Hello I am new to the Dodge Forum. My name is Bill and I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 2wd with an auto tranny. A few days ago I was driving and my check gauges light came on I lookat my gauges andmy oil pressure had dropped but then it went back to normal again and my light went off.The gaugehad messed up before a couple of years back so I disreguarded it. Well then about 5 miles down the road driving at 55mph nocheck lightscame on and my truck just shut down, steering wheel went stiff and I had to pull over on the side of the road. I towed it home and i've been tryin to figure out what's wrong. I've replaced the battery, camshaft sensor, crankshaft position sensor, coil, spark plugs & wires, distributor cap and rotary button. I'm completly confused i've never had problems with this truck before. I had a mechanic come look at it and he said I had fuel pressure and spark he said that my STEEL timing chain broke. He was shady and he didn't pull the timing chain cover off and also I have a hard time beliveing that a steel chain broke. Because my truck was driving fine, smooth and all. It drove completly fine it was not riding rough or anything. When it shut off there was no noise and it wasn't riding roughso I don't think it was timing related. I checked my ASD relay. My Hayne's book said that the resistance would be approxamitly 75 ohms it came up with 74.5 ohms so I don't know if that small of a difference will make a difference. I'm thinking maybe my EGR or Map sensor could be bad. As this is my only transportation i'd appreciate any help and advice. Thank you so much for any help.

 

Does it crank?

Also put your key in the ignition and turn your key as follows off-on-off-on-off-on rather quickly and watch your mileage gauge for a "P XXXX" numbers will come up that threw the engine code. Hopefully at least. Might make it easier to diagnose.

oh crap.. just saw you replaced the battery. Give it a shot anyway. bring back the P numbers it gives or if there are none.. then it will display P Done

 

O yea I forgot to mention that it won't crank. The engine will turn over but won't crank. I was told that if it turns over faster than normal then my timing jumped but it turns over the same it just won't crank.

 

<(oh crap.. just saw you replaced the battery. Give it a shot anyway. bring back the P numbers it gives or if there are none.. then it will display P Done)> Sorry I don't understand?

 

You prb mean that in reverse. It will crank but wont turn over.

Ok, for the P number thing. Go out to your truck. Put your key into your ignition. turn it 2 clicks to the "on" position. 3 clicks is "start" position which we do not want. You will put your key in.. turn 2 clicks forward, 2 clicks back etc. from off postion, to on position, off position, on position, off position, on position and watch your mileage gauge. If you did it right, it will display a "P xxxx" hopefully there will be numbers to help us better point out the problem, but because you swap'd the battery... the computer may not have stored the codes anymore. All you need to do is post the "xxxx" numbers and that will point us in the right direction. I will personally stay up till a good portion of the morn if necessary. its 12:32 now so lets see what the key thing turns up. You may need to attempt to do it a few times to get it right. just remember off on off on off on . thats 3 times and leave it at on, on the 3rd try. if there is a p number or multiple numbers.. it will display them consecutively. write them down and post them up. When all of the numbers have been read, or if there are no numbers. you will get a "P Done" that will show up on the screen.

 

Ok thanks very much for being willing to stay up so late and also for the help but i'm away from home tonight but first thing in the morning I will do it and post the numbers if any up. I really appreciate the help check back tommorrow please and i'll have what happened posted up.

 

Sounds good

 

This just happened to my truck, no warning or anything either (although I wasn't driving it at the time).
Just take the distributor cap off and as a friend cranks the engine (only takes like 1 second), watch the rotor to see if it rotates. If the rotor doesn't rotate, than you can remove the distributor (altough gettin the hold-down clamp off can be a little erritating) and make sure the distribuor drive is (or isn't) working properly. If it isn't, its the timing chain.

 

I had the same "instant death" problem driving down the Highway once when my rotor popped off the distributor shaft and shorted out in the cap. A chain that breaks would also cause that same symptom because the rotor would instantly stop turning.

+1 on checking the timing chain.

 

I tried the code thing. It came up with P Done, so it erasedthe codes if there were any. I unplugged my map sensor just to see if it would crank. But nothing! I still need help please. Any input is appreciated.