My parents have a 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 van. It always ran perfect until yesterday. When the van is started, you need to hold down the gas a little to keep it running, otherwise it will stall out. I made sure the A/C is off and also no engine warning lights are on. The problem persists even when the engine is warm. There was a little rain since the problem occured but the car was parked in the drive way the whole time. Also it does not matter what gear it's in.

I have done research prior to posting this and found a lot of simular problems however each problem seems to have it's own unique solution.

My question was, is there any typical thing that might cause this to happen?

I remember on my Isuzu Impulse, I removed a side panel to bridge 2 contacts on a plug and a light would blink showing some type of error code. Can you do the same thing on this car or do you need special equipment?

Thx for your time.

 

ahhh, so it's happening to you too?

https://dodgeforum.com/m_158236/tm.htm

 

your problem is most likely the IAC valve needs to be cleaned. yank off the TB and clean it real good. yank off the IAC and clean the plunger on it real good as well. there is a small air passage near the IAC motor that also needs to be clear. while you have it off, look down into the intake at the bottom and see if there is any oil pooling on the bottom of the intake. if there is, your plenum is leaking and it needs to be fixed. (use felpro gasket, it's the only one that works, and it's recommended that you get an aluminum plenum kit from hughs or aps precision).

 

Here's a STEP-BY-STEP with pictures on how to clean the IAC for the Dodge Ram Vans! The images are 56K friendly as well with full details on how to do this job. The 3.9L/239cid, 5.2L/318cid, and the 5.9L/360cid engines of the magnum series need to have this done from time-to-time.

https://dodgeforum.com/m_525409/tm.htm

I agree with Steve as well, since you have the "dog-house" cover off, take a look done the TB. Move the butter-fly valves to open and shine a flash light done the openings.

As for getting the error codes to show up,do the Chrysler trick with the key to an almost start. on-off-on-off-on. If your Ram Van is the newer era, then the codes will display in the trip odometer display. If not, the check engine light will flash (blink) the nmber like morse code.

Hope this helps out!

Peace!

Stev