Starving for air at idle. Rpm's drop under 500 rpms then dies
Asked by richierich0223 Dec 23, 2017 at 08:14 PM about the 1999 Dodge RAM 1500 ST Quad Cab 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I just replaced water pump, alternator, serpentine
belt and tensioner. Now truck starts but after it got
warm it sounded like it was starving for air and it
died. I thought my k&n air filter was clogged. So i
double cleaned it. Let it dry completely then oiled
let sit 45 minutes and installed. Started truck ran it
down the road the same thing idle dropped and it
started sucking for air. I took air filter out and ran it.
Same thing happened. Put new fuel in with iso heat
still happened. Totally confused now. The engine
has no knocks in it. 123,000 miles currently. I've
never had this problem before
7 Answers
Maybe it is time to replace the idle air control valve.
jetjurnigan answered 6 years ago
you might also have the catalytic converter checked, it might be clogged...that is if it's not the IAC. You can also test for a clogged conv by removing the precat O2 sensor and drive the PU and see if the problem changes (yes it will be loud but if the cat is clogged, it will relieve pressure on the upside of the cat exhaust/or take it to a muffler shop, they usually check such things for free)...if you're so inclined.
richierich0223 answered 6 years ago
its not the catalytic converter. I changed everything from the engine back last year. Its either the fuel pump even though it starts fine. Its only when the engine warms up that it drops down like its about to die
jetjurnigan answered 6 years ago
That's usually the most obvious, so with that aside, I would next pull the intake air temp sensor, it could either be bad or coated in oil (if the plenum seal is bad). Try cleaning it, mine had that and many other CEL problems, but the stalling problem was due to a dirty IAT sensor. I cleaned it off and the stalling problem went away 100%. O' course, I had to do a hughes mod on the plenum plate as well, but the IAT cured the stalls for me. Good luck!
My 07 4.7 did this when I had my K&N on and threw a CEL then I reverted back to stock and acts the same but without the CEL.