Greetings. I would like to apologize in advance for the absurd length of my post.

I have a 1994 Dodge Ram 1500. It is not in the best shape. The dashboard was pretty much gone. Last week I went to a pick and pull junkyard and managed to find a dashboard for that lovable old truck. I paid just under $100 for it, which is pretty good considering I have gotten estimates in the range of $300 to $400 for an intact dash. I got it home and let it sit for about a week, waiting out the rain and getting in the right mood to actually do it.

I got in the mood and it wasnt raining yesterday so I began the process of removing the shattered remnants of the old dashboard and disconnecting all of the wonderful connectors to prepare it for removal. I removed the screws keeping the dash on, removed the nuts keeping the steering column in place, carefully disconnected the transmission gear display and then let the dash swivel a little before removing it. I got a friend to help me put the new dash in place, it is quite unwieldy to try and manuever solo, then I reconnected the wires, harnesses, nuts, bolts and so forth.

Then I tried to start it once I had everything (I thought) connected and before I put all of the trim and faceplates and such back in, it only would crank. It would turn over, but it wouldnt start. I tried that a few times then I figured I must have missed a cable somewhere. Turns out I did. I connected the cable that connects to the switch for the brake lights and then I tried to start it. Sparks flew, from somewhere around the ignition, unless I am mistaken. I tried it again. Nothing. Alternating between some obscure combination of pulling fuses out and putting them back in and checking all of the wires resulted in either nothing or more sparks. At some point I decided to check the fuses under the hood. The fuse labeled "IGN RUN" was indeed blown. I replaced it and tried again. This time I got more sparks and then I checked the fuse just after, it blew again. (I might add, these little buggers are mighty expensive, 6 bucks a pop (haha))

I figured it must be something to do with the dashboard so I enlisted my friend to help me remove the dashboard again so I could reinstall the remnants of the old dash. I figured the old one should work so I will just be sure that it does indeed work and then I will swap the harnesses out. Well, it did not work, same thing in fact, I checked all of the wires once again and checked all of the connections and everything seems fine.

Additionally, I want to describe what it is doing right now. I put the key in the ignition, no buzz until I turn it to on. The buzzer buzzes ( as it should) if I pull the parking lamps or head lamps on. I turn the key to on and the gasoline dial does not update (it fell to past E, despite having half a tank. The Voltage dial for the battery does update, however. It does not start. It does not crank. It will spark once or so, until it burns out the fuse, then it will do nothing when I try to spin it up. The indicators on the instrument cluster will light up, like the fasten seatbelt symbol or the oil symbol, but the engine does nothing (that I know of anyways).

I feel it is relevant to mention the dash I pulled was for a manual transmission truck with power seats but manual windows and locks whereas my truck has power windows and locks but manual seats and an automatic transmission. I also swapped the instrument clusters for the two before I initially installed the new dash, hoping it would work.

I only have two fuses left of the variety that blew and I dont really want to put them in and try anything unless I have a better idea of what is going on. The parts store only had 3 and now I have no extras.

 

May have pulled a wire out of the ignition switch. Pull the covers off the column, and have a look. You apparently have a dead short somewhere..... where the sparks are flyin' seems like a good place to start.

Welcome to DF!

 

There is a flat black connector on the underside of the steering column that plugs into the ignition switch. This connector has 7 wires going into it. One of the wires, the middle wire, a pink/black wire, appears to have some burn marks. See picture. Would this be the reason it was throwing sparks? Checking to see if I cannot find out what that wire goes to. I would almost bet that is the problem at this point.


I found a service manual for a 1995 and I am looking through it.

In the manual it says "If the vehicle is equipped with an automatic transmission, the park/neutral position switch provides a ground path to the starter relay coil ground terminal. This switch provides ground only with the transmission in NEUTRAL or PARK."
Could that mean that a spark might have been thrown because it was not in park/neutral? Because I did have the steering column dropped at some point.



Alright, I am looking at the manual and I found a wiring diagram. It would indeed seem that the wire I suspected was burnt might be the wire that caused the problem(s). From the positive end of the terminal A0 6RD appears to carry power to the PDC, where it goes to the positive ends of the fuses, including the 40A FUSE 2 that has burnt out 3 times now. On the other end of that same fuse is another wire, A2 12PK/BK, which I interpret to mean a black/pink wire, goes to a junction, then it goes to pin 4 of the ignition switch connector. The only time that wire should carry anything to the ignition switch appears to be when the switch is in the RUN position. That doesnt appear to make sense though. It threw sparks when I tried to START it, not when it was in the RUN position. For what was happening, the problem would have to be A41 18DB/YL, right? That would be pin 7 of the ignition switch connector, right?

