Hello all,

I own 2 Dodge a 2006 Dakota and a 2000 Durango.

My wife drives the durango 3 times a week to and from work and that is it. Dakota is used for rest of traffic. My Durango is a 5.9L V8 4x2 (360) auto tranny with CAI , flowmaster exhaust, champion spark plugs with aftermarket ignition coil and wires and a Pionneer aftermarket stereo with 78,796 miles. The battery and alternator are less then 7 months old as I had this problem in December of 06 but replacing both the alternator and battery fixed it.

The other day my wife and I went to do some summer cleaning of our garage so I went to move the D and low and behold it doesn't start. No power anywhere, no lights, no door chime, no nothing. Ok I immediately though of the alternator and battery. I jumped it with my Dakota, it took about 10 minutes of charging it off my truck to get the D to start. It would start up but then shut off if the gas wasn't pressed. Let it run at 2k rpms for 4 mins and let the ilde drop, dropped to 600 rpms and purred like a kitten. Shut the truck off and wouldn't start, no power again. Jumped it again but this time as soon as I put the cables on it started. I let the truck run at ilde speed for 15 minutes and then shut it off. Tapped the ignition and started up fine x1. Turned if off again and there was minimal power and the starter only clicked. Now, during this process my check gages light came on and my voltameter in the dash went from passed 18 to being under 8 and not working. At first when I jumped the truck and ran it at 2k rpms it went to 18 volts. When I had it at ilde the meter showed 10 volts for 10 seconds and then dropped to nothing, this is when the check gages light came on. At this poin the truck is dead again, I went to jump it and only put the positive side one and the truck started up fine. This is with the negative off. So I thought it would be a battery connection problem. I wanted to be sure so I removed the alternaotr and battery and went to Discount, they tested everything and the alternator came back only charging at 10 volts. OK so I took the alternator to the store where i bought it from AZ with the warranty. They tested it and said it came back within normal limits. they went ahead and replaced it with a new alternator and tested the battery and came out fine at 12.9 volts. I bought new battery terminals and brought everything back to my home, installed the batter alternator and replaced the battery terminals. Started right up with no problem x 4. Took it for a test drive and the check gages light came on and my voltmeter died. My truck still running fine with no miss fires or any electrical problems. I brought it back home and shut it off. Started it up x 2 again this time right after start up my check gages light came on and also my truck would idle fine but when the gas was pressed and let go it would go below my 600 rpm idle limit and sputter and shut off. I thought maybe my idle was off. I drove it to Wal-Mart bought some groceries and drove back home. Started up and ran just fine in transit between my home and Walmart and Walmrt back home. Still the volameter was dead. I drove it to my wife's work (6 miles from my home) running the A/C and with the radio on, approx 1 miles form my wife's work the air bag light came on then the check gages light then my radio started flickering on and off. My A/c stopped working and my head lights dimmed to almost not being on. I made it back home but my battery is now dead AGAIN and there is absoultely no power to my truck. WTF is going on? I went back to AZ bought the Hanyes manual and went back home to test circuits. Didn't find anything wrong. I also learned that this might also be a PCM problem. It sounds like there is a major parasitic drain on my battery. I'm thinking the PCM is shorting out causing the drain on the battery. In light of this all there are no check engine codes that are flashed or even produced. In light of having to shell out 1200 bucks for the damn thing I wanted your alls opinion before I take it to the dealer. Can the PCM be installed by me to minimize cost? Again I ned you all to help me out with opinions, tricks of the trade or soultions for this. I'm renting a car for my wife until I get this fixed.

 

Wow. Sounds like you have some serious issues going on there. At first, it sounded like a battery with a dead cell, but if you had the battery checked, that wouldn't be the problem. The PCM would be a possibility, especially if you were running 18 volts at anytime through your wiring system. Is your regulator working correctly?

 

A few spaces in that huge paragraph would be nice. I didn't read it all but can sum it up for you. ANY low voltage/bad battery/old or new yet drained battery/etc WILL result in low RPM drivability issues. If the battery is weak (new, old, charged, uncharged, whatever) it WILL cause headaches and crazy 'why won't the truck run' issues.

I'm betting that is the issue. Of you want to sum up the long paragraph above, I'm sure more will chime in with additional ideas.

