Hey guys and gals, I'm new around here and after some lurking I see that y'all seem to be quite knowledgeable and I am needing some help!

Sorry if this is longwinded.

Specs: 1994 Dodge Ram 2500 318 V8 Magnum 2WD

I'm not really sure what I am having problems with, but I'll tell you the signs and symptoms and what I have checked and hopefully we can work through this.

The truck will crank, but will not run. When the key is in the on or start position, the fuel pump does not turn on at all. I am not getting spark.

The ASD and Fuel Pump relays are both good and will switch when hooked to the battery (which is putting out 12.23v). The relays are not switching when they are put in the power distribution block. The voltage across 86/85 terminals in the power distribution block is 11.78, which leads me to think that there is not enough power coming to the power distribution block to activate the relays. I don't know why this is though.

There is constant battery power at 30 and power when "on" at 86.

I jumped power from 30 to 87 at the fuel pump and the ASR and the fuel pump does turn on, but the truck still does not start and I cannot see any spark from the 1 spark plug I pulled out.

Other info: Last week I was replacing the CD player in the cab and when it was all hooked up, I slid it back into the dash and after about 10 seconds I smelled some electrical smelling smoke coming from the passenger side. I turned the truck off and disconnected the battery. I couldn't tell if the smoke was coming from inside the cab, or the engine. After pulling the CD player back out and checking for bare wires, I found none. I checked my fuses and reconnected the battery. There was no smoke. After this is when the truck stopped turning on. I'm not sure what this could be or even if it is related, but I just thought I should include it.

Thank you for your time!

Nate

 

Sounds like you have a melted wire that's causing it to ground out and could have possibly shorted out the power block. Or entire harness depending on how badly its cooked.

 

this doesn't sound good. did the no crank condition begin immediately after the electrical problem, or did it start at a different time?

if you don't already have this, download the 01 service manual and use it as much as possible. your 94 is OBD-1 and the 01 was OBD-2, but 95% of the manual still applies to you. look in section 8i (ignition control) for a really good description on the ASD, and how it cuts power to the coil and the fuel pump relay, and how it uses signals from the timer control and crank and cam position sensor to determine if the engine is running. so if you have no power at the coil, its either a simple wiring problem or a complex PCM/wiriing/senor problem.

also search for some very detailed posts from cmckenna from about 2 months ago regarding the pcm wiring and all the control signals that happen. someone was trying to troubleshoot an alternator charging/regulator problem.

there's some very good wiring diagrams in the back of the 01 service manual. this might help you tone out the appropriate wires for the ASD process. I've never done this, but you might be able to feed 12v directly to the coil and fuel pump to bypass some or all of the ASD to see if it helps.

if nothing turns up pretty quick, i'd be tempted to take it to the dealer and have them put it on the $10,000 scanner tool to identify what's wrong. they should be able to read all the sensors and the pcm in real time.

 

The no start problem happened right after the electrical problem, but this truck has really been a headache, which makes me think that it could possibly be unrelated

I downloaded this and it seems very helpful. I ran out of daylight today, but will work on it some more tomorrow afternoon. I guess the next step should be to check for power to the coil?

Will do.

I guess I'll try that if I can't get it figured out in a couple of days.



Thank you so much!!

Any additional brainstorming is appreciated as well!

 

hi, i have a 1994 DODGE DAKOTA TRUCK! i change the fuel pump & it still wont start. can you please let me know what else can it be ?

 

First of all, post your question in the Dakota section on this site! Second, it would be nice for any of us, in that section or this one to know a little more of a detailed description about your problem.

 

have a 1994 5.9 liter dodge ram truck 2wd having intermittent starting problem,when truck starts it will run fine. the instrument gauges were working fine and now won't work at all. have some type of electrical short unable to find. anyone have any ideas!