1995? Dodge Ram Van ignition turns and sound but.

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
1995 DODGE RAM
120,000 MILES

1995? Dodge Ram Van ignition turns and sound but no spark. I pump accel. Once, then enging will sound but not turn over. I pump the accel. Many times engine turns over but will not start. Hold accel. To floor engine starts I let up on it and the engine stalls. This process goes on and I pump accel. Once or twice each time. Then when it does start I immediately push the accel to the floor to get the engine to roar and then it will run. After that I can drive, stop and start all day shopping and it will start on the first turn of ignition without having to touch the accelerator. What is the problem? The GEN light comes on if I try starting it too many times in a row but then goes off.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,912 POSTS

Your description is really confusing.

"I pump accel. Once, then enging will sound but not turn over."

What's "accel"? Is that the accelerator pedal or are you accelerating the engine? What kind of sound? To not turn over means the starter is not spinning the engine. That is a lot different than having to play with the gas pedal to get the engine started. Unlike older engines with carburetors, pumping the gas pedal won't do anything unless the engine is cranking.

Part of what you described sounds like a very common problem with a simple fix. Next time you try to start the engine, just hold the gas pedal down 1/8" and no more. If it starts and runs normally as long as you hold the pedal down just a little, most likely the battery was recently disconnected or run dead. If so, the Engine Computer lost its memory and has to relearn "minimum throttle" before it will know when it must be in control of idle speed.