Hi, I'm a new user. Glad I found the forum. My 95 Ram has a hard time starting. It will crank for a while before it finally starts. Think I need a new starter? I don't think it's the alternator. Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

Is it cranking over at a high enough speed? If the starter is engaging correctlly and turning over fast enough then its not the starter. If its sluggish then it most likely is.

 

That may depend on how long you are cranking for. If you were used to a properly tuned carberator then Feul injected cars do take longer to start as they have to find reference signals and then coordinate them to fire the spark and injectors. If it is cranking for like 5 secs. then you need to find a scan tool and see what signal is not going or perform basic tune up maintenance. Look at fuel pressure, spark, air filter, and of course timing references such as crank or cam sensors as appropriate.

 

Thanks for the reply. It wasn't the starter. I replaced the started and the problem persists.

 

It cranks for about 3 to 4 seconds then finally fires up. Do Dodges throw codes with a Check Engine light? A friend of mine said it might be the crank sensor? I'd like to give it one more go before I take it to a mechanic. thanks again.

 

it sounds more electrical like you said. first thing I would check is the continuity of the cam possition sensor. then make sure your injectors are good as well.

you could probably do a search or get a haynes manual and find out what the resistance is supposed to be on these items

 

May also be fuel pressure leaking down as in bad pressure regulator or injector leaking down. Just requires time to rebuild pressure to overcome leakdown.