My 98 5.9 today at school it started right up then I parked for a little and my friends wanted me to show them the lights i put in last night I did and it wouldn't start up like 5 minutes after then all I did was have my friend jump it and once the cables were connected it started right up. It did that yesterday to then it started fine this morning any ideas

 

So...what does it have to do with the gas?

Anyway, check and clean your battery connections. Start with the free and easy.

 

Alright ill do that and I mean like giving it gas when it tries to start but now it starts fine????

 

Ok that could be a whole new thing then. Someone else should chime in that knows more, but, have you checked fuel pressure? Could be a sensor acting up also.

 

check your fuel pressure. should be right around 45-50 psi.
also do the simple cheap things like cap, rotor, plugs ect.
you could also have a sensor going bad. does it ever bog? is idle speed stable once it starts?

 

It doesn't bog and once it starts it idles fine and now it will just like turn on fine is it the battery

 

Check and clean the battery connections. And stop at a parts store and let them check the battery.

 

i'm having trouble following the description of the problem but here's a shot in the dark -

in order to start and idle without pressing the gas pedal, the IAC has to function properly to move air around the closed throttle plate. so if it won't start or idle with no pressure on the gas pedal, but it does start and run if you crack open the throttle, then its an IAC malfunction.

now, in order for the IAC to work properly, the battery must be full charged. a low battery will fail to operate the IAC and its not the IAC's fault at all. so don't replace a $40 IAC because of a bad battery.

if you suspect you have a bad battery, have a part store do a load test and replace if necessary. and like zman said, clean all the terminals first.

 

Alright I cleaned the terminals and now it starts up fine

 

Well there you go. An easy fix.