differences....... (fog light switch, central timer module, and a few other details.......) for what you need, should be adequate to the task. You could also pick up a chilton, or haynes manual....