1995 dodge b1500 v6 222k miles. Codes 12 45 55.(same codes for 2 years) Initially encountered idle problem when cold. So my first thought is clean. Iac. (Did that 2 years ago and it fixed things) 2 days problem came back. So tps was next. 2 days problem back. New iac problem fixed for a few days. Couple of pulleys failed and were replaced. Thursday out of blue driving vehicle hesitated a few times had a couple of actual stalls and twice lost power acted like running on 3 cylinders then kicks back in. I replaced fuel pump. Friday had a couple of hesitations and a stall but seemed to clear up. Saturday engine stalled pump not working pressure eratic. Once had 30 minutes before start. Then fuel pump stuck on then nothing. Replaced new pump. Drove about 10 miles same loss of power no pump on. Under hood checking electrical connections touched wires asd kicked pump on. Van running. Sgtarted searching for short or loose wires found nothing. Headed the 50 miles back home didn't make it. Tried shaking wires nothing. Pulled asd/fuel felay. Installed new relay fired right up. Heading home with van about 20 miles van cut off no start. was about to touch wires and it clicked on its own. Started right up. Sclammed hood cut off. But started again anyway. Drove the rest of way home like a 2012 van (not kidding) no rough idle power like a rocket. Intemittent electrical is hell. What am I missing? 5 different things breaking all in the same week?

 

Sounds like a coil or alternator problem. Something in the electrical is spiking. The sad thing is, the voltage regulator is in the vehicle computer PCM.

 

I do see the voltage drop when the lights are on. Alternator tests fine. The last van I had with a coil problem I didn't have a problem with the fuel pump cutting in and out.

 

It is said the main cause of computer failure is the transmission solenoids, and you have been getting that code 45( tranny overdrive solenoid or circuit failure) for 2 years?

Look at the electrical connectors on the tranny, on the PCM(computer) wiggle them with key on and see if relays click.

Remove and clean all grounds. battery to engine battery to firewall and engine to frame.

Even if you find a suspected bad connection or wire to the transmission, something may be intermittent or damaged inside the engine computer, or the solenoids within the tranny itself.

 

trying to figure out where a tranny overdrive solenoid is in my 3sp tranny? as I posted above, with or without wire wiggle it is intermittent. had to move van today, started up and drove 3 miles just fine parked, unloaded some stuff, no start, tried the wire wiggle (even though i dont think it matters) moved the air intake hose out of the way and click, then it started right up. drove about 2 miles back to home and died. nothing i tried (wiggle or otherwise) made a difference, as It died right in front of tropicana field just as the rays game was ending, I left it and walked the last mile to the marina. about 2 hours later once all the baseball traffic had cleared, I biked back to the van, started it right up and drove home. as it is labor day I am trying to locate a computer, and found a coil on ebay out of miami for 15 bucks new. the next interesting thing I found was every time i stepped on the accelerator the dash vents immediately switched to floor. I have had this intermittent problem for some time but extremely rare and intermittent. driving home it was every time. the other thing i do notice is when the vehicle fails and wont start, the check engine light does not come on at initial key. the other dash lights do come on. when it wants to work, or when i do get the asd to click, i turn key to on and the check engine light comes on briefly.

 

“I left it and walked the last mile to the marina.”

you mentioned a marina in your last post... with all of these strange and seemingly unrelated problems, many electrical, I wonder if the sea air in your locale has done something to the connections on the PCM and other sensor contacts?... have you pulled the plugs on the PCM and looked at the connectors? a can of contact cleaner and a tooth brush might help cleaning up some poor corroded, bad connections. contact cleaner can be found in two flavors, one without and one with a light oil. I would use the straight cleaner to wet then to help polish off with the brush any contamination on the connectors anywhere you have plugs and contact points. hopefully that cleans up the intermittent connection problem you seem to be experiencing. if/when these problems get cleaned up, you might then want to very lightly spray with the trace oil product, which will leave a light oil film to help control new corrosion on the contacts... spray very lightly wherever it is used and maybe not at all on the inside of the PCM contact bus connector, but I would spray some on the outside of the three connections to help seal them from the sea air

 

I pulled the single connector harness to the ECM and it is spotless. this is not a new environment for the van, as best I can tell it has been in this area its entire life. the problem with mentioning the wire wiggling, is that as time progressed i feel it is not the issue. wiggle this wire it works, next time wiggle that wire it works, next time wiggle nothing but slam a hood it works, this whole new loss of vacuum thing on the dash vents was weird. in the course of trying to check wires sunday during the final "fail every few miles phase" I worked from the ECM across to the ASD and then back down the engine to the tranny, checking for worn spots on wire coverings etc. as it was random and no damage etc was ever found that led me to the replacement of the ASD/Fuel relay. but truthfully they were pretty reasonable looking as well. I had a coil fail before on another dodge and I experienced the same intermittent stalling. so I have that on the list. the exception this time is that check engine light not coming on and the power to the relay. I have to assume at this point its the ECM. with the "failure" yesterday all that happened was the vehicle sat on the side of the road for 3 hours and then started right back up. maybe it is a heat issue? I love electricity!

 

I managed to locate a used ecm wth matching number, I installed it today and vehicle fired right up and idles. managed to drive a few miles and when I got it back I checked the codes. same 12, 45, 55. I was told the 45 was for a turbo and several sites including this one say 45 doesnt exist. landyacht said something about an overdrive solenoid but I have a 3 speed tranny and neither the online or brick and motar parts house have been any help at all. I did order a new coil to have on hand just in case as someone mentioned that earlier.

does anyone have a clue to what this 45 is on both computers? and if landyacht is right about over drive solenoid where the heck is the darn thing?????

 

I got the code 45 OD solenoid info from my '89 factory service manual.

I'd inspect the wiring and connectors leading to your transmission, even if it is just a 3 speed.

My ecm failed because a tranny wire chafed and was grounding out on the bell housing.

I hope the new computer solves your issue