ok heres what happened. I bought a non-mopar crank position sensor. replaced it today and voila: my bad luck is still following me. No difference.

Yes dhvaughan all i did was the tranny, I didn't touch any engine components. the truck ran for a short while (10 minutes) after I put the tranny back in.

With i had known not to unplug sensors with ignition on... hopefully that didn't ruin the pcm if it was ok before.

I will check those grounds, but if thats not it, does everything point to the PCM as being bad???? Thanks

 

??
an idea, is it possible to take my computer off, bring it to a shop or dealer and have them diagnose it to see if it's bad?

 

nope the majority of the dealers and shops cant diagnose the computer unless its attached to the vehicle..id recommend a junk yard computer to see if it solves your problem if your leaning towards that..

 

ok i won't bother taking it in then.
I am leaning towards the computer being the problem but I want to be sure that i've eliminated all posibilities before I go that route

 

Alright heres where I'm at. haven't had much time to work on it due to college. Now, a friend suggested that it could be the ignition pick-up in the distributor. would that give these symptoms?
obviously it would provide the no-spark condition, due to the rpm signal not reaching the computer, but would it cause interference with the computer communicating with my OBD port? I still get the error on the code reader when it can't connect.

I suppose since it's a cheaper part I'll just replace it and see what happens...

 

Next update:
replaced the ignition pick-up coil. This fixed the computer problem but not the no-start problem. I can now connect my code reader to the computer, but it will still crank and not start... any ideas now?

 

Just throwing it out there - did you check the fuses, namely the engine control fuse?

 

yes fuses are good
and relays

 

It is possible your aftermarket CKPS is is pissing off the ECM...... Are you getting spark while cranking yet?

 

I didn't have time to check on the actual spark when I was home. It doesn't sound like it, the fuel pump does run and the engine cranks but does not start.
Wouldn't that throw a code though if it was? I am not getting any codes for that...
cap and rotor are basically new. not sure what else it could be