I HAVE A 2004 RAM 1500 QUAD CAB WITH A HEMI AND SOMETIMES I HAVE A HARD TIME STARTING IT ALMOST AS IF IT IS OUT OF GAS.HAS ANYONE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS OR DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT COULD CAUSE IT?IV'E HAD IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAY THER IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

 

BS. There is something wrong with that. My truck hits as soon as I hit the key and so did my '04. And it had 45,xxx miles on it when I traded it in. I would go to another service dept and have them look at it. If it only does that some of the time make sure you explain to them when it does it the most and try to recreate the condition if it does it more at times or whatever. Bottom line, thereis something wrong and they need to figure out what it is. Hope this helps[&:]

 

What is it doing exactly? Starting then dying....what?

 

i will keep the key turned forward to start it the engine will keep turning over but won't start just as if there was no gas.after doing this a few times the truck will finally start then it might not do it for a few months.

 

Mine fires right up, no problems. Take it to a different dealer. Also, to eliminate human error, turn it to on, wait a second and then fire it up. Gotta give the fuel pump a sec to build some pressure. Of course, I rarely wait and I've never had a problem with it starting.

 

Dodge included a memo with my new 06 HEMI that states....."Change brand and grade of gas if engine starts hard or stalls."
It could be you need to run some Techron injector cleaner and a higher/different brand of gas.

 

Mine has done that 2 times in 35K. Since my 4.7 Dakota did it a few times as well, I'm not too concerned. Both times I just turned the key off, waited a couple of seconds, and it fired right up. If it's only doing it once every few months, and I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt your dealer will ever find a problem or really even spend much time trying.

 

thanks for the feed back guys!

 

I have a 04 quad cab with 4.7 auto and it has just started doing the same thing. First it was taking twice as long cranking to start and now it takes about 4times the regular time to get it to start. I have owned it since new and it would start as soon as I hit the starter. This is intermittent so the dealer can not duplicate it. Very frustrated with the whole thing.

 

Here are the likley causes of "long time to start" and this is in no way related to a " no crank" situation that can be caused by a dead battery or poor connection.

In order of most likley to least likely.

1. The gas itself. Sometimes the stations just get flat out crappy blended fuel. Try another station/brand/grade.

2. Driver error. DO NOT step on or pump the gas to start todays engines. All modern fuel injected engines have a clear flood mode that is activated by depressing gas pedal to floor. Clear flood mode shuts off ALL FUEL to engine. There is also a know issue called driveway dieout. Some vehicles have it worse than others. You start you vehicle dead cold, move it a few feet and shut it off. Moving the car so wife can get out of garage is typical example. 10 minutes later you hop in to go and it won't start or is very hard to start. Bottom line is you just flooded the car. Perform the clear flood mode start and you will be fine. Don't bother complaining about it, you may get a update to the computer but most likely told not to do that.

3. You vehicle has over 20k and you have never cleaned the injectors or did a top engine decarbon. Explained at end.

4. Fuel pressure is low, due to bad fuel pump. See a shop for that diagnosis and repair. Requires a fuel pressure guage with special hook up and a overnite stay to simulate the "long crank"

5. Some kind of wierd electrical/computer issue. For examble, 1989-1992 Buicks had a no start cold issue due to not enough fuel injector on time. Basically the choke was not on fully. This was due to the gas makers changing to summer blended fuel at that time and was fixed by updating/flashing the computer. This issue carried over to several other makes of cars if I remember correctly.

Carbon explanation and decarbon procedure:

All engines build up varnish on the injectors and carbon on the valves and pistons. By varnish I refer to the junk you will see in the bottom of a coffe pot after you leave it on all day or nite. This can restrict fuel flow from the injectors, change the spray pattern, cause just a stream of fuel, or worst case stick the injector open, flood out that cylinder(s) or hydro lock it.
Carbon buildup though is what most consumers never hear about. Carbon build up acts like a sponge and will absorb whatever fuel is injected into the cylinder, so if the carbon gets it then there is a lot less to ignite. Now you have a hard start until the carbon is saturated, once it does start it runs rough while the carbon dries out. If severe enough it will start and die till dried out. This description is very similar to a leaky injector or fuel pressure regulator.
Dodges don't have a external regulator so we can rule that out. Replacing the injector can be expensive depending on your resources. Removing the carbon takes $20, some chemicals and a overnite soak. What will you try 1st? of course the dealer will change the injector(s) and hope for the best.
Procedure: Obtain the top engine cleaner and a 2 ft long piece of 3/8" fuel hose. Dodge has there own name for it but I use Delco X66-P top engine cleaner. Just make sure it is a liquid made for dissolving carbon or cleaning the combustion chamber. So you picked it up on your way home from work, once home pop the hood and pull your brake booster line from the intake and attach the hose you bought. If you remove the brake booster hose from check valve then use it if it's long enough. Temporarliy plug the hose and start you engine. PCV line can also be used, whatever easily accessible major source of vacuum you can find.
It helps to have friend/significant other at this point to keep engine revved and running. Pop open the X66 and dip you hose into the can just long enough to suck up from liquid. Your not trying to flood out the engine, you just want to slowly suck about 2/3's of the can into the engine.
Beware, IT WILL STINK AND SMOKE BADLY AND MAY OFFEND NEIGHBORS.
After 2/3's is gone go ahead and try to flood out the engine with remainder. Kill engine quickly when can is empty, idea is to have the valves and pistons wet and soaking.
This done, return your brake hose back to original, lock up your vehicle and wait for the next morning.

Ahh, the next morning. What can I expect?
Your going to go out and attempt to start vehicle as normal. If it fails to start then floor the gas pedal till it does. Once started keep the rpm's over 2000 and expect LOTS of smoke from the exhuast. Let this clear for a few minutes then go run the crap out of the engine for a mile or so to literally "blow out" the carbon.

I have performed this procedure many,many times on customer cars and my own and have yet to be dissapointed with the results. It always helps with any vehicle that has over 20k miles.

Buck