Crank Position Sensor on its way out?
#11
02-03-2017, 06:23 PM
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My 96 5.9L is also stalling intermittently, fortunately it is getting worse and vehicle is home in my garage. The engine will idle for about 15 minutes and then shut off. Engine will restart after sitting for awhile. I don't have a scan tool, but was able to make some basic test. When engine stalls, I have no injector pulse and the ignition coil is not being grounded by PCM. I am going to install a crank sensor and see if that solves the problem. (125k on truck) Due to the intermittent nature of problem, it is hard to completely check, because sometimes it restarts while checking. I don't think cam position sensor will cause no start, but poor running due to injector timing. If not crank sensor, I will probably have to replace the PCM, but will due some more checks before I do.
#12
02-03-2017, 07:46 PM
I don't have a scan tool,
http://dodgeram.info/Engine-Gas/OBDI/pcm_fault_code.htm
You can check the coil resistance between the terminals to see if it's within spec. If it's not time to replace it. The specs are in the service manual but don't have them handy. Not sure about the msd coils but had a similar problem with a accel one. Lasted for about two years then left me stranded.
#13
02-03-2017, 08:02 PM
2 park fix:
O2 sensor issue:
So first of all, I fixed the o2 sensor and its been running great after that, just a quick update on that fix.
Truck dying suddenly issue:
Well you were right about that. Drove truck for a couple of days with no issues. Then boom, Wednesday morning I fired the truck up, let it warm up, drove about 10 miles and i'm doing 75 on the interstate and it first studdered and then shut off completely. Same issue I have been having.
So i bought a bluetooth code reader and i had torque running at the time. it read the P0351 code.
I did some research on that and had a look at loose connections TO the coil. I found 2 things.
1. No loose connections, wiggled everything and couldn't get the engine to spudder or shut off.
2. I found I was dumb and put dialectric grease all the way up in the new spark plug sockets all over the metal and not just around the boot.
So i found grease on the tip of spark plug and figured hey maybe that's my connection problem. So far that is not the case. I cleaned the grease off tip of plug and inside the boot. I also messed around with the coil and PCM connectors and harness. Nothing made the truck miss or die. Dang thing is running like a champ right now. It's very intermittent.
I find it funny however each time the truck dies on me, I go wiggle and knock on the coil and it fires right up again. But not until I do those things when this happens. Maybe its been sitting just long enough things start working again.
So this time it fired back up, I drove home, no issues again since.
Last time this happened I could get it to start, then it would die again, then I would get it to start and it would die again.
Without it going all the way out and stay that way I am finding it very hard to troubleshoot when I get home to grab the multi meter. Maybe I can carry it with me when it happens but doing this safely on the side of the road may be difficult.
Suggestions?
O2 sensor issue:
So first of all, I fixed the o2 sensor and its been running great after that, just a quick update on that fix.
Truck dying suddenly issue:
Well you were right about that. Drove truck for a couple of days with no issues. Then boom, Wednesday morning I fired the truck up, let it warm up, drove about 10 miles and i'm doing 75 on the interstate and it first studdered and then shut off completely. Same issue I have been having.
So i bought a bluetooth code reader and i had torque running at the time. it read the P0351 code.
I did some research on that and had a look at loose connections TO the coil. I found 2 things.
1. No loose connections, wiggled everything and couldn't get the engine to spudder or shut off.
2. I found I was dumb and put dialectric grease all the way up in the new spark plug sockets all over the metal and not just around the boot.
So i found grease on the tip of spark plug and figured hey maybe that's my connection problem. So far that is not the case. I cleaned the grease off tip of plug and inside the boot. I also messed around with the coil and PCM connectors and harness. Nothing made the truck miss or die. Dang thing is running like a champ right now. It's very intermittent.
I find it funny however each time the truck dies on me, I go wiggle and knock on the coil and it fires right up again. But not until I do those things when this happens. Maybe its been sitting just long enough things start working again.
So this time it fired back up, I drove home, no issues again since.
Last time this happened I could get it to start, then it would die again, then I would get it to start and it would die again.
Without it going all the way out and stay that way I am finding it very hard to troubleshoot when I get home to grab the multi meter. Maybe I can carry it with me when it happens but doing this safely on the side of the road may be difficult.
Suggestions?
)
#14
02-04-2017, 12:14 AM
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My 96 Ram (8800 GVW, manufacture date 2/96) is supposed to be OBDII, it has OBDII connector under the dash. The link above appears to show OBD1 codes for 96 trucks, and the key trick appears to show 2 digit OBD1 codes. I am confused, will a scan tool show OBD1 or OBD2 codes. I know everything 96 and newer is supposed to be OBD2 compliant, does GVW have anything to do with it.
