[Jonezz]

Hey guys so this last week is the first time I have noticed this problem. I leave for work at 5:30am so its pretty cold and I dont have a garage for my truck. But in the morin it will fire every time but if I do not keep my foot on the gas it will die on me. And then today leaving work about 5pm it did it aging, and so i just sat out there with my foot on the gas just to idle it up and let it warm up. It got just to about 180 and I thought it was warm enough but let off and it died. So i fired it aging and never to my foot off and drove home(it runs fine). This is the first time I have ran into this problem. I am just wandering what is with my idle?(any other day it idles just fine or if I drive it bout 10 miles when its cold out)

 

[caulk04]

Have the battery load tested. Those are excellent symptoms of a weak battery in a Dodge...idle issues.

If the battery checks fine (it might), try cleaning the throttle body. It's pretty self explanitory really, but there are tons of topics around here discussing it. Clean the orifices and IAC valve very well.

 

[Doom4life]

I'm not as experienced in troubleshooting as other people here are, but it almost sounds like the Idle Air Control (IAC) motor might be causing the problem. If you haven't cleaned the throttlebody, you might consider pulling it and cleaning it. While your at it, remove the IAC motor and give that a good cleaning too, that hopefully might solve the problem. If not, the IAC motor might need replacing.

This might not be it, but it could be the the Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor. You can also remove that and give it a cleaning too.

Does it crank normally? Last winter I had issues with my old battery where it would randomly crank slowly, start and die immediatly unless I kept my foot ont he gas for atleast five minutes.

In my '02 Dakota, both the IAC motor and IAT sensor started to go on me and created wierd starting issues that were solved by replacing the parts (cleaning didn't help my IAC motor).

EDIT: My stepdad's '01 Ford Focus was recently having the same problems as you described and it was the IAC motor on his engine aswell.

 

[mbudden]

I think it may be your battery, in severe cold or heat my engine is hesitant to start, but if you leave it on ACC my battery is very low when you look at the battery gauge. You might need to get it replaced.

 

[hskrRT]

Battery is going out on you. get it replaced before it leaves you stranded. Thosse are the exact symptoms my truck shows when my battery is weak. And simply driving it isn't enough to get it fully charged back up. I have to throw it on a trickle charger since Optimas don't like quick charges from the OEM charging system.

 

[Jonezz]

Thanks guys, I have been out of town for a couple days. But I haven't gotten around to cleaning or checking any thing. I will be sure to do all that I can, just letting you know I replaced my battery just 3 months ago, and also it has been charging rather high lately. I dont know if that is much of an issue. One other point I always have plenty of juice to start it up.