Here's the rundown.
1996 Dodge ram 5.2 auto 2wd.
Swapped in a low mileage motor.
Asd relay won't close circuit to allow truck to start. If I take cover off the relay and close it by hand the truck starts fine.
Cleaned all the grounds, replaced bad ground terminals etc. Still no change.

Next issue, my truck didn't have a wire that went from the b+ on the alt to the battery like my Dakota did, so I made one with a cheap connector hooked to the battery terminal and the first start up it literally melted the terminal off.
I was comparing wiringg off my neighbors 99 ram sport with the same everything. But his wiring seems a bit different than mine. I know alot of 96 stuff is 96-97 only.
There's a black wire with a terminal on the end, approx 8 guage and 6-8 inches long that I hooked to ground, but I'm thinking that's supposed to go to the b+, but I can't seem to find where it come out of the harness to hook to the battery to charge it....
After cleaning the terminals and the grounds, the next startup blew the 120a gen fusible link in the pdc, but that's with the wire from b+ to battery unhooked.
I'm a great mechanic but I am in no way an electrician. Need some help.

 

Get a service manual for your truck from here. Wiring diagrams are in section 8w.

Check the wire that grounds the ASD relay, (from the relay, to the PCM.) Verify it's good.

Does the fuel pump run when you first turn the key on?

Wire from alternator actually goes to the PDC......

 

so that wire I've got bolted to the accessories bracket should be the b+ and the wire I made to go to the battery should be deleted....?

And yes fuel pump runs, just no power to the coil unless I manually close the relay..
Guessing 120a gen fuse blew due to the b+ sending current through the ground connection

 

That wire is supposed to go to ground, the big black one from the alternator connector I questioned that when I hooked up mine and realized there is no way it’s the generator main power wire

the black connector that hooks to the field coils in the alternator, you will notice a ground wire that goes toward the ac compressor it’s a case ground, so is the tab on the passenger side, Chrysler deemed it necessary to ground the alternator case to the accessories bracket due to a bad grounding on the two alternator mounting bolts,

i ran the main power wire from the alternator to the power distribution center

heyyou is right, pcm grounds the asd relay and power is supplied to relay from a fuse in the pdc

if asd relay is not functioning properly then it should throw a code

viperdave

 

I also noticed you didn’t reinstall the bracket that goes from the alternator bracket to the intake

you have a BR truck, it should be a flat bracket with a small stud to mount the plastic throttle body air intake

some models have a steel rod with eyelets on it like the Dakota or dodge van, some will mount the bracket to alternator bracket using a stud with another nut to mount ground wire from alternator

this bracket is necessary!! There is another triangle bracket that mounts to the two back bolts on the Ac compressor and the intake manifold. You have that one installed

chrysler engineers found that they needed both those steel brackets to damp harmonic vibrations from the big aluminum accessory bracket , without them, over time, the accessories bracket will crack

make sure you you find it and install it , it will save you lots of headaches in the future


viperdave

 

Yeah bracket just went on got that taken care of already. Wiring to the battery, pdc and alt is taken care of. Only issue I've found is the ASD relay but I've got that at least temporarily fixed sit it will start and shut off like it supposed to. I'm guessing one of the grounds for the relay isn't any good. I splices in a ground directly to the negative battery cable and wedged it into the terminal with the relay and now the relay works like it's supposed to

 

Not a good thing to do but you bypassed the problem and know where to start looking , that ground wire to the relay is controlled by the PCM , need to look in the wiring diagram and find out where it goes and what it goes through to get to the PCM. Then find the pin on the PCM and check to see if the wire is broken somewhere in between with an ohm meter

another question, do you have a skim key for theft deterrent?? A chip in the key that’s programmed to your truck?

just a thought, it may not be working, but I’m not sure if it shuts off ASD controll or fuel pump. I know almost everything for a 95 truck but they changed a lot from 95 to 96. And if you had a Chrysler scan tool you could actuate the ASD relay controll and see if it works really easy, I have access to one but not everybody does



viperdave

 

Just re read your post, no it’s not working like it’s supposed to

you bypassed PCM controll for engine management

the relay lis shutting off because when you shut off the car with the key, you are killing the positive feed to the relay.


Need to find out why the PCM ground is not shutting off the relay


viperdave

 

Sounds Like yo need a schematic? Hope you can read them..Go here! http://www.bbbind.com/tsb-wiring-diagrams-database Good Luck!

 

The way I've got it set up right now is just fine. I basically just put in a new ground wire. Yes I need to check the original wire that goes from the pcm to the relay, there's a break in it somewhere. But with the way I've got it right now it works exactly like it supposed to. When u turn the key on the relay closes and allows the truck to start and run. When you turn the key off it opens like it's supposed to and stops power to the coil. Engine is finished for now. Exhaust is done. All I have left before the initial test drive is to install the driveshaft and put a new diff cover gasket and fresh gear lube. I'll get some pics up in the next day or two