I ran a separate ground from both the solenoid and starter back to the battery ground cable. I cleaned both sets of ground wire on the fender and added a little dialectic grease. Will see. I will look at heat shield after trial period...:->)

 

was there ever a heat shield around the catalytic converter ?

 

Not at all. But it is shielded above along floor board.

 

Cleaning the ground wires and adding a dedicated ground wire to starter helped a good bit. Motor spins quickly (ie. no hesitation like before) except it wont start unless I depress gas pedal a bit. I did drive it for about 15 minutes and let it sit for about an hour and a half before attempting to start.

 

Likely a separate problem. Start with cleaning the throttle body very well.

 

At this point, I am likely to simply going to install a new MOPAR throttle body for $155 from dealership. I suspected electronics maybe an issue.

 

If its cranking normally try turning key on 2 or 3 times letting pressure built in fuel rail before trying to restart to see if fuel pressure holds and starts easier , have seen valve in fuel ball valve regulator stick an not release to hold pressure in fuel tank ,

 

I sprayed the throttle body real well and replaced its gasket six months ago.

 

Is that part of fuel pump in the tank?

 

its in tank or on top of tank next to pump or could be in pump, I am not exactly sure if its part of pump or not, may have to research that,,its like a check valve and may be stuck or just bad ,,if you run a fuel pressure test on fuel rail, see how long it holds pressure , if it drops fast then its probably the issue as it should hold good pressure an not leak off,,if its leaking off you can try and run injector cleaner several times or maybe some sea foam though the tank as it may just be stuck