98 ram 1500 5.2 died the other day. was running great. just painted it and all excited to start putting items back on truck. no spark at coil, not fuel at rail, and strangtey enough, no instruments work but the lights comew on and off. it turns over, new battery, checked relays, etc.

I've been reading it could be the crank position sensor but would that cause the instruments needles not to move?

 

check into the ASD (automatic shutdown) system. fuse, relay, etc.

 

switched the asd with the horn relay and still no luck. been reading alot today to try and figure out what the heck is going on. I actually have been reading many posts that you have replied to but to no avail.

 

is it possible that the crank position sensor can disengage the instruments?

 

i wouldn't think so.
when you first turn the ignition to on, prior to start, can you hear the whine of the fuel pump starting up. if not, then i'm thinking something is locking out the fuel pump.

 

you wouldn't happen to have "no bus" in the odometer display would you ?

 

no, it still shows milaege, but isn't there a way to read codes from there by turning key to on three times and on the third its shows up?

 

^ yes, turn ignition key to
on - off - on - off - on
at about 1-2 second intervals.
odometer will display any codes, then end with done.

you can also perform a gauge test.
while holding trip reset in, turn ignition to ON and continue to hold in trip meter until it says CHEK, then watch the cluster. it will light up each light, and then sweep each gauge to about 1/4, 1/2, then full.

 

Disconnect the Crank position Sensor and turn key to on but do not try to start engine. Check your instruments and see if they are back to normal. If yes the CPS is probably bad. If no change you need to keep looking. Check the CPS to see if it checks ok. Disconnecting and reconnecting may clean the contacts.

 

did guage test. codes 920, 921, 999. i don't know what those mean but am looking. also after trying to start abs light comes on then off, i don't know if that has something to do with anything