I have a 2000 dodge ram 1500 2wd 5.9L truck. When i got the truck it wouldnt start on its own , i had to jump it off from another vehicle and keep my foot on the accelerator to keep it running and i noticed the battery guage would drop all the way down so i thought it was the battery that was bad. I bought a brand new battery to put in it and at that point it ran and started fine on its own, after 5 minuites of driving it the battery guage dropped all the way down again and stayed there. At that point it was still running and idling fine so i just drove it to my house. The next day i took the alternator out and had it checked at autozone and the alternator checked out fine so i put it back in and tried cranking it and now its back to square one where it wont crank unless your foot is on the accelerator.

 

Does it start then immediately die or just never actually start?

 

Remove the TB and all it's sensors and clean it and the sensors. Remove negative battery cable first.

 

yes it starts as long as i have my foot on the gas pedal but has soon as i take it off it cuts off.....it has been sitting in my dads driveway for about 4 months if that helps any

 

Follow the zman's advice first.

Voltage regulator is in the PCM, if the alt. tests good, and the battery tests good, and you aren't seeing 14 volts or better on the gauge with the engine running...... time to look into an external regulator, or, replace the PCM.

 

i was also reading another guys post about him saying that the alternator even though testing good could still be bad..... i also tried to "reset" the pcm by taking off the neg battery cable and holding the ignition in the start position for 30 secs and then re attaching the neg battery cable......that did nothing.. where would pcm be located?

 

PCM is on the passenger side firewall. Take the alternator to a different parts store if you can.

 

Clean TB first, I'll wager it's air over fuel or spark.

 

I don't know about these trucks, but I know some Fords have a "neutral start safety," and if that ground comes undone the vehicle exhibits that exact symptom. On Fords this is located underneath the steering column.

 

My truck does the not running unless my foot is on the gas for like 20 minutes after disconnecting the battery.Which is normal from what I hear. Sound like your PCM is losing power and resetting. Causing the idle problem.