#16
02-04-2017, 01:15 AM
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I always forget that I have access to the 1996 factory service manual because of the efforts of some members of this forum, Thank you. After reading the manual under Emissions, it makes sense to me now. Reading codes from the check engine light (MIL) gives basic two digit codes (similar to OBD1) and using a scan tool gives you the more specific OBD2 generic codes (letter and 3 digits, P301 for example). I have been out of the mechanic trade for quite awhile and a little rusty on computer systems.
#17
02-04-2017, 01:22 AM
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#18
02-04-2017, 09:47 AM
Cam sensor can most certainly cause a no-start. PCM uses the cam sensor to determine which injector to fire. (sequential fuel injection) If the PCM doesn't get a signal, it doesn't have a clue which cylinder to give fuel, so, it defaults to "none of them". You should still see spark though, even if you aren't getting fuel.
Trouble is, both sensors are just hall effect switches... they have so many different possible failure modes, makes it REALLY difficult to tell which one is the actual problem.
Best bet would be, wait for it to fail, then see what's missing, spark, or fuel. If you aren't getting either, might be as easy as swapping out the ASD relay. (supplies power to coil, and injectors.)
Trouble is, both sensors are just hall effect switches... they have so many different possible failure modes, makes it REALLY difficult to tell which one is the actual problem.
Best bet would be, wait for it to fail, then see what's missing, spark, or fuel. If you aren't getting either, might be as easy as swapping out the ASD relay. (supplies power to coil, and injectors.)
#19
02-06-2017, 12:57 PM
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Location: Texas
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Unfortunately I don't have any new pictures for this, cuz we all like pictures.... But I do have an update.
I went through all the wiring and connector to coil. Only thing I found so far was an open wire to the connector from the harness. One of the wires had a small hole where the wire insulation was cut or burned or whatever. IT was tiny though and the wires inside were not cut or damaged. I simpy taped it all back up.
Other than that, and wiggling the connector, harness, and pcm wires for 10 minutes, and removing the dialectric grease from direct contact on the coil and plug boot(metal connector, i left a seal around the bottom part of boot), I haven't really done anything else.
I have been driving longer distances and not had one single problem yet. I am still leery that its not fixed. Only thing I can think of is there is a bad connection in the coil connector or wires and messing around with them has sorta fixed it... But I will continue to update this thread if it continues to fault.
I went through all the wiring and connector to coil. Only thing I found so far was an open wire to the connector from the harness. One of the wires had a small hole where the wire insulation was cut or burned or whatever. IT was tiny though and the wires inside were not cut or damaged. I simpy taped it all back up.
Other than that, and wiggling the connector, harness, and pcm wires for 10 minutes, and removing the dialectric grease from direct contact on the coil and plug boot(metal connector, i left a seal around the bottom part of boot), I haven't really done anything else.
I have been driving longer distances and not had one single problem yet. I am still leery that its not fixed. Only thing I can think of is there is a bad connection in the coil connector or wires and messing around with them has sorta fixed it... But I will continue to update this thread if it continues to fault.
#20
02-17-2017, 02:30 PM
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Well, its been weeks now and i have only had 2 episodes of the truck shutting off. This thing is simply terrible to troubleshoot. But the good news(I hope) is it just happened to me in the driveway the other day. Bad news was I didn't have time to put the meter on everything... Wiggled pigtail on coil and she fired right up.
However, I had searched the interwebs and found a couple of other folks were having same issue and their issue was the pigtail on the bottom of the coil was "wore out". One guy actually put small pieces of metal in the 2 holes to make the connection tighter. Another guy replaced the whole pigtail.
Since mine happens so randomly, and I know that I can get it running by wiggling that connector and wires, I am going to find a replacement pigtail to start. I don't want to start throwing money at parts when they aren't bad. And unfortunately I am not the original owner so I don't know those parts history on this truck.
Anybody reading this happen to know best place to get that replacement pigtail? Found one on summitracing but its kinda expensive plus shipping would suck.
.
However, I had searched the interwebs and found a couple of other folks were having same issue and their issue was the pigtail on the bottom of the coil was "wore out". One guy actually put small pieces of metal in the 2 holes to make the connection tighter. Another guy replaced the whole pigtail.
Since mine happens so randomly, and I know that I can get it running by wiggling that connector and wires, I am going to find a replacement pigtail to start. I don't want to start throwing money at parts when they aren't bad. And unfortunately I am not the original owner so I don't know those parts history on this truck.
Anybody reading this happen to know best place to get that replacement pigtail? Found one on summitracing but its kinda expensive plus shipping would suck.
.