I have a 96 Ram 1500 that was running and just died. Have never had any issues with it but now it won't start. Has been hooked to computer with no error messages. Fuel pressure is 48 and I have replaced cap, rotor and pickup coil. I have spark at the coil but none to the plugs. It has been 4 weeks since it has ran. Pulling my hair out here. Thank you in advance for any help on this matter.

 

Have you replaced the spark plug wires?

 

closely inspect your grounds... your coil's in love with it's ground to the point it's worthless without it.

 

I would take a long hard look at the wires there. Also, pickup coil (in the dist) has nothing to do with ignition timing on these trucks. It is for injector timing. Crank sensor does ignition. (yeah, you know, the one that is hardest to find, and actually lay a hand/tool on?)

 

Drew's on to something. I had splice a new pigtail on my coil because it would cut out anytime I'd hit a bump. Also, check your wires.

 

I had a coil go bad and it had spark at the coil but not at the plugs.

 

Speaking of bad coils, to the OP, is yours a stock coil or an aftermarket piece? My MSD POS coil lasted 3 months before it went belly up. Check your coil with a multimeter.

 

I have not replaced wires because I figured if a couple were bad it would still run. It may run like crap but should still run. I have not replaced coil or checked grounds. As far as I know everything is all original @ 212k miles.
I will check coil, wires and grounds and let you know what I come up with . Thanks everybody.

 

Coils typically go bad without any warning at all. And if you have gotton 212K Mi on the original coil and wires, good for you man! I think it is time to check the resistence of the coil and check continuity on the wires. Good Luck

 

I know this is an old thread, but what I have to say will surely benefit many of you... and believe me guys, if you are here, you are going to want to read what I have to say here, in it's entirety.

Ok... Here's my story/synopsis... 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with the 5.2L (318cid) V-8 engine. 138,000 miles on the odometer. Wouldn't start - no spark. Had an intermittent issue since winter with it not running sometimes, which seemed to be both temperature and humidity dependent.

With that said, the truck received a full tune-up with a complete ACCEL kit. Cap, rotor, wires (8mm silicone wires with Ceramic boots, no less!) I even replaced the "pickup coil" (as many call it) also known as the camshaft position sensor that is located under the rotor in the distributor. The truck still would not fire and run.

After removing the ignition coil (located on the passenger's side cylinder head, at the front of the engine), I discovered that not only was it a gigantic pile of rust, but the bottom of the coil was actually split open and cracked. MINGA!!!

That said, I purchased a new ignition coil, installed it, cranked the engine and voila - she was alive again!

Now beyond that, get this...

Drove the truck for about a week. Came to a stop, truck died. Wouldn't start back up. WTF?!?!?!

Checked for spark a the coil, got lit up! Damn!

Checked for spark at a few different plugs.... NOTHING!

Ok, so one would expect there to be an issue with the damned pickup coil in the distributor - right?!?! Hmmm.... Perhaps, but perhaps not.

Took wires, cap and rotor off. Removed pickup coil and tested with my Fluke multimeter. Tested well. Replaced it anyhow, luckily, under warranty. Installed everything, hit the key and got... NOTHING! ARRGH!!!

Went back to the coil, and now, I wasn't getting any spark at the coil anymore. Wierd.

Removed "new" (week old) coil and tested resistance. Primary resistance values checked out ok, but secondary tested out right on the high limit. Interesting, eh?

Plugged in my OBDII scanner and checked for codes. Found a P0351 (I think, don't hold me to that code, I'm going on my memory from the other day now.) Code is for a failure in the primary or secondary coil circuit. Ah, hah!!!!

Reset the codes, and tried (for ****s and grins) to start the truck. Engine fired right up. Whoa.... weird!!!!

Took the "new" defective coil back and got a replacement.

Installed coil and started engine.

Checked for codes - none found.

Problem solved - HOWEVER...

I've come to realize that not only is the quality control of parts nowadays pretty much non-existent, but beyond that there is one other issue here to deal with that certainly may have factored in to the original "new" replacement coils failure.

The coil is located too close to the passenger's side exhaust manifold. Electrical devices DON'T LIKE HEAT!

Beyond that, I also discovered that the manifold gasket is leaking very close to the coil as well. An insult to injury!

So, with that said... Next on the docket will be a new manifold and gasket (since the bolts and manifold are badly rotted/corroded), along with a custom aluminum heat shield that I will be fabricating to mount between the manifold and the ignition coil. That should prevent the coil failure from happening again anytime soon!

Hope I was of help boys!

P.S. I'm a 20 year veteran mechanic... ;-)