I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4, about 2 weeks ago my I loaned it out and
they ran it out of gas. Now it won't stay running after it warms up. If
you start it and its cold, it will hold the idle right at 600 RPMs. Once it
warms up and you are driving it when you put your foot on the brake to slow
down or stop the RPMs drop to 0 and it dies. I have taken the truck to two
of the local mechanics and they are telling me the fuel filter is inside the
fuel tank and is non-serviceable. I have never heard of such a thing. I
took it into my normal mechanic and he ran a pressure test, it came back
fine. He also hooked the truck up to the computer to see if any error codes
would come up, nothing. Then I went down and bought some SEA FOAM and put
that into the gas tank. The problem is still there. It's funny because if
you bring the RPMs up to 2500 for a couple of seconds and then take your
foot off the gas it will run just fine for a short time. I am afraid of
doing any more damage. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gina
gina@duffertech.com
Mike - 30 Apr 2008 14:27 GMT
>I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4, about 2 weeks ago my I loaned it out and they
>ran it out of gas. Now it won't stay running after it warms up. If you
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Gina
> gina@duffertech.com
Clean the throttle body and check the operation of the IAC motor. You stated
that the fuel pressure is good so that rules out a plugged filter or bad pump.
curmudgeon - 30 Apr 2008 17:59 GMT
Seen similar symptoms with both a stuck EGR valve and clogged cat
converter....but would expect some kind of code to be set.
>>I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4, about 2 weeks ago my I loaned it out and
>>they ran it out of gas. Now it won't stay running after it warms up. If
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> stated that the fuel pressure is good so that rules out a plugged filter
> or bad pump.
John Kunkel - 30 Apr 2008 19:37 GMT
> I have taken the truck to two of the local mechanics and they are telling
> me the fuel filter is inside the fuel tank and is non-serviceable.
Good reason to avoid those two mechanics in the future. The filter is on top
and fully serviceable.
TBone - 30 Apr 2008 23:09 GMT
>I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4, about 2 weeks ago my I loaned it out and
>they ran it out of gas. Now it won't stay running after it warms up. If
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Gina
> gina@duffertech.com
It sounds to me like you have a bad battery as this stalling at idle is a
common symptom of low battery voltage. How old is that battery? Keep in
mind, if that battery is over 4 years old, it is getting around the time to
change it and if the person who ran it out of fuel cranked it to death in
the hopes that they could magically get it to start again, that would put
excessive strain on the battery and further shorten its usable life,
especially if the battery is getting older to begin with. When the engine
is cold, it is running in what's called an open loop and is not depending on
all of the sensors to run which also makes it less susceptible to stalling
due to low battery voltage. Running the engine at high RPM for a few
minutes causes the alternator to put out a higher voltage which can and does
apply surface charge to the battery which will allow it to hold a higher
voltage for a short time which could allow the engine to run just fine until
that surface charge bleeds off. I would have that battery load tested or if
it is an older battery, just replace it and see what happens.
As for the fuel filter, it is in the tank as part of the fuel pump module
and may or may not be serviceable. My FSM for my 97 said that some modules
had a replaceable filter and others didn't and mine was not and neither was
the one on the replacement module. Either way, you would need to remove the
tank to service it and with the possible condition of the pump due to age,
running it out of fuel, and sucking up all of the crap accumulated after 10
years of service, it is probably not in the best of condition anymore and
would make more sense to replace the entire module rather than just the
filter if it needs to be done. I kinda doubt that it is the pump because
the pump really doesn't care if the engine is warmed up or not and if it was
that weak, you really should have problems at any RPM.

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