Will not run after replacing water pump and thermostat

Disconnecting the battery is what causes this. It's due to the idle speed being too low after the Engine Computer lost its memory. Sensor personalities and fuel trim data will be relearned as you drive, without you even noticing, but a very specific set of conditions must be met for the computer to relearn "minimum throttle". Until that is done, the engine may not start unless you hold the accelerator pedal down 1/4", you won't get the nice "idle flare-up" to 1500 rpm at startup, and it may tend to stall at stop signs.

To meet the conditions for minimum throttle to be relearned, drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the pedals.

Tried holding throttle at 1/4 but it still will not continue running. During reassembly I cleaned out the throttle body inlet and moved the butterfly slightly. Could that be another situation I would need to address before it’s able to run?

It's more likely something is unplugged. The first thing to do is to read and record the diagnostic fault codes. On older Chrysler products that was real easy to do by cycling the ignition switch from "off" to "run" three times within five seconds without cranking the engine, leave it in "run", then watch the code numbers appear in the odometer display.

That feature went away on newer models. If it doesn't work, you'll need a scanner or code reader to read the fault codes.

Thanks. It’s not showing any codes. Cycling the key shows that it’s looking but no codes are shown and then done appears. I’m headed away for four weeks of work so I’ll double check all connections upon my return and update.

I'll be waiting to hear back on what you found.