So i was driving today and its been raining like crazy today. (yeah i know rain in the middle of a Minnesota winter is weird) but as i was driving i realized my wiper blades would only work on the high settings. not on the lower speed settings

I thought i was having a wiring issue. Soon after when i turned my durango on the 4wd service light came on and my electric 4wd switch wasn't working. so my 4wd wouldn't engage. right away after i realized the power locks weren't working. and the headlights wouldn't work either.

I'm assuming bad battery. I've been busy today and haven't been able to check it out yet.

Also after driving the car home maybe after 10 minutes of driving all the switches started working again.

i figured it was a bad question to ask if it was the battery because it seems like it would be obvious enough? but i did call a guy at a "batteries plus" store just to see what he said and he says it doesn't sound like a battery problem? more like a computer problem? but i wouldn't think that it would act funny sometimes and than work fine then next minute right? i mean if the computer was going bad the problems would not come and go it would just stay bad?

I'm not sure how old the batter is. i feel like it is the stock battery. from when we bought it new in 2002. but it might have been changed a few years ago. at least 2 years ago.

i also searched online "dodge forums battery problems" and couldn't find any useful info.

 

I'm no expert as I'm new to Dodge, but I'd as if the idiot light comes on an no power options work, then it may be a charging issue.... The truck should function without a battery or the very least a dead one as long as the charging system is good...

 

1stGenDurango: these trucks will NOT run right w/o a battery in them PERIOD, even a weak battery will cause running issues,

but i have never heard of them causing the list of problems ajoshi has just posted up for us. the only common link between all those items is the CTM, and if it is going bad it could have a loose connection (internally, not something you can fix if so) that bounces in/out as you drive, if it were me i would unplug, clean and reseat all the connectors on the ctm just to be safe, but chances are you need to go to the dealer (take both key fobs with you) and get a brandy new ctm for your truck

 

With that much stuff messin with ya I would think it's a CTM issue.


Reset the PCM and see if it goes away. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ine-light.html

 

Well it did it just that once. its acting completely fine now. I went up to the auto parts store and they tested my battery. its fine.

The guy there said it might possibly have been because water had got into the computer somewhere somehow? He said once it dries out it would fine? Does this sound legitimate?

Hydra I'll look into resetting the pcm if the problems act up again. and if resetting the pcm works great. if not I'll look into what shrp is saying.

Thanks for the feedback guys. if you can come up with any other ideas of what might be going on lay em on me!

 

Sure it does. Sort of...

Water conducts electricity. If you get water on a circuit board it will cause a short circuit, thus causing the computer to behave unpredictably. (Computers, by the very nature of their design and their purpose, must always be predictable to be considered working properly. If you ask it to calculate 2 + 2, and it tells you the answer is 475, bad things are going to happen. If this happens with your laptop while you're watching Youtube videos, it's annoying. If it happens with the computer that controls the vehicle carrying you and your family down the road at high speed, well, that's considerably worse than annoying.....)

If the short doesn't damage any components, then the guy was right, it will be fine once it dries.

BUT.... If water got in once, then there's obviously a path for water to get in again. So even if the problem goes away for awhile, it will likely return (and Mr. Murphy assures us that it will return at the most inconvenient time possible...)

I'd take a look and see what you can see, and what might be possible as far as protecting against future water infiltration, even if that means replacing a part that works "most of the time".

 

check the power distribution center make sure water didnt get in there

 

I would say put the hood back on if you're getting water in your PDC.

 

it sounds legitimate if it was something onside of the passenger cabin acting up, the ctm is located inside the cabin, behind the kick panel next to the e-brake, if you are getting enough water in there to cause an issue, then you have a bigger problem.


kind of, but not really, water (pure H2O) is NON CONDUCTIVE, and will NOT conduct electricity PERIOD, however water as a solution with minerals/metals dissolved in it (what we drink and use for 99% of everything, this is also what snow consists of and what rain is. . . ) DOES conduct electricity.

if you dont believe me go get your hands on some deionized water and try to get an ohm reading through it, now try it with regular tap water

 

kind of, but not really, water (pure H2O) is NON CONDUCTIVE, and will NOT conduct electricity PERIOD, however water as a solution with minerals/metals dissolved in it (what we drink and use for 99% of everything, this is also what snow consists of and what rain is. . . ) DOES conduct electricity.

if you dont believe me go get your hands on some deionized water and try to get an ohm reading through it, now try it with regular tap water[/quote]


+1 ... show-off . To reinforce Shrps: Pure water actually IS an insulator. It's the dissolution of ions in the water that actually carries the charge. Water molecules do have partial dipoles, but incredible hydrogen bonds holding multiple H2O molecules together. Several water molecules can typically surround (due to their small size) an individual ionic molecule, breaking its bonds via the H2O dipole charges. This creates free (+) & (-) charges within the solution... Now the solution has gone from being an insulator to a conductor. ($30,000 spent on a Chemistry degree and this is one of the few times I've used it. Go figure...)

With all that said... Free education is nice but I do not think any of this information is relevant to his problem because deionized water is not typically going to be found in nature or dripping down cracks and crevices of his vehicle.