After looking further at the area, including the connector and pins, there is a minor amount of what appears to be scorching around the pins themselves on the ignition switch on not only the pin for A2 12PK/BK but also the pin right next to it, A22 12BK/OR. A22 12BK/OR connects to a splice that connects to, wait for it, the Engine Starter Motor Relay! I believe.

Any ideas? I dont want to do anything until I know it isnt going to pop a fuse. I am honestly not even sure what to do if I am right and it is that wire. Should I replace the ignition switch connector (which means getting a connector from another truck and cutting and stripping and soldering and heat-shrinking)?


Deeper the rabbit hole goes... So I was tired of not knowing what to do so I went out and checked the wires again. Nothing looked possibly bad aside from what I found before. Then I thought about the fuse in the PDC. I said screw it and I got one of the last two fuses I have and popped it in. I only put the key in and turned it to RUN, not START, and then I looked at the instrument cluster and found nothing happened that wasnt happening before, ie the gasoline gauge not moving, low oil lamp not lighting, ect. That means there definitely is a short somewhere. (That much was obvious) The short must have something to do with however the instrument cluster receives its data and power. I find where a wire connects the instrument cluster with the ignition switch, I will be willing to bet that the short is somewhere around it.

EDIT: Ignore that last paragraph. Fuse 12 wasnt in. Popped that in and now instrument cluster works fine...

Now back to just the blasted thing not starting. Wire tracing ahead.

 

Pink wire with black trace is a power feed wire. That sends power to the fuse block with the ignition in the run position. Something on the other side of the ignition switch, or, the switch itself, is shorting out.

 

Should I try starting it without the ignition switch itself? I mean, should I jump the pins on the male ignition switch connector to see if it will start without the ignition switch?

 

Trouble is, that wire provides power to various things that need it for the engine to run.

Odd question: Do you have a trailer harness on that? (reverse lites are on that circuit, but, I don't think I have seen a trailer with backup lites....)

 

Er, I think it has a trailer harness on the back, if that is what you mean.

Also, there is a security system installed. Excalibur AL 900LCX. I dont have the controls for it so I dont know if it works at all or not. It appears to definitely be tied into the ignition switch at least for two wires. Could that be the problem? The wiring looks really badly organized. There also does not appear to be a valet switch; it was cut off.

Further investigation of that abhorrent mess of wires found a wire that has a little fork on it, like it was supposed to be grounded, but when I went to ground it, it sparked. I tested it with a voltmeter and low and behold, it was powered! I really want to remove the bloody security system. it seems like an impediment to all kinds of work.

 

Find an install manual for the alarm, (should be available online.) and get rid of it.

I begin to wonder if you didn't pinch a wire up by the fuse block, when putting the dash back in......

 

There is a relay that appears to have connections to the power windows fuse, and the PK/BK and OR/BK wires that go to the ignition switch. This relay is not stock from what I have seen in the diagrams but I dont know what will (or wont) happen if I remove it.

I am still thinking about when I first put the new dash in and connected it up. I tried to spin it up but it would only crank, it wouldnt catch and run normally. Then I looked for some connector that I might have inadvertently missed and found the connector to a switch on the brake pedal. After connecting that, I happily tried to start it and it sparked. Would that switch not being connected cause it to crank but not catch? Would that switch being connected cause it to spark and then not crank at all?

After that new dash didnt work (and it blew a $6 fuse or two) I pulled the new dash out and put the old dash back in, it did the same thing the new dash did.

I just checked and I believe they are two different types of switches, that is, the brake switch from the truck I got the dash from and the brake switch in my own truck have different numbers on them. The writing on the switch in my truck is so faded can only barely make out some of the text on it but I believe them to be different types of switches. Although, the original dash is back in so the brake switch shouldnt be a problem, right? unless maybe, it is fried? Could it be fried? Would it being fried cause other things to spark? I will go check it in just a moment, just to be sure.

I also just checked the ignition switch with a continuity tester and it appears to function completely as intended. I am somewhat relieved because now I dont have to hunt down those blasted "tamper proof torx bits" and then mess with the ignition.

I reckon I might try removing the old dash and seeing if there are any wires that could be the source of the problem in any way, that is, take the old dash out and look at it without laying on my back or side and trying to look under and inside things. Might get rid of the security system then as well, make it easier to work on rather than trying to solder while laying on my back (That is a big no no).

 

Switch is probably brake switch. It sends a signal to the PCM, to disengage cruise, and also turns on the brake lites..... try disconnecting it, and see if you still get a light show.