IndyDurango

 

Well let me sum it up for ya Indy.......

The damn thing won't work.[:@][:@][:@]

I'll try a new battery on Thursday, Im a medic and I'm lucky enough to pull tomorrow and the holiday on duty (48 hrs straight) "fun". So it will have to wait until Thursday.

Anyway, an update from my last post, I went to work on the Durango today the thing had juice, had 10 volts and the door chime lights and fuel pump all clicked on. I tried starting the truck, and it started but immediately shut down. Tried this x 3 and all shut down. I'm gonna definately try the new battery thing. I just had the CPS replaced last month so I'm thinking that it might be shorting out?

Virused, I'm mechincally inclined to a certain degree, please can you elborate (where,when,what,how) on the regulator? It might sound like that's the problem.

 

I think I would give the battery thing a shot as well. Maybe even swap the one from you Dak. Also I would consider having the alt double checked. I'vegotten bad ones before, especially rebuilds. Just a thought.

 

UPDATE:

Today I started with the Durango, it amzed me the battery actually had power in it, enough to start the truck but as soon as I let go fo the gas pedal the truck shut down. I tried this x3. I did the x3 key on key off thing and got code P1682 "Charging system malfuction" I disconnected the battery and took it for a new one at WM,(warranty). Brought the new one back and it still did it.

I went one by one in the fuses betwen the relay center and the Fuse box in the dash. I found a 140 amp fuse that apprently supplies power to the whole vehicle and charging system. This fuse was of course blown. Went to AZ and Discount both did not carry the 140A fuse. I ended up at the dealer and paid $10.27 for the damn fuse that cost them about .25 to make. Talk about mark up.

Anyway, thanks for all who responded to help. My D's prruing like a tiger again.

PS: Is it normal for the D's to have problems after putting new mods on? For example: I just had an MSD igntion system 2 weeks ago, replaced fuel pump and filter last month, cams and lifters last month, tune up with Champion spark plugs and custom CAI in April. tranny was replaced with reman ( I don't trust Dodge trannys after 60,000 miles) that was in November of '06. Flowmaster 40's were already installed when I acquired this vehilce in '02.

 

The markup sucks, but it sure as hell beat the $1200 you thought you might have to spend. Glad you got her running.

Good to know about that fuse.

 

yeah buddy. I'm was beaming when I hear the truck start up

 

I'm curious about the question niftyguy239asked above...
"Is it normal for the D's to have problems after putting new mods on? For example: I just had an MSD igntion system 2 weeks ago, replaced fuel pump and filter last month, cams and lifters last month, tune up with Champion spark plugs and custom CAI in April."

I ask this because my truck is now dying anytime the RPMs go down. It first happened yesterday after we were disconnecting/reconnecting the speakers and my young son was inside screwing with the overhead lights and other stuff, so the battery was probably draining for a bit and there may have been some surges?? It started with just the stereo not even working until the truck was turned completely on. My drive is on a slope and it was parked with the front end down. When I started the truck it said 8 miles to empty, but as soon asI pulled out of thedrive it IMMEDIATLYsaid a big 0... SO, I thought well maybe the problem isthat I'm running out of gas... SoI drove the 1/2 mile with a feeling of low power and itdying a few times when I stopped. But I made itto the station pulled in and it died again. I filled it up and drove home with some still odd power feelings, but it did not die. It was even able to idle in my drive for about 10 minutes before turning it off. So, I thought it was a fuel issue solved...

Well, this morning it again died multiple times when stopping or coasting with the RPMs around 1... Ihad to master the stopping with my foot on the gas to take my (other) son to school this morning, which is dangerous....!!! And even still I died over 15 times in four miles... So I want to fix this ASAP. I'm going to try the fuses, so if they are fine, the battery will be checked next. It does not show low on the gauges though and no check lights on at all.

Thanks guys, I really love this forum and hope the fuse is the only problem!! It really seems to pour when it rains for my RT...

Black 2001Durango RT 5.9 I bought it new with 8 miles on it. Needs some hail repair, but hell it's long been paid for! I love my truck!

 

your particular issue sounds like it could be fuel filter.. if you ran it down that low on fuel.. threre could be some junk in it... i would try to change that.. also have your fuel pressure checked..