Hi everyone! Engine starts and revs and can be driven... no idling initially

Hi everyone! Wanted to say hello!

Just recently bought a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L V8. I have had some idling issues.

At first, I had read some stuff about the battery being the source of the idling issue. It seemed whenever I'd loosen the cable and reseat it, the idling problem would go away it seemed.

I have cleaned the terminal and the connector. I'm still having this issue

One thing I have noticed as well is that if I would crank it and it would idle, after a few minutes of idling I'd hear a really awful racket and the motor would act like it was about to cut off. I would give it gas and the noise would stop.

As of right now, I can crank it and give it gas and hold the brake and put it in drive making sure not to stop... and after a few miles, the idling issue would go away.

My friend and my stepdad seem to believe it is the "vacuum hose". Not sure where this mysterious hose is located. I was wondering if this was the case, would I be able to feel an air leak in this hose? What other possibilities could it be for why this would be occurring? Thank you guys very much in advance! Hope I can figure this out without taking it to a mechanic.

Vacuum leaks unless you're missing the intake, won't cause these engines to stall, they will instead make it rev higher and idle high. Unlike vehicles running with MAF sensors, vacuum leaks can be detected and corrected for by our engines running MAP sensors.

Try pulling a vacuum line like the PCV hose when its giving you problems. If the problems go away, then your idle air control valve is bad, if not the TPS could be causing problems.