ManOnTheHill
New member
I have a second-hand 2007 3500 Dodge branded sprinter, 110K miles (it's my moving/chore truck, much better than a pickup). I have started seeing a strange problem with it, and figured I'd poll the collective knowledge here - I've tried searching the forums for similar problems, haven't seen anything like this.
When the beast is cold, especially when it's been sitting for few days, I can start it up (starts fine); the motor revs fine when in neutral, but if I switch it into drive and hit the throttle, nothing happens. Specifically, I can press the throttle to the floor, and the RPMs do not immediately start climbing, nor does the beastie move. If I hold the throttle to the floor, the RPMs will start climbing (very, very slowly) after about 15 seconds, and after about 30 sec or so the beast will start moving - if it's on level ground. If there's any kind of uphill incline, it might take a minute or so for the RPMs to climb sufficiently to start it moving.
After it has started moving (and this is barely moving, much slower than walking speed), the RPMs will gradually climb until it gets into the 1200-1500 range, at which point it sort of wakes up and starts moving will a little more authority.
After it gets moving, RPMs will gradually climb (along with speed) until about 20 mph, at which point everything sort of wakes up and it starts responding to the throttle and accelerating normally. After it has gone through the wake-up period, it seems to get over the problem (mostly).
Once the beast has warmed up, the problem has mostly gone away, although I have experienced this with the beast loaded and sitting at a stop light after warm-up. Although the wait period is much shorter there, there is still enough of a lag that pulling out in front of traffic can be a hair-raising event.
Transmission fluid has been checked and is nominal (I thought maybe it was the torque converter, but that doesn't explain the lack of throttle response). Transmission works fine and shifts normally when warmed up. Mileage is nominal (right at 20MPG empty), so it doesn't seem to be a slipping transmission (again, no throttle response).
The dealer sees no problem codes on the diagnostic monitor; I have a plug-in ODB2 monitor and it seems happy as well.
Any suggestions? This issue terrifies my wife (who loves driving this thing, enough that she wants to pick up a new crew van sometime in the next year), and for good reason - the intermittent not responding to the throttle at lights is always in the back of your mind. The intermittent lack of response is very infrequent - not more than 5 times in 10K miles, but often enough...
I'm guessing this is something electronic (motor or transmission control), but those modules are expensive enough that I don't want to just start replacing them.
Thanks..........
(2007 Red Dodge 3500 cargo van, 110K miles, mostly self-maintained...)
When the beast is cold, especially when it's been sitting for few days, I can start it up (starts fine); the motor revs fine when in neutral, but if I switch it into drive and hit the throttle, nothing happens. Specifically, I can press the throttle to the floor, and the RPMs do not immediately start climbing, nor does the beastie move. If I hold the throttle to the floor, the RPMs will start climbing (very, very slowly) after about 15 seconds, and after about 30 sec or so the beast will start moving - if it's on level ground. If there's any kind of uphill incline, it might take a minute or so for the RPMs to climb sufficiently to start it moving.
After it has started moving (and this is barely moving, much slower than walking speed), the RPMs will gradually climb until it gets into the 1200-1500 range, at which point it sort of wakes up and starts moving will a little more authority.
After it gets moving, RPMs will gradually climb (along with speed) until about 20 mph, at which point everything sort of wakes up and it starts responding to the throttle and accelerating normally. After it has gone through the wake-up period, it seems to get over the problem (mostly).
Once the beast has warmed up, the problem has mostly gone away, although I have experienced this with the beast loaded and sitting at a stop light after warm-up. Although the wait period is much shorter there, there is still enough of a lag that pulling out in front of traffic can be a hair-raising event.
Transmission fluid has been checked and is nominal (I thought maybe it was the torque converter, but that doesn't explain the lack of throttle response). Transmission works fine and shifts normally when warmed up. Mileage is nominal (right at 20MPG empty), so it doesn't seem to be a slipping transmission (again, no throttle response).
The dealer sees no problem codes on the diagnostic monitor; I have a plug-in ODB2 monitor and it seems happy as well.
Any suggestions? This issue terrifies my wife (who loves driving this thing, enough that she wants to pick up a new crew van sometime in the next year), and for good reason - the intermittent not responding to the throttle at lights is always in the back of your mind. The intermittent lack of response is very infrequent - not more than 5 times in 10K miles, but often enough...
I'm guessing this is something electronic (motor or transmission control), but those modules are expensive enough that I don't want to just start replacing them.
Thanks..........
(2007 Red Dodge 3500 cargo van, 110K miles, mostly self-maintained...)