1993 Dodge Durango Car not staying on

BRITTANYK137

MEMBER
1993 DODGE DURANGO
5.2L
4WD
AUTOMATIC
195,000 MILES

My husband and I have a 1999 Dodge durango 5.2 L motor and recently, we are having some major problems. It was running fine, went to work, after working a 8 hour shift, go out to start my car, no life. Assumed it was the battery, got a jump, wouldn't stay powered up. If I kept my foot on the gas, it would stay on, but once I released it would die again. After about 3 jumps not working, the guy who was jumping the car took off the terminal wires, cleaned the area again, hooked it back up and jumped us again. That time it took. Once I shut it off at home (about a 10 minute drive plus letting it sit for another 5 minutes) it would not start back up. No lights would turn on, couldn't use my power locks. Nothing. Now today we have had a charger hooked up to the battery and the car will once again start, but will not continue running unless you have your foot on the gas. Lights all work. We have no idea what could be wrong at this point.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,742 POSTS

You may have two different problems. The stalling is an easy fix. When the battery was disconnected or run dead the Engine Computer lost its memory and has to relearn "minimum throttle" before it will know when it must be in control of idle speed. The engine will be hard to start unless you hold the gas pedal down 1/4". It also might not give you the normal "idle flare-up" to 1500 rpm when you start the engine, and the engine will want to stall when coming to a stop. To meet the conditions for the relearn to take place, drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the brake or gas pedals.

Once you have the engine running, use a digital voltmeter to measure the battery voltage. It must be between 13.75 and 14.75 volts. If it is low, we'll have to diagnose the charging system.

With the engine not running, the battery voltage will be 12.6 volts if it's good and fully-charged. If you find it's near 12.2 volts, it's good but discharged. If it's around 11 volts or less, it has a shorted cell and must be replaced.