What the @#$%!!!!! >:(

[richeich]

Yeah, it was internal. Although I wouldn't want to argue with anyone about a short being the proper diagnosis. I know an external short would possibly cause a fire, or the battery to explode. But since the car wouldn't start without a jump, and wouldn't keep running with the battery connected, I figured it was internally shorted to ground, and pulling the alternator voltage down to the point that the ECU basically would shut down. Maybe not a dead short, but enough to mess things up.

Did you have to replace the battery?

My van exhibited the same symptoms.
Battery was dead, jumped it and it started.
It wouldn't idle at all. However, if you kept the rpm's above 1600, then it would continue running.
I drove it about 10 miles to get home.
By the time I got home, all was fine and has been since then.

I had theorized that the battery was so dead that it was sucking off nearly all of the alternators power trying to recharge and leaving not enough for the van to idle. Yet when the rpm's went up there was more power to go around. Just a thought.
I had had a battery develop an internal ground and it went completely dead (at least that is what the shop said was wrong with that battery when I took it in to be tested).

[richeich]

Yes, I replaced the battery. I tried to use my battery charger on the bad one, and it just didn't seem to respond at all. I wasn't willing to leave it on there for very long. The drive home was only about 4 miles, so maybe I just needed to drive it a little more! Even if it would've taken a charge, I may have changed it anyway. She was only in the store an hour or so, and I don't think I could trust a battery that could go dead that quick, especially when it would involve another phone call from the damsel in distress.