So I'm enjoying my '94....for the most part. It has acquired a new, not so funny, habit.
Here's what is happening: I went to start it this morning, and NOTHING at all happened. No dome light in the cab, nothing on the dash came on, couldn't hear the fuel pump or anything when I turned on the key, it is acting like it is completely dead. Truck ran fine yesterday, after having this SAME thing happen. A friend of mine, who also happens to be a Chrysler technician came and looked at it, and we found what we thought was a loose ground connection under the hood, and after jiggling it, truck ran fine all day, and then this morning it exhibits same symptoms as yesterday.

I can get pics of the connections that we messed with yesterday that seemed to fix the problem.

I remember reading once about a 'death splice' on these gen 2's that caused similar symptoms to what i have experienced, but can't recall the location....

thanks in advance....love the dak, even if it's frustrating me today! lol.

-Mike

I tested the battery, and it is reading 12.5 volts, which should be sufficient.

 

My guess is you got loose/dirty connections to the battery. Get a battery cleaner and clean the battery terminals and connectors, get them clean/shinny and tight. If needed replace them. Did you get the battery load tested?

And 87-96 is 1st Gen.

 

Yep 1st Gen, my bad! :-)

I'm going to clean the battery terminals in the morning, and run the battery up and have it load tested. Tested it with the multimeter, but that's not the whole picture;-)

Thinking that I may have the 'death splice', or whatever you want to call it, under the fuse box area in the engine compartment(I found a write-up on fixing it in the FAQ post)

I'll report back tomorrow with what I find....

 

okay here is a live update from the truck...today it was 'normal' until i turned the key, and now it exhibits the same symptoms as the original post. cleaning the battery terminals shortly.

also noticed the positive battery terminal is warm to the touch.

oh and the ignition cylinder in the steering column is loose...and i mean VERY loose...wondering if that may be contributing to the issue.

 

Updating again...cleaned battery terminals and it started right up...hmm

 

Because you fount the Positive post on the battery warm that tells me you had a bad connection (high resistance) connection right there.Qlty aka old USN Electrician Mate

 

I suspect it's a problem with your lock cylinder, especially if it's loose. When mine went bad, I had no power anywhere in the truck. But it happened suddenly and without warning. It was not an intermittent problem.

 

amazingly, the battery terminal cleaning still seems to have done the trick....i think i will replace the terminals in the near future, as they look to be OEM from '94....the lock cylinder is looser than the one on my Jeep, which is by no means tight, but I guess until it gives me problems again I'll just live with it....

Thanks guys, lovin the '94 now that it's running reliably:-)