First of all, thanks for taking the time to read this, I appreciate all and any help you may have for me. Secondly, forgive me, but I am truelly auto illiterate. If I don't word things properly or know an immediate answer to something, it's because I really DON'T spend much time under the hood.

About a week ago, my sons and I were traveling in the Rodeo. We deliver papers at night with it, and we had quite a "huge" load to bring home. I took the long way rather then the highway home because I did not want to travel at a high rate of speed with the amount of weight in the truck.

When we got home, we shut the Rodeo off and emptied it out. We put some papers together, loaded them in the Rodeo (much much lighter load this time), started the truck, and the moment my foot came off the gas pedal the truck shut off. I took it in to the shop that has been doing repairs on it, and they tightened a new alternator belt that had loosened. I came back to the shop, picked up the truck and drove it home. NO problems.

That night I didnt trust using it to get papers again, one of those bad feelings things, so we used the car to get the small load we had this night. When they were together we loaded the truck, and again, it would not keep running.

When I called my mechanic, he told me they were backed up from the holidays and couldnt get me in until next week some time. He told me to check the throttle body as it may need to be cleaned up a bit. Well, I know that the throttle body is what this vehicle uses in place of a carb on other vehicles, but thats it. No idea what it looks like or does or how to find it and clean it so I will wait a bit, but I would love input from those that are "knowledgable" that could give hints on what the problem might really be.

I did notice a somewhat similar thread on here on an 88 rodeo, but it appears his will remain running, just not great. Mine refuses to run without foot on the gas pedal, also I have no back firing going on.

Hope this is clear enough for someone to get what I meant. Again my appologies for being an Auto Illiterate, and thanks for any help you can offer up.

Morph811

It could also be bad gas (water in the gas), or a plugged fuel filter.

The throttle body is behind where the air intake leads into the engine (it could be carbon'ed up and is stilling closed; a couple of sprays of carb cleaner would loosen it up).

Is the check engine light on?

Find your air filter box and follow the duct work to the engine. Should be attached with a clamp. Remove the duct work and carefully remove any electrical connectors. Be careful with it as it probably has your MAF sensor in the duct work. This is an expensive part. Shoot some carb cleaner in the throttle body and open the throttle by hand and shoot some more. Try to get a rag or something in there to wipe it out. Try to see in there, there should be small hole inside. Shoot that hole with the carb cleaner. Let it dry for awhile before running it.

What your really aiming for here is to clean the IAC valve that is in the throttle body. I don't expect you to totally understand or be able to locate this part but it works like this: The IAC or Idle Air Control valve regulates the idle speed and is controlled by the ECM. If the valve is carboned up it may be sticking closed. This valve being open at idle is the only path for air to flow into the engine when the throttle pedal is released. If the valve is stuck closed, the engine won't run if the throttle isn't held open manually. Cleaning the valve may do the trick or it might not if the valve is defective.

First of all, thanks for replying :)

Ryan, yes the check engine light has been going on and off since the last time the truck was in the shop to have belts replaced. I questioned the mechanic on it and he had me bring it in. After a quick inspection he told me not to worry about it, nothing showed up and it may just be a malfunctioning dash light.

As far as bad gas or plugged fuel filter, all I can say is, although I always gas at the same spot, the last time I gassed up, I got only 117 miles off a 21 gallon tank. This alarmed me, as at first I thought someone had syphoned gas from the vehicle. I've never had such low gas mileage. I'm not sure of the relevance to the situation, there may be none but i thought it was worth passing on to you.

And Cat, actually your ability to relay the information actually seems quite simple for me to understand, so kudos to you for not only being knowledgable but being able to easily relay your knowledge to someone who has NO car knowledge :D. I'm actually thinking that tomorrow I may go out and attempt to pull the filter and duct work to find the throttle body and spray it.

Thanks to both of you, and if you think of anything else I'll be checking back.
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow when i go throttle body hunting ;)

thanks again
morph811