So today i go to take the my 2003 Ram 4x4 1500 (84,000 miles) for a drive and get about 1/4 mile away from home and the truck just shuts down. I try restarting and the engine is missing horribly and i have to keep feathering the throttle to get it even to stay running. When i try to move forward the best i can do is one or two miles an hour with the with pedal floored!! I turn around and just limp home with the truck just barely moving completely floored.

I get back and in front of my house and it dies. Then when i go to restart it runs perfectly!! Used it the rest of the day and put on about 50 miles with no issues. We checked the battery voltage and without the engine running it's at 13 volts and with the engine running it is 17 volts.

There were NO codes when hooked up an OBD meter and scanned three times.

It just makes no sense. I was at a place today with a whole lot of savvy car guys and no one could think of any reason to what happened.

Things that seemed odd were it was charging at 17 volts though and the fuel computer in the console was showing on the freeway i was getting 12 MPG instead of 16 to 18 like normal. Other than that all is fine with the truck.

Hope someone can give me some ideas.
Thank you
Stu

I don't have any real help for ya but I have to think some clarification on the year would help. Thread title says '03 but the 1st sentence in your post says 20013??

Thank you for pointing that out its a 2003.

My 06 Magnum did that exact thing recently while on a business trip. I limped it to a dealership and they ended up replacing the throttle body.

Sounds similar to what happened with my mom's '01 Mitsubishi Montero. Once it was running, it stayed running but getting it to run was a huge problem and required pumping the pedal at start up multiple times. Check to see if the throttle body is dirty and clean it up.

Seventeen volts is way too high. I'd guess it has a bad battery.

You know that was my first thought but that seemed to easy and would that cause the issues?

The battery does show 13+ volts at the terminals, so wouldn't that be good or if its is going bad would it cause an issue like that??.
Thank you
Stu

With the new electronics batteries can cause all kinds of weird stuff. It may show 12v but not have enough amps to do the job.I agree that 17v is too high. I'd have the battery load tested at the local parts store.

I did not have a load tester there so you may be right that event though it shows 13+ volts it's bad. The battery was installed in January 2012 it's a 850 CA Interstate. I do let it sit sometimes for weeks or more at a time. I think you all are sending me in the right direction and being it's 4.5 years old i may just get a new one adn see ow we go from there.

Same with my 04 Ram

If I remember correctly , a lightning bolt light lit up on the dash

12. Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) Light 5.7L
Engines Only
This light informs you of a problem with the
Electronic Throttle Control system. If a problem
is detected the light will come on while the
engine is running. If the light remains lit with
the engine running your vehicle will usually be drivable,
however, see your dealer for service as soon as possible.
If the light is flashing when the engine is running,
immediate service is required and you may experience
reduced performance, an elevated/rough idle or engine
stall and your vehicle may require towing. The light will
come on when the ignition is first turned on and remain
on briefly as a bulb check. If the light does not come on
during starting, have the system checked by an authorized dealer.

I have no dash warning lights and get no thrown codes or no codes waiting to show. We did it three times and still the same. I am betting you all right right about it just being a bad battery.

In 2009 my 59,000 mile 2007 Ram had a strange problem. The engine ran fine, then suddenly started running really rough as if it were missing on 4 cylinders. It felt like I was trying to drive on 4 flat tires it shook so bad.
The MDS system had a failure where one of the lifters to an MDS cylinder failed. It hung open, allowing no compression in that cylinder and a contamination of adjacent cylinders. As cyl 4 came up on its compression stroke, the intake charge pushed back through the open valve and onto the intake. The link pin on the lifter had failed. Instead of it either working normally for regular combustion or shutting off to save fuel, it was in between. The dealer fixed it under warranty, new lifter and a few other things.
I am not sure if the 2003 had the MDS system yet.

Those things are notorious for the throttle position sensor. They behave badly with the cruise control sometimes.

Yes as well my cruise control only works when it wants to.

It may have been overcharging since you saw 17 volts. If it was really up to 17 volts the PCM may have put it in a limp mode to protect the electronics from the high voltage so it does not damage any of the electronics. They use and electronic throttle body that is a fly by wire system as the throttle body has and electric motor in it to control all phases of the gas pedal. It also has 2 TPS so it can double check what throttle posistion the driver is asking for. I cant say that was your problem but these PCM's are very smart today and if it was overcharging the PCM may have put it in the limp mode to protect the electronics from to high of voltage. Did the charging volts come back to normal (13 to 14.8) when it ran OK again ? If it did then it may have an overcharge condition at times and the PCM controls the charging rate. Course it could also have the field ground side wire touching to ground at times. Ron

As of today the battery is back to 12.5 static and 14.5 at idle. just like it should be. I asked a few mechanic friends that own repair shops and they are baffled too. I hate to take it in to the shop and pay someone to tell me there is nothing wrong.

Stu

Check your grounds..

Sounds like the HVAC in my 99 which is possessed by Satan. Within 10 minutes it will go to full on Hades mode.