"Gina Fierro" <bogus-mail@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:n_-dnS5w4MDCwoXVnZ2dnUVZ_ternZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>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@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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 ac***ulated 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.
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
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