Hey all,

Hoping I can get some help here before I shell out a bunch of cash to get this fixed. So let me begin...

Details:

98 Dakota V6 3.9
Viper 5904 alarm installed

2 days ago, finished up dinner after eating out and got in the truck. Turned her on, and noticed the left turn signal indicator was on solid. Got out and took a look, the left side parking light was out. No problem, bad bulb, I'll fix it in the morning. Well, the next morning, it came on no problems. Odd, but just dismissed it. Came home later that day, went inside for about 15 minutes, then had to leave again. Tried to remote start the vehicle, but that didn't happen. Tried to manually start, and that wouldn't work either. My first thought was a bad battery, so had a buddy give me a jump. Even after letting the battery charge for 15 minutes, nothing.

When I put the key in the ignition and turn it to accessories on, the only thing that lights up is the parking brake indicator. When I try to start her, nothing. No clicks, nada. Just silence and darkness.

When I try to arm/disarm the alarm using the remote, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And by work I mean it registers on the remote, but doesn't actually lock/unlock the doors like it normally does. Other times I get an out of range message, even if I'm standing right next to the truck.

I'm fairly certain it's the alarm acting up. But the first time I tried to start her manually, everything came on like normal on the gauge face, but when I actually tried to start, I heard a single click and then everything went dark. I thought fuses, and pulled 'em all one by one, and they're all good (as far as I can tell, I just did a visual test). I guess it could be a bad relay (those are relays, next to the fuses, right?) in the PDC, but I don't know how to test/check them.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Any help would be immensely appreciated, and thank you in advance!

 

sounds to me like the security on the alarm is stuck in 'disable' mode and not powering on the PCM, if there is such a mode on that particular unit.

 

2X on that... seen it many times on this forum

 

Reason I go this direction so quickly, the PCM controls the dash cluster for the most part, so it's clearly not getting power. Could be a failed PCM, but in the presence of something dodge didn't intend to be there, throws a flag.

 

Do the headlights work? What happens if you turn them on and then try to start the truck? Do they stay bright, or go out? If they go out, you most likely have a bad battery or battery cable connection (which could be on either end of either cable, not just the positive).

 

This happened to me a couple times last night. I had taken the battery and battery box out to work on the headlight bracket mounting points... when i was finished putting it all back together i went to test all the lights and start it up it started but immediately died completely... no power except for the brake light on the dash... disconnected the neg cable and hooked it back up, dome light came on, put the key in, turn it... dead+"brake". Oh and when i had the door open i hear steady clicking from the pcm area. Disconnected both battery cables... waited 15 minutes or so, hooked them back up and i was good to go. Not really sure what the problem was... but it's been fine through about 30 starts since.

 

Never threw any codes either.

 

Great points gentleman, and quick too!

I'll try unplugging both battery cables for a bit, and see where I can get from there. Failing that, a call to either the installer or Viper for some info on how to get out of "disabled" mode.

Thank you again!