2004 Ram 1500 start/stall, then start/stall, etc
 

I have a 2004 Ram 1500, 5.7 Hemi, 2 wheel drive that has run perfectly for the past 10 years of ownership until about a month ago. I started it up, then it stalled. I started it again and after a few seconds, it stalled again. It sounds like I turned the ignition switch off but I did not. It does not spit and sputter, then stall. I just stalls. It does not matter if I have the gas at high rpm, at idle, in gear, in park, in neutral. It starts, then stalls. It might stall after 3-5 seconds and it might stall after 10-20 seconds. Today, it ram for about 3 minutes, then stalled. No check engine light comes on. The RAM dealership had it for over a month ( I just took it back on Saturday) and they could not find the problem. They said it was the Fuel Pump Relay. They changed it out and said it ran for several hours and then stalled. Then start/stall, start/stall. They changed out the fuel which did not help. I changed the Ignition switch when I got it back. That did not solve the problem. I took it to Advance Auto to have them put their tester on it for codes but when I got there, it would not stall. I drove it around for about ten miles, took it home and let it idle for a long time and it ran perfectly. I tried again several times to start it and see if it would stall but it would not. Each time, I ran it for upwards of half an hour and each time it ran perfectly. I thought perhaps it resolved until today when I started it and again, it stalled. I tried about 15 times to move it from the back yard to the front and each time, I only got a few feet when it stalled.
Any suggestions???

Loose connector/connection?
When it runs for a period of time, open the hood and move wire harnesses and or connectors.
See if that would lead to anything.

I’ve tried that as much as I can so far as: I’ve removed the fuse panel completely, checking each individual wire coming in the connectors to the fuse panel.
Wiggled every visible wire that I can see so far as I know, over and over again, all over the engine, and under the steering column, looking for loose connections.
One suggestion was that the wiring harness lays across the passenger side valve cover and wires can become brittle and crack. I removed this from sitting over the valve cover, unwrapped the harness and checked for breaks, splits, wear, etc and left our in the open while trying the engine. Same start/stall.
I had some limestone over the fuel tank where the pump connector is and washed all of this area out, left to dry for a couple of hours but still start, then stall. I can’t seem to identify why it ran on Sunday afternoon for about three hours total without incident but then reverted to the start/stall on Monday??
I’ve never been so baffled and the RAM dealership could keep working on it but would cost thousands of dollars in man hours to identify, simply by starting at one end and replacing part after part and wiring harness after wiring harness until it stops. I cant afford that kind of troubleshooting.

I will again try your idea of when it IS running, to wiggle wires to see if it stops.
Thank you

Is the engine light on ? When you took it to Advance did they hook up scanner for codes ?

No, the engine light is not on and does not come on when it stalls. This is why it is so difficult to zero in on the problem. Advance did not hook up the scanner for codes. He said that without the engine light on, the scanner will not show any codes so it would be pointless to connect it.

I did wiggle the wires yesterday when it ran for about 10 minutes without issue, as many wires as I could see and feel to see if I could get the truck to stall while moving wires. I could not get it to stall during the ten minutes that I ran it and it stayed running.

Yesterday, I changed out the Intake Manifold Temperature Sensor as well and it stalled out one time after I changed that sensor. I didn’t have time to keep trying yesterday evening or today so I’ve reached a stopping point for now. I’ll be able to have another look at it tomorrow.

Nothing helped when wiggling the wires, as many as I could get ahold of. So frustrating!

I would still hook up scanner an see if there are any stored codes

Try jiggling the ignition switch. Or maybe just replace it. They can't be that expensive and it certainly could give you issues like this.

I have replaced the ignition switch. I have also replaced the fuel pump. New fuel, clean tank. Still the same issue!
Grrrrr! I hooked up a FIXD scanner to it but no issues reported on that even though it was stalling out during the scan.