The wife's Durango is having some trouble. All gauges and interior lights are NOT working. A hard bump on the road will make everything work again for a little while until the cluster just goes dead again. Does the cluster have male pins that just push into a female outlet? Where should I start looking?

 

i got a no bus once when i forgot to connect several ground wires at the power steering pump area. there are multiple ground points on both the engine and the body, so check all those.

also, check the connectors at the pcm.

here's one of many threads on here. this one is about a bad sensor. do a search across all models.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ed-no-bus.html

on my ram the cluster has male pins that plug into a big female socket in the dash.

in some cases, this turns out to be PCM or Cluster, but often its just a loose wire or bad sensor.

 

+1 "also, check the connectors at the pcm."

Since it pops back on when jarred, check the connections SOON. Why soon? Power on/power off/power on/power off to a computer... which is what the PCM is... will certainly result in failure that even fixing the connections won't fix. If it hasn't already.

IndyDurango

 

Thanks.. Too bad the wind chill temp is -1 degrees out. After a couple more beers (for warmth of course) I will go out and check the PCM.

I fixed her old Neon gauge cluster just by pulling it out and reinstalling ( 9 years ago or so) but wanted to ask you guys before I started to tear into anything while it is this cold. I'll update later.

Oh and P.S. the truck keeps running, even while driving down the road and the cluster says 'no bus'

 

It won't for long when no bus... no bus = no computer = no input to correct things as it goes.

-1 degrees? Better make that a full 12 pack of brew!

IndyD

 

id also start by checking connections, grounds and plugs at the PCM, at this point is IS a loose wire but as said could easily turn into more

 

Well the hood was frozen shut. I pulled on the hood release latch inside the truck pretty hard and it would not let go. I was scared to pull any harder. I might have to just let it idle for 15 minutes or so after work and see if the heat will thaw it out.

I'll be back on with updates tonight

 

I got to spend some more time on it. Wiggled every cable under the hood that I could find and cannot reproduce the dead gauge cluster that says 'no bus'. So I started to take apart the dash and 'no bus' returned for a few seconds but went away and I could not make the problem happen again.

So I pulled the gauge cluster out and reinstalled. Now the speedometer is stuck at 120. I drove the truck about 10 feet in reverse, and 10 forward and it stayed at 120. I pulled the cluster back out and put it back that didn't help either. Anyone seen this or know what I should try?

And as to the original problem of the dead gauge cluster after hitting up a bump (hitting another bump fixes it for a while), if there are any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

 

take the gauge cluster out and flip the needle over so it stays on 0, then reinstall it and see if that fixes it, i think its only pushed by the motor if it starts on 0 otherwise gravity stops it from getting over (i believe it is moved by an electro magnet which starts out near the 0, but i have exactly 0 proof of this so dont hold me to it)

 

So actually pull the needle off, and reinstall at 0? Or can i spin it from the back?