96 ram 5.9L won't start

[BTM]

One day about 4 months ago, my truck started sputtering out of the blue. I made it to my destination, then turned it off. When I started it back up, there was some hesitation, but it finally started. It sputtered and hesitated all the way home (about 1 mile). The next time I tried to start it, it would kill after a few seconds of being on. I could get it to stay running longer if I gave it gas. I tried to drive it, but it killed. I haven't messed with it since because I walk to work. Now I am ready to repair it.
Known problems: burns through oil too quickly, catalytic converter needs to be replaced, pipe broken off at the cat before the muffler, check engine light from a while back said bad O2 sensor, fuel gauge doesn't work.
My first thought was the fuel pump or the fuel filter. After skimming through a few threads in this forum, I am now considering that my cat might be clogged. If it's not clogged at the cat, I would even consider the possibility of my muffler being clogged with mud. I haven't been mudding too much but I have driven through muddy water at least 2 feet high several times. I don't recall doing so after the pipe broke away from the cat, but it is possible.
Any thoughts?

[Squeegee]

Could be a number of things ... But this happened to me and if the truck has trouble cranking, like the battery is weak, but then starts but has a low idle, dies at stop lights and when it is running it spits and sputters it is the battery! I didnt think so ... but took it in to have the battery/alternator checked, thinking it was the alternator but to my disbelief it was the battery? You could start there ...no pun intended!

Rudy

[BTM]

I'm pretty confident that it's not the battery. I've got strong battery power which is impressive after 4 months of not being able to start it. I replaced the battery a few months before it killed. I was surprised by the battery failure because I had put in an extra battery for my sound system. It turns out that my first extra battery (marine deep cycle) was not fit to run with my current battery without a battery isolator. On top of that, it ended up being a bad make of battery (a friend of mine had purchased several, all of which failed miserably). So adding what I thought was help actually ended up draining and eventually killing my main battery. Now I have 2 new batteries which are both fit to run together.

Given that, I'm going back to thinking the problem either has to do with the air flow or the fuel system.

[fredjacksonsan]

From what I've read, it's either the cat or the TPS(throttle position sensor). Try revving your enging in neutral; does it rev easily or refuse to go to higher (like 4000) rpms? Then it's the cat. If it runs smoothly to higher RPMs then check the TPS.

[BleedDodge]

There's probably mud or something in there if the O2 sensor suddenly went bad...

[TurboSW]

Is the check engine light still on? If so it probably is one of the O2 sensors.
I had both sensors go out on my 96 and I also had the same bad battery problem like above. Is your intake clean? I had a stalling problem last week and that was the problem.

[BleedDodge]

Well I think that if he knows his catalytic converter and O2 sensors are bad, and there's mud in the muffler, he should probably fix all of those things. The truck certainly won't run well when all of those parts are in that kind of shape...

[fredjacksonsan]

You got that right.

[BTM]

I've disconnected the exhaust from the back of the cat. I'm getting fuel so it's not the fuel pump. I'm checking the spark plugs now. More later...

[fredjacksonsan]

If you're disconnecting from the REAR of the cat, then any clog within the cat will still be there....you'll need to open the exhaust somewhere between the engine and the cat.

[BTM]

The cat appears not to be too clogged. It may be clogged some, but not enough to cause no start.

The spark plugs appear to be fine. It turns out I am not getting any fuel. I will have to drop the tank and see if it's the fuel filter or the fuel pressure regulator. I'll also replace both O2 sensors. It will cost me more money than I have now, so I won't be able to continue until after New Years.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[fredjacksonsan]

Welcome, good luck with it. I'd be interested to see what it was.