Hey guys. New to the forum, first time poster and looking for a little help right out of the gate.

I have a 2004 quad cab ram 1500 4WD with the hemi. Truck has 156,000 miles on it and has been mostly trouble free until last week. I was driving down the interstate and felt the truck surging. Shifted it into neutral and it died. Tried cranking it up while coasting and it would not start. I tried to start it a few more times while sitting on the side of the road and it would crank up with the gas pedal 1/2 way down, then shut off once the pedal was released. It would not start up without the pedal down and would not hold a steady rpm when it did start.

Right when it died, the check engine light came on as well as the Electronic Throttle Control light. I had to get it towed home.

I tried the key deal to get the engine codes, but it is not giving me any. I tried turning the key on 2 times, 3 times, 4 times, 5 times.....I tried while pushing the mileage reset button down, I tried with it in neutral, every which way I could think of.

I cleaned the throttle body yesterday, the sensor in the airbox and put in a new air cleaner (the old one was nasty). I unhooked the battery and reconnected it hoping that would reset something, but it still will not start. I initially though it was the fuel pump, but I can hear it cycle when I turn the key on.

I read that it might be the throttle body or throttle postion sensor for the gas pedal, but have been unable to find any way to test those. Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Dave

 

Kinda tough to call without pulling those codes, which of course any auto parts store would do for free IF you could get it there. Anybody you know with a code reader or a tuner that could pull the codes? Because if not, anything anybody will tell you is gonna be a guess and you'd be paying for/swapping out parts probably for nothing.

You can always do the basics and see if you're getting gas at the fuel rail, test for spark and that kinda stuff. Could be the TPS, but it'll usually at least fire up with a bad TPS. Seen a bad crank sensor do what you're describing and it'll almost always give a code for it too, which is kinda why it's so important to pull the code whenever you get a CEL...

 

An ODB scan tool is a good investment, or at least it has been for me. It works on any late model vehicle so it covers my entire garage, other family member's vehicles, or friends'. My mother-in-law recently had a CEL (SES in her car) and I was able to scan and clear the codes for her. Looks like it needs a new O2 sensor at least.

Anyway, for anyone that prefers to DIY their own vehicles vs. paying shop labor rates, it's just as important as a screw driver in your toolbox, IMO. You don't have to buy the top of the line model just do be able to read codes and clear them. Mine can even do real-time data logging and it didn't break the bank.

Since it's not practical to take a truck that isn't running to a parts store to have it scanned, bring the scanner to the truck. You can guess at it until maybe you get it running, but knowing what codes it is throwing should help find the issue.

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

Borrowed a code scanner and 'No Codes Found' is what it told me......so it looks like I'm back to the basics.

 

How long did you leave it disconnected? Not sure but this may be why you now have no codes? This is how I used to clear codes before I bought a scan tool.

 

That's probably it. I left it unhooked for a couple minutes and turned the key on to make sure everything was dead.

 

My PCM went bad and you could start it with the pedal down but it was real rough and would not stay on without the pedal being depressed. In my case a coil went bad and took out the PCM as well. Mine would throw codes even after I cleared them. Yours may not be the same without any codes its code of tough. How long have you kept it running since you cleared the codes.

 

It won't run any now. When it first stalled, it would still crank up using the pedal and run like you described.

I let it sit for a few days before I started messing with it and now it won't even do that.

I hate throwing money at it, but figured I'd change the crankshaft sensor tomorrow and see what happens from there.

 

Alright, slept on it and think I have a process figured out to get this thing back on the road.

I've searched half the night looking for ways to test things and did not find much, so I'm hoping you can help me out again.

How to you check the fuel pump? Is it as easy as disconnecting the fuel line at the fuel rail and plugging in a guage? Or just disconnect it and turn the key on and if it flows gas, its good? Do I need a special tool to disconnect the fuel line at the fuel rail?

Is there any way to test the ignition coils? In the 'old days' I'm pretty sure you could do it with an ohm meter. I could not find any way to test the coils.

Is there any way to test the PCM, other than swapping it with a good one?

I figured that if I could find a bad coil, like gcburkett had, then I would lean toward the PCM being bad. Looked online and found one for $200 that will be pre-programmed for my truck. Hate to spend $200 if I don't need it, but it looks like my options are kind of limited at this point; I really screwed the pooch when I disconnected the battery.

Thanks again for all the help,

Dave

 

Crankshaft sensor came in today and went to check the codes one last time before I switched the sensor and I get a 'no buS' on the odometer now.

Thinking (more like hoping) I got it figured out and ordering a new PCM tonight. Checking the coils for a bad one now instead of switching the sensor. I'll post whatever I figure out later.