try starting it, and with a foot on the brake, put it in neutral for a minute or two to bleed off any air in the valve body and pump

 

I would venture a guess at a vacuum leak. Check the vacuum line to the brake booster and/or the lines on the passenger's side of the engine. Make sure all the "T" fittings on that side are okay.

Is there any difference in the idle after you changed the fluid?

Another question...why did you change the fluid and how many miles are on it?

 

I bought the truck not to long ago, it has 66k miles on it, and as recommended by a friend every 60k to change the fluid in the trans. i changed it. I drained it changed the filter and put the same amount of fluid in ATF +4 in. 6.5 quarts.

There seems not to be a difference in the idle. However it does seem to be around 5. would you know what the recommended idle for this truck is?

THanks for your help.

 

500rpm seems a bit low for that engine, but I'm not positive. I'd guess it'd be more like 700rpm or so.

There may be a vacuum line that goes to the transmission, older vehicles had this, not sure about yours. If you have a vacuum leak it will cause your symptoms.

 

Well. If you check all the vacuum lines and they seem to be okay, there are two other things that can cause the low RPM idle.

One is the 02 sensor. Did you disturb the plug when you did the pan?

The other is usually the IAC, and can cause stalling.

You can unplug each of them independently and see if it runs worse. If you unplug the IAC and it runs worse, it's probably okay. 02 sensor can cause a lot of different symptoms. A low idle being the most prevalent but it's usually accompanied my an occasional CEL and a code 21, I think.

It just may be bad event timing and happened to pop up after the trans fluid change and unrelated to it.

The reason I asked about the trans fluid change was because quite often an older truck develops a slip or a sluggish shift and the first thing a majority of owners do is change the fluid. That usually makes it worse.

 

Thank you all, i will try tomorrow and get back to you with what worked. I appreciate it.

 

could also be that the throttle cable is out of adjust, which would let the throttle be out of whack when put in gear.

 

I guess I'm getting old. Back in the day, a vacuum gauge was a standard tool box item. These things things were the OBD scanner of the times. They can tell you alot. Borrow one from AZ and watch a you-tube on how to use it.

 

^or buy one for $10 lol

 

Sean, this the 2nd Gen section. You know we don't have the big bucks for stuff like that.

 

Stalling in 2001 Dodge Ram 1500

I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 5.2 V8. I recently replaced the Powertrain Control Module on it and it has been running fine. I decided to take off my battery cables and clean them up. The cables are on correctly and nothing is loose, and battery is strong. When trying to start it for the first time the truck would crank but not turn over to start. My truck has began stalling at an idle in park or in gear. It loses power periodically while driving when I let my foot off of the gas. My check engine light will come on after stalling but disappears roughly after five seconds and no code is present. I cleaned the throttle body and replaced the air filter as a precaution and still am having issues. And the truck was checked for vacuum leaks. Are there any ideas?

 

Welcome. But this really should be your own post. But anyway, sounds like a crankshaft position sensor. Has it been getting worse? A clue. CKPS tends to deteriorate gradually. Starting with stalling at low speeds. Then moves up to a shudder as driving. Then stalls as driving, with increasingly longer times before it re-starts. Without a CKPS signal, the ignition wont fire, and as a safety measure, the fuel pump wont run. This keeps the pump from running in the event of an accident where the engine stalls, and a fuel line is broken.

 

Sean, this the 2nd Gen section. You know we don't have the big bucks for stuff like that.

Hey you should have the most money of all of us....NO PAYMENT!!!