Had something weird happen this morning. I've got a 98 quad cab 1500 Ram, 5.2. All was fine last night when I got home, but this morning when I went out to start the truck, it turned over normally, fired and then died (it's about 40 degrees outside). Tried it again and it acted like it was flooded, so I pushed the accelerator to the floor, and she started up and then died again ............. no idle. Then, I noticed that the radio was off (aftermarket), but I never actually turn it off. When I turned it on, all the presets and current time were gone, like the battery had been disconnected. I started the truck again, but kept a bit of pressure on the accelerator to keep her running and came to work. When I got here, I let off the pedal and she idled just fine. Turned off, started again and all was fine.

There are a few things that I would normally suspect, but the radio problem in conjunction with this has got me wondering about a possible computer issue.

Anybody?

Thanks in advance.

 

Did you check your battery connections?

 

MINE DID THE SAME THING WHEN I HAD MY TRANY OUT, BUT I HAD THE BATTERY DISCONECTED FOR TWO DAYS.IT TOOK A WHILE FOR THE COMPUTER TO RE-TEACH ITSELF.SOUNDS LIKE YOU LOST POWER TO THE COMPUTER.

 

I've got some corrosion on the negative terminal and will clean it up during lunch. Now, you know of course that it won't be something as simple as that, don't you! It just never is.

 

That happened with my car and i couldnt figure it out... A local mechanic tried to tell me it was my egr valve, but all it ended up being was a stripped out positive battery terminal.

 

have your batt load teased too wen my batt craped out my truck did the same thing out in a new bat and it works fine

 

same thing happened to be it was were my battery post had been cleaned so much that my negative cable wasnt grounding out and the computer wont allow the alternator to charge if its not got a good connection

 

You'd be surprised how many times it is something super simple. I've seen people go in a panic so many times, thinking the computer was fried or the alternator was blown when it's 95% bad terminals or a bad ground or connection somewhere.

A bad mechanic will see that it's a simple problem but tell you : "Starter is blown and you need a new battery". Before you know it you've got a huge bill for work/parts you didn't even need in the first place. That's how the game is played.

 

I can tell from my experience with a 98 grand the battery and connections must be very good these new computor model really need to see the correct voltages and for sensors the differences even the ground is important.
Alex

 

Replaced the terminal ends on battery cables, and so far so good. (still crossing my fingers).

Thanks to all for the advise!