98 Ram SS/T starting problem help

Hi my 98 Ram SS/T has about 138K on it. Used as a spare vehicle. Had an easy life. Not abused.

Turns over really slow like it has a bad battery or bad starter. Runs fine after it starts. Needs gas pedal depressed to start. No CEL.

Battery tested 100%.
Starter rebuilt.
Still no change.

It sounds and feels like timing way off. Like it is very advanced. I am suspecting an ignition problem.

I will check distributor cap or replace it. All battery connections are good. I will throw a scanner on it check live data.

Could this be a crank position sensor problem?

Help is apprecated.

Crank sensor maybe?

"battery tested 100%"

HOW did you test it? Load test? Just because a battery has the proper VOLTS, doesn't mean it has the proper AMPS to turn over an engine, so load test the battery.

When my SS/T's starter motor did that the battery had great volts, but the load test proved the battery was bad due to lack of amps. New battery = problem fixed.

As said, with starting (cranking speed) issues, start with the battery. borrow & toss in a known good one & if disconnecting the battery does something to the codes then deal with that as needed. next I would disable the ign & retry it to see if whacked timing no matter what the cause (cyl psi) is the issue.

First thing I did is charge the battery overnight and took it in for a load test. It tested 100% even though it is 5 years old. Next I also fully charged the battery from my 73 Charger and tried it too. It sure looked like the starter was the problem so I had that gone through. No change.

As I mentioned it feels like it has an ignition problem like timing is very advanced. It turns over slowly and stars most of the time if my foot is on the gas. It runs fine after that.

I'll put the scan tool on it tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

I ain't up on the new stuff but alot guys here are. post how it turns out.

I would do a voltage drop test on your wiring. Battery may be OK but full current may not be making it to the starter.

All good ideas guys. Thank you all.

Depressing the pedal for startup makes me think the TPS sensor is suspect.

Keep us posted.

If you have to keep your foot on the gas to keep it running sounds like the battery voltage is low and the PCM forgets the IAC (Idle Air Control motor)count because of the low voltage which causes the PCM's memory to loose the IAC count. Thats why it wont idle without your foot on the gas. It does not mean it has to be the battery but it sounds like a low voltage problem which could be a bad ground or bad cable if the battery is definetly good. I also recomend doing a voltage drop test on the starter and battery circuit first. Could even be a bad battery cable. Dont let tight grounds fool you as I have seen a few tight grounds have over 8 volts drop through them. Good luck , Ron

383:
he said it runs fine after it starts.

OP:
Can you give more details?

But he said it wont start without his foot on the gas right ? Which it should since its EFI. Which if he has to put his foot on the gas on that vehicle then its usually a dirty throttle body or the PCM lost the IAC count and dont know where it is. The TPS is not adjustable on it and I found when the TPS is a problem the PCM will keep running the IAC some and the idle will flare and flucuate some since the PCM dont understand it not at idle. They usually have a runaway kinda idle with a TPS problem and a stumble when hitting the gas. But if the PCM looses battery volts from getting to low it forgets the IAC counts and will not run until you step on the gas. Then once it starts many times you can feather it for a minute until the PCM figures out the IAC count. Thats why to me it sounds like a low voltage problem as I have seen it many times over the years. We would have techs replace a customers battery and the customer would come back saying the car stalls or wont start sometimes and if the throttle body was a little dirty it was worse. And he says it cranks slow so the two together of the slow crank and putting his foot on the gas tells me it sounds like a low voltage problem.

Unless I read it wrong of course as I have done that before. Ron

Guys first of all a big thank you to all of you for all your valuable input.

I decided to go after it with the big hammer. Figure of speech. Not the Ford tool. Sorry! My attempt at humor. I'm in a really good mood now.

I took every single electrical connection apart from the battery down to the starter and over to the alternator. I put a small wire brush on a cordless drill and cleaned every single connection I had apart.

Put it all back together and now it starts and runs perfect like before. I couldn't tell you which connection was the problem but most looked like they needed a good cleaning.

Thank you all again for your help.
Mopars Rule and guys who drive Mopars Rule!

You sound pumped. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Glad to hear you fixed it. Ron

Great news!