01 Dodge Ram Van trouble

Hey guys,

On Monday I went to play volleyball,and when I came out 2.5 hours later the van didn't want to start. It was clicking when I turned the key,but the interior lights were working so I knew I had voltage. A little messing with the battery connections,and I got it to turn over a little. A friend of mine that was still there got his truck over,and jumper cables to jump start the van. No problem at all with that,and I was on my way.

I stopped on my way home,and fueled up without shutting down the engine(I know that is wrong). The van made the entire trip home no problem,and when safely in my driveway I shut it down,and restarted it a few times with no issue. Fast forward to today,and I went out to clean the foot of snow off of it,and use it to take my kids ice skating at the local rink. The starter clicked again,and I knew it was the connection. I popped the hood,and found the ring style connector on the negative was a bit loose. I can't tighten it anymore,so I loosened it up,and stuck a small screw in between the post,and clamp to make it a bit tighter,and then tightened the bolt. The van started no problem,and I had it running for about 5 minutes while I cleared the windshield of snow.

I then drove up towards the house(long drive to my detached garage that I was parked in front of),and the engine stalled. I fired it up again.and decided I would back it up to the garage,and it kept stalling every 10 feet or so. I then thought maybe I would attempt a drive around the block if it would stay running long enough to get out of the driveway. It did,and I drove around the neighborhood about 5 minutes with no troubles. We went skating,and it ran flawlessly the whole time too,and from with a stop off for some lunch for the kids.

Any ideas as to why the stalling? No check engine lights by the way. 01 Dodge 2500 Ram Wagon with a 318,and about 135k miles on the clock.

Chris

My 97 dak did that... got the battery connectors replaced and no trouble after that.

Sounds like you either have a crappy battery, or the alternator is dying. Can you get a volt meter on it? Put the volt meter on the battery without the car running. When you start the van the voltage should jump up to 13.8 or there about.

Just a thought... sometimes the 318 and 360s repeatedly stall if the throttle body is gunked up with carbon. Maybe try swiping it with a bit of carb cleaner on a rag? I always have some on hand for my truck.

replace your battery cables, it could be the connections at the other ends you cant see. i also suspect your battery is going. try disconecting the pos terminal while the engine is running. this will tell you if your alternator is OK.

Clearly your van hates volleyball.

No I think it hated the sub freezing weather that night,and the foot of snow that has been on it for the last 3-4 days without being used. Or you could be right,I mean really who actually "likes" volleyball?

-C

ive always noticed that the magnum motor'd vehicles are VERY sensitive to battery connections, as in they wont idle with a bad connection, even if they will start. I dont understand why, but i have been through this time and time again with our 3.9 dakota, and it always comes back to bad connections at the battery.

Put good, new, clean terminals on clean posts, and it shouldnt have that problem again for a long while.

Weird eh? I had the cables replaced on my dakota for the same thing.

It's mad because it wants you to turn it into a Dajiban!

What is a Dajiban?

Thanks Vigo!!! That is awesome. I would love to turn my Ram Wagon into that,but I am not sure how. That has to be in Japan,but I am not sure why anyone there would import a rather large van like that.