Won't idle... sometimes

[Fromadistance]

hi everyone!i'm new here so take it easy on me.
my 98 ram 1500 has developed a slight problem.been running great,then next morning,i don't know if a light was left on,key or what.but it started kinda hard like battery was real low.it did start though.only thing was i noticed it wouldn't idle.figuring it was because the battery was to low,i drove it to the gas station and ran it for about 30 minutes.battery seemed to charge up,cranks good but still wont idle.
this morning,it cranked good and idled good.few hours later,no idle,still cranking ok.
so the idle thing is kind of intermittent.i've never done any work on this truck and i don't know how to retrieve the fault code list.
can anyone offer me some advice please?

thanks! mike

[jg69s]

The light in the glove box stays on some times and can kill the battery then again it might be the ALT going out hook up a volt meter to the battery when its running and see the volts it should be about 14v you can also take it to auto zone or pep boys they will check out your charging system for FREE hope it helps

[jg69s]

check the distributer cap and rotor if you never changed it that could be the problem for the rough or no idle.

[LTJGWorth]

Throttle Postisioning Sensor located on the driver's side of the throttle body and held on with 2 star key bolts. Bout 20-30 bucks. Have a 97 that did the same thing and replaced that and its runs great. Also, anytime the battery is removed or goes dead on mine, my idle computer has to reset itself and it won't idle sometimes, but that only last for about 5 minutes until the computer is reset so your problem sounds like the TPS. Auto Zone can order it.

[Fromadistance]

ok thanks all for the help.i did check battery,it puts out 12.6vdc not running and i had 13.6 running.also checked the glove box light,i would never have thought of that.
tps is what i was thinking,but didn't know how to check fault codes,plus my check engine light never came on.kind of thought it should have.think i'll go get one of those haynes book as it has 61k miles on it now and i'm expecting a few more problems since everything on it is still original.

[BleedDodge]

If it has a hard time idling sometimes, your IAC valve might be shot. I suggest you change that for good measure.

[slantsixness]

check you codes:
www.allpar.com look for "diagnostic codes"

but your IAC is probably bad.
unless it hesitates while driving at certain speeds, it's not the TPS.

Glove box light, and the remote door lock reciever modules will kill a weak battery every time, as well as audio system components (dirty amplifiers, active crossovers).

Good luck!
Slantsixness

[LTJGWorth]

My check engine light didn't come on either when my TPS went out.