Hi, I've been trouble shooting my mothers 2002 dakotas no crank no start.

So far here is what I've found. Starter fuse 10amp inside the cab blows the second you turn the key to crank.

I've disconnected the s wire from the starter, re installed new fuse, still blows.
Disconnected the continuous supply feed from the starter, still blows the fuse.
Checked the relay with a multimeter and also swapped with a known good one.
Swapped the ignition lock cylinder, still the same issue with blown fuse.

I ran a continuity test on all wires from the starter to the fuse center under the hood, all wires checked out good.

Any advice on where I should look next?

Thanks for your time

 

Replace the fuse, and pull the relay. Turn key to start. Does the fuse blow? If it does, then its in the switched circuit to the relay. If it doesn't, then it is like in the circuit after the relay.

The wires may have continuity from point to point, but, do they also have continuity to ground? ( some of them actually should.... so, having a wiring diagram is gonna be handy.)

 

Thanks for the tip, just tried it with the relay pulled out and it blew another fuse.

Can you explain how to check continuity between the wires and the grounds? I removed the continuous power feed to the starter also, so I think I've narrowed it down to wiring, not the starter itself.

Thanks again for your input

 

The fat cable to the starter should remain connected. You really don't want that grounding out somewhere.... That would be exciting.

Got a volt/ohm meter? Plug one lead into the wire you want to test, (at a convenient connector) set the range to 200 ohms, or so, (or, continuity, if your meter has that feature) and then put the other lead on pretty much anything metal on the body. If you get zero/low resistance, that's a short to ground. (which will suck a fuse right quick.) Of course, some of your wires are SUPPOSED to be grounds, so, wiring diagram is most certainly in order here, to see just which wires you want to test.

 

curious to see how this turns out

 

You should go watch this guy trace wiring problems.


South Main Auto Repair
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtA...PBhzTHA/videos

Or one of these guys they both are good at finding problems.


New Level Auto
https://www.youtube.com/user/ONBOARDTECH333KMD/videos

Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics
https://www.youtube.com/user/motoYam82/videos

 

This one he traces a bad module and wires.

 

In this one he traces down a broken wire he shows how he uses wiring diagrams to find possible breaks.