Hey all, I've been reading the posts on the No Bus errors and want to toss in more info and see if it can get me out of the $$$thousand dollar$$$ part.

Like everybody that seems to have seen this occur, my 2000 Dakota Sport 4cyl was happily going down the road when the tach, then the speedometer, oil, water and battery gauges fell to zero. I've tried clearing the codes, I've even tried to see what the actual "P" code is. All I get is "no bus" with the engine icon, followed after 35 seconds by the fuel icon. The engine cranks just fine, but no fuel...no spark. I have pulled all of the fuses I can access inside the cab and under the hood. I'm able to pull the center of the 3 modules over the passenger side wheel which from what I read is the PCM (?).

The tow truck driver swears he's seen this before and it's the alternator. When the onboard computer doesn't get enough juice, it shuts down. Sounds logical to me. So I had my wife try to jump the battery but the tow truck guy said the battery was probably too small to help (Neon). Then our daughter tried with her Mercury Mountaineer and nothing. I want to pull the alternator but not if it's not the problem.

Any new info? Does the fuel pump icon pertain to anything?
edit: this should read Gas Pump Icon (like at the filling station).

At least I have the truck home in the garage so I can piddle.

Rick

 

no bus usually means the computer is gone. see if you can find one out of a same year, same engine truck and a junkyard. even if you have to get a brand new pcm, theres no way it should cost a thousand dollars.

 

It may be the alternator. The one in my car (mini compact lol) went bad and we had a hell of a time just getting it to jump with a gigantic van interstate battery. And it would die as soon as the jumps were removed. Definitely the alternator. I wasn't there when the battery died so I cant tell you about codes, but it is definitely a possibility.

 

I just went to Auto Computer Exchange and found one for $279.
It's just scary to work with electrical parts and not knowing if it's going to do it or not.

 

Hi Rick, the $1,000 price tag came from the receipt from the dealer the last time I had the problem, $570.50 for the module, $30 freight to have it shipped in, and $335.72 labor. I looked up the part number at the same place you did with the same results. It's hard to spend 279 without knowing for sure if that is the part that's bad. The dealer will charge me app. $90 just for the diagnostic which then puts the cost just south of $400 if I have them do the diagnostic and then order the part myself.
Personally I think I'm going to take a chance on the wrecking yard one first as long as it's under $100. I need my truck daily for work so a speedy repair is essential, the repair costs go way up if I have to rent a car in the meantime. I really hate throwing good money after bad. Good luck on yours I hope you find a cheap way.-Rob

 

well just to see take off your alternator and take it too autozone(i know for a fact they test them there for free) napa,advanced or O'reilly might but im not really sure(call first before you go)

 

I pulled the alternator and took it to AutoZone. The guy tested it 3 times and it passed every time. So then I looked at the battery. It's a Wal-Mart 36 month battery with a delivery date of October 2007. I'm kinda ruling out the battery because it cranks really good.

I'm going to contact the place in Florida that has the ECM at $249. Their normal MO is to order the ECM, they send it to you, you send them back the bad one. I'd like to see if I can send them the bad one first and they can test it beforehand. Granted, it'll cost me something to have it tested but if it's a ground somewhere on the miles of wires...why not.

Also, I just a month or two before this all happened (the bus error) installed a used cd player that came out of a Durango (bought used online from an online used parts warehouse - junkyard?). The AM/FM/Cassette that I took out had a ground wire that clipped to the body of the unit. The CD player that I installed did not. So I let it dangle. I don't want to buy the new ECM, hook up the ungrounded CD unit and have the same end result. Shouold I snip off the clip and attach the ground wire to one of the mounting screws or a screw on the CD unit for safety sake?

Thanks, guys, for your input.

And Happy Easter to those online that celebrate.
Chocolate bunny ears all around.

Rick