Gentlemen, any suggestions appreciated.

2004 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7

Problem: New starter and battery but engine will not turn over to start.

Symptoms: When ignition key is turned, nice positive jolt to the starter however the flywheel and/or starter does not continue to turn over.

Troubleshooting already done: Put wrench on flywheel to make sure it was not locked. Turned fine. Checked all three grounds and were positive. Replaced #73 ignition relay in the fuse panel.

Symptoms prior to failure: (maybe related or unrelated) About a week earlier, cruise control (no indication light or cruise) stopped working. When key was in off position, a/c fan continue to run. Starting was sluggish. I assumed the sluggishnes was battery failing.

Thanks in advance for any responses

 

Generally sluggish starts and then no starts is a sign of a battery issue. When was the battery replaced and have you tried jumpstarting it?
This could be a number of things like a battery not fully holding a charge, an intermittent or non working alternator, parasitic drain that has drawn just enough from the battery to not turn over the starter...etc,.
If you have a voltmeter, see what the battery reads as it needs to be 12.6v for fully charged and at 12.2 it's at just 50%.
Also, you say nice jolt to starter...does it turn breifly or click at all??

 

If it is a new battery and you are sure it is good then i would drop the starter and test it. From there I would pull one plug from each cylinder and try to get it to turn over and see if it will or not.