I have the 01 Ram ven w the 318. The customer had let it sit up for 6 months. So now it runs fine on the highway. But at city driving at a red light it stalls out. Also i can hear a major vacuum leak when it does this. I traced the vacuum noise to the back of the air horn. Not being a dodge man i can only say there is some kind of solenoid there that apparently is opening up and causing loud vacuum and shutting the engine down. Get trouble code p0441. Pointers?

 

p0441 is incorrect purge flow, so, likely a vacuum leak somewhere.

Need to pull the throttle body, and clean it out really well. The 'solenoid' on the back is the idle air control motor, and it is essentially a controlled vacuum leak to maintain engine idle speed. The well it's in tends to get crudded up pretty bad, and then you have idle issues.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Actually i was told an incorrect code. The correct code is p0411 according to the owner. I also pulled the idle speed control motor and polished the plunger and the seat as well. Cannot locate ant further vacuum leaks.

 

Does you Van even HAVE an AIR pump?????? I don't recall seeing those on the Magnum engines.....

Need to clean out the well from both directions. (above, and via the hole the IAC goes into.) Once done, you need to reset the PCM as well, and let it re-learn the 'zero' values for IAC. Basically, disconnect the battery, turn the ignition on, (or headlights, doesn't really matter) turn whatever back off, hook the battery up, turn the ignition to "On", (not start), count to ten, and THEN start the motor. Don't touch anything else. The PCM should figure things out fairly quickly.

 

Yes. I did all the things you suggested in your response. Unfortunately, the problem persists. In stop and go traffic at operating temp the IAC will pop too far open and create such a vacuum leak the engine stalls. Replaced the IAC and made sure the well and seat were polished clean. No other vacuum leaks are found anywhere on the vehicle. Also if the IAC seals back up i then get a surge at 10 or 20 mph (slight throttle). And the p0411 code continues as well. I am stumped. Could the ECM be suspect? BTW no AIR pump.

 

That's the IAC's job. It's a computer controlled 'vacuum leak', as when your foot isn't on the gas, the throttle plates fully close up the bores.... so, the engine needs air from somewhere. It's likely the problem is the PCM is CLOSING it too far/too fast, and the engine stalls.

What brand IAC did you install? The aftermarket fellers don't always play nice. In fact, more often than not, they make the problem WORSE, not better.......

 

The IAC i installed came off a knowingly running engine that is in a van that just got smacked and is in the u pull it yard. What seems to be happening is the IAC is opening up Too far after a few seconds at a red light and then i get a stall. Also the customer just informed me that the ECM is a replacement computer that was put on last year and the check light never went off. Plus the van has sat up some months with less than 50 miles put on it. Could the ECM be sending the wrong voltage to the IAC causing it to open too far?

 

Reset the PCM. Disconnect the battery, turn on the headlights for a few seconds, turn off headlights, reconnect battery. Turn the ignition on, (not start) do not touch anything else, count to ten, start the motor. Let the PCM relearn idle. See if that helps.

 

Yes. I have reset the PCM exactly the way you described. No luck. The problem continues. This thing has got me licked right now. Any other ideas?

 

Just a shot in the dark.... Have you tried disconnecting the front O2 sensor, and driving it that way? Does it still stall?