No Throttle Response Idles Only

[MAtkinson]

Driving along this morning and accelerating from a turn then suddenly the engine RPM drops to Idle and No Throttle Response. Stopped beside the road and moved the throttle arm on the pump and no response just continued idling. So I idled down the road 3 miles (walking speed) to my building and put it inside. This engine has had problems for some time maintaining idle. The driver must give it a little throttle to keep it running or else will die. Generally it wants to die after stopping for a stoplight or upon startup. Occasionally it will idle okay and that seemed to be when the auto trans is in neutral with A/C on. This is a Stock 1997 with just over 180K miles. Thanks for your interest and advice. Mike

 

[BigPapa]

Sounds like what happened when one of my original plastic heim joints gave up. Before I take it for granted, are you familiar with the throttle linkage on the P-pump and how it functions?

 

[mothertrucker]

I would be checking out the recall on that....It may be a free fix if you play your cards right.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/recalls/B15.htm



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[GrantP]

The throttle linkage on my 97 broke too, all I had was idle. Thankfully I was close to home and was able to idle back. Definitely check the linkage and then set the idle speed.

 

[GAmes]

The first time my throttle linkage broke I was able to keep driving by running a length of wire from where the two rod ends connect. That was about 100 miles from home with an RV in tow. Fixed under warranty. The second time I was about 600 miles from home with an RV in tow. Fixed under warranty. The third time it broke I was again towing an RV and was 1300 miles from home, warranty was expired. I bought a new rod assembly from a close by dealer, pulled out my factory service manual for adjustment instructions and found the broken rod had been installed backward. About 1.3 million miles later I haven't had another one break. Just one more reason why I never go to a dealer for repairs.

 

[BigPapa]

Mine broke less than six months after having the recall done at my local Dodge dealer. I was close to the largest Dodge dealer in Nashville when it broke. I went to them and they didn’t have a recall kit but offered to sell me a rod assembly for $120. Their diesel tech just happened to be at the counter at the time and said he had some left over joints from performing some recalls. Seems the techs would replace the cable but not the heim joints if they were tight....

 

[GAmes]

In my case it wasn't a fault of the rod ends, it was the rod itself that broke. IIRC, the one I bought way back then was about $37 for the whole assembly. That was prior to the recall where they replaced the rod ends and the cable. I have one of those kits, the rod is not included. I don't see where Cummins sells the assembly, but the rod part number is 3932397 and the rod ends (one is left hand thread) are 3931513 and 3931566.

 

[Tractorat]

When my bil got married about 45 years ago, I disconnected the throttle linkage on his car. He and his new wife sat there for almost an hour after the wedding trying to figure it out. I finally looked under his hood and said "there's the problem" and fixed it in just a few seconds. He thought I was a genius. I think his new wife realized he was a fruit cake.

 

[TFucili]

When my bil got married about 45 years ago, I disconnected the throttle linkage on his car. He and his new wife sat there for almost an hour after the wedding trying to figure it out. I finally looked under his hood and said "there's the problem" and fixed it in just a few seconds. He thought I was a genius. I think his new wife realized he was a fruit cake.

He had other things on his mind...

 

[MAtkinson]

Well I got into it and quickly found the problem. The throttle linkage has a shaft with a ball joint on both ends. The forward end came off the ball. I ordered another and made a temp. fix by attaching a light spring at right angle to the shaft (pulling the socket onto the ball) over to the battery area. Works fine for now. Thanks for your help and I've enjoyed reading all your comments.

 

[MAtkinson]

Well I got into it and discovered the shaft with a ball joint in both ends came off at the forward end. I ordered another ($28) and made a temp. fix. I attached a light spring at right angle to the shaft over to the battery area. This keeps the socket on the ball and it works fine for now. Thanks for your help and I enjoyed reading your comments.