97 Dakota wont start

I have a 1997 Dakota with the 5.2L (318) in it. The other day i had to change the battery and now the truck wont start unless the gas pedal is pushed down all the way. When it does start it has lost alot of power and once I take my foot off the gas pedal it dies. I haven't checked the spark on it yet but i can hear the fuel pump humm when i start it. Any insightful tips would be of great help.

With the pedal pushed down to start...it's acting like it's in a "Flood Mode" start. What's the voltage on the TPS with the Key ON/Engine OFF?

Is the "Check Engine" light on by any chance?

I bet it is the sensor in ur idle motor because i just had that and thats what fixed mine it is about a 100 dollor part





1997 dodge dakota 3.9L bored 30 over dome pistons, 2 and a half inch throddle body space, ram air intake, jba headers . no cat, dynomax muffler, and a phase 2 jet chip, body lowered 3 inches with a dodge dakota rt body kit

I have had this same problem and this has been addressed on this forum. It appears that the corelation between the discharging of the battery and the carburetor problems are related. I did what was suggested, and that was to spray carb cleaner around the outside and inside while accelerating to keep it running. At the worse it would be the idle control thats at issue, the problem I saw was the buildup of carbon in the throat of the carb, clean that away and the problem was taken care of. Try this a can of cleaned is like $3 bucks, thats a cheap fix compared to a shop to "rebuild" the carb, goforit.