Hello, I am trying to help my father troubleshoot his 1994 dodge ram 1500, 4x4 with a 5.9. It ran fine until a year ago before suddenly it would die out going down the road. He could switch the ignition off for a few seconds and it would crank back up, only to do it again a few miles, or hours later. Roughly a year later, the truck will not start in his garage, with over 5k spent at the local dodge dealership (new parts and labor.) The CPS, Distributor, coolant sensor, TPS, transmission solenoid, fuel pump, fuel pump replay and a few more parts I cannot think if were replaced. The dealership also tested the PCM and stated it was good. The dodge dealership service manager said his tech don't know what else to try and bringing it back would be a waster of more money. I have read through a couple post here but the ones I found seemed to talk about replacing the parts he already did. Any help and guidance on getting this truck back running for him would be greatly appreciated..Thanks

 

Need to see what's missing fuel or spark

 

Try the easy stuff first since it has been sitting so long. I would start by trying to jump start it with another vehicle. When I acquired my '99 1500 RAM it would almost never start, and when it did I would have to keep my foot on the throttle to keep the engine running. I jumped it and was able to get the engine to run like normal with the other car hooked up. Just had to replace the battery at that point and the truck was back on the road.

 

The truck actually stopped working 3 months ago. He drove it about 30 miles home from the dealership and parked it. He went out the next day and it would not start. He called the dealership and that is when the service manager told him they did everything they know to do. I am starting to question the dealership's tech troubleshooting skills. When I called him to inquire about what it could he said he wasn't sure that he just replaced parts because nothing showed up on the diagnostic computer. Any help where to start or what to look for in troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated.

 

Likely that truck is older than the flat rate "techs" at the dealer. They rely on a computer to tell them what's wrong and an old OBD1 truck doesn't volunteer much information. So they just unloaded the parts cannon. You might have more luck at an independent shop with grizzled old guys working there. Or somebody who specializes in diagnostics.

As Moparfanatic wrote, check the basics first: Does it have spark ? Does the fuel pump run ? Does it start with starting fluid ? After that dig into electricals: Check that the ASD and fuel pump relay get activated by the PCM and properly switch power on and off.

 

That is my thought as well about the dealership tech. Unfortunately my father is 86 years old, lives in a small community, so there are no independent repair shops close by. I'm stationed a little over an hour away from him, so I am planning to drive down there this weekend since it will a 4 day weekend (providing the base commander approves it) to troubleshoot it and hopefully try to get it running.
As far as what's missing, when your first turn the ignition on, you hear the fuel pump, so I am guessing it is missing the spark. Just curious, is there a way I can tell if parts like the CPS or the PCM is good? Once again,
I appreciate everyone's help and input. My father health is failing and trying to get the truck back running so he can drive it again before he passes.

 

Pick up some test tools on your way. You can generally rent them from major chain parts stores. Noid lights would be good, (test for injector pulse) fuel pressure gauge. Code scanner if you can lay your hands on one, that they will let you keep for a few days..... Check and see what's missing. Gotta be fuel, or spark. Go from there.

 

94 is OBD1 I don't know parts stores even have scanners for that anymore. Or know where to connect it. It would be sure nice to have one though.

 

Don't assume you have fuel because the fuel pump primes

 

You don't need a scanner to read codes. You didn't say if the check engine light is on or not.
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