Hey, I am again. The key fob I have doesn't work. I checked battery voltage and it was okay. Is there a way that i can check to see if the fob is working? Autozone used to have the testers to check battery strength. It seems that they have been pulled. I really don't want to buy a tester just to check one fob. I am open to suggestions. I would like to check one thing before I tear into another.
Dave

 

Oreillys or advance, Napa, check some more parts stores.

 

The other day when I was at O'Reilly I think I remember seeing the tester on their counter. You might stop by or give them a call. The Dodge dealer probably has one, maybe a locksmith too, but they may or may not charge a fee to check the fob. You might have corrosion or a dirt buildup on the circuit board of the fob, you can snap it apart and clean it with spray contact cleaner or alcohol with a pencil eraser and see if it works.

Jimmy

 

I got to check the remote today. Advance Auto has a checker. The remote read good. so where is the receiving part on the truck? Now I can check this stuff out too.

 

What year is your truck?

 

2001 sorry

 

The keyless entry is an internal part of the central timer module. The CTM is located in your driver's kick panel, it's a small black box with 3 molex connectors and a lot of wires going to it. The CTM controls a lot of the electrical accessories on the truck such as dome lights, delayed wipers, interior lights, warning chime, power door locks and a lot more. Your door lock relays are inside the CTM too. You may need to replace the CTM, which is easy enough to R&R the part itself, but if you want to keep the factory keyless entry you will need to get your existing remote fob programmed to the new CTM. That can only be done at the Dodge dealer, they have to use the DRB3 scanner to do it. Probably costs half to one hour of labor for the procedure.

Another alternative is an aftermarket keyless entry system. You can have an audio/alarm shop do it, probably cost about $125.00 to $150.00 installed, maybe a little more or less depending on where you live. If you are good with wiring and electronics you can DIY and buy a good keyless unit online starting around $35.00 at Sonic Electronix:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...ess-entry.html

CTM failure is kind of a common problem with Dakota's. Sometimes when one function fails there are other problems with the CTM not too far in the future. If you buy a new CTM from the Dodge dealer or anywhere else be sure to give them your VIN and be sure they use the VIN to order the correct CTM for your truck. You could also try a CTM out of a bone yard but the donor truck has to have or had the exact same options as your truck does. Buying electrical parts from a bone yard can be good or bad depending on if they offer any exchange if their part is bad or not the correct one you need. There are different CTM part numbers, one is for the "high line" trucks with all the factory installed power options, and then there is the lower line for trucks without the power options.

One other option you can try is to open the CTM up and see if you have any corrosion on the circuit board or other bad connections. If you have green fungus in the CTM you can mix baking soda with water and use a brush to clean it up, or try some spray electrical contact cleaner and see if you can get it cleaned up and working again. Here is a good thread about CTM failure and DIY solutions. Check out post #8.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...knowledge.html

Jimmy

 

I pulled the CTM and checked it out. The circuit board was very clean and no corrosion. I hit it with some cleaner just to be sure. The way it looked, I'm thinking that it was replaced at some point. I put everything back the way it was. I checked lights, windshield, Horn, Everything still worked. Now I'm thinking about adding an aftermarket unit for the remote locks. What I have is a AUDIOVOX Model AA-925 that I had for another project.
It's new, so it should still work. It gives me the wires colors in the schematic I'm supposed to use for the lock, unlock part. The kit has a lot more features that I don't think I'm going to hook up. MY question is what wires do I connect this thing to, and what do I disconnect from the CTM if anything?
Dave

 

You can connect to constant and ignition 12 volts at the ignition switch harness. Ground the unit to clean bare metal under an existing nut or screw in the kick panel. If you do a parking light flash use the negative parking light wire at the ctm. Do NOT use the positive parking light wire at the ctm, doing so will burn out the parking light driver in the ctm.

Your door locks are a one wire multiplex system. You must use relays wired for negative ground outputs and connect them to resistors. It takes one value for lock and a different value for unlock. If your Audiovox unit has built-in relays you can probably get by without external relays but you still must use resistors for the door lock interface. Here is a link to the complete wiring for an alarm in your truck. There are others available online but as far as I can tell this one is correct.

http://www.commandocaralarms.com/wir...akota/605.html

Jimmy

 

This is getting way to complicated for me to do. I guess I'll have keep unlocking it the old fashioned way. Maybe there is another kit I can buy that would be easier? This sounds like one project I have to admit defeat on.