I am having trouble with my Dakota. The truck will not start or even turn over. When I turn the key I lose everything. Including interior lights, the dinger, everything. It acts like the battery just goes dead but it doesn't. I test the battery after this happens and it shows it has full charge. I have replaced the starter, cleaned ground wires, and even replaced a good battery. I am wandering if this could have somehting to do with the camshaft sensor or the crankshaft sensor. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum Hoov.

How are you testing the battery? You very well could have a weak battery.

A cam or crank sensor will NOT stop the truck from cranking.

Losing all the lights, etc., indicates that you likely have a bad connection. It can be the cables, they can fail internally.

Do you have a volt/ohm meter? Put one end on the negative battery post and the other to the end of the ground wire. Have someone crank the engine. You're measuring voltage drop doing this. Repeat for the positive post to the starter OR the terminal on the PDC.

What happens to the headlights when you turn the key?

 

I lose all electricals when i turn the key and have to reset the battery terminals to get them back i have tested the battery with my basic electric tester and i also had it tested advanced auto on their machine i looked over all the wires and they look good they have the plastic on the outside like they have do not have much wear on them i just have no idea what it could possibly be i thought maybe it was the ground wires so cleaned them all i will try to test the cables when i get home and let you know

 

It definitely sounds like a cable issue.