1996 Dodge Dakota idle

PFDJMESA

MEMBER
1996 DODGE DAKOTA

Engine Mechanical problem
1996 Dodge Dakota 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

i have a problem with the truck idling when I first stat it after the engine is wormed up. It starts and idles fine first thing in the morning but after that, I will need to hold some peddle for it to stay running untill I run it down the road a bit. Also if I run it slow down the road at 1000 rpm or less and let off the gas, it dies. But if I tap the peddle first, it will idle fine, even at a stop. I have listened and checked for vacumme leak and have found nothing. I have no check engine light on and it did pass emmisions. When it passed emmisions it did have a bad thermostat so it ran cold all the time. At this time it idled fine all the time, but as it was cold, it idled high. Does anyone know what my problem is or what I can do to find out what I need to fix. Thanks

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,755 POSTS

Without a code it becomes hard to tell. Chances are you have a bad throttle position sensor (TPS) of idle air control valve (IAC).

Also, since the problem only seems to happen when the engine is hot, there could be temp sensor problem. The temp sensors on today's cars act like the choke of the old carb cars. They tell the computers the outside temp and the coolant temp. From that, the computer determines how rich or lean to make the fuel mixture.

I would start by having the TPS checked first.

Let me know what you find and if you have other questions.

Joe