My son has a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. Yesterday he was leaving for work and the truck wouldn’t start. We assumed battery. After work they removed the batteries to take to test. No charge so they weren’t able to read. Put on trickle charge at home and they “charged” pretty quickly. So they put one back on and when they tried to start the truck, it tried to turn over, popped then died along with all electronics.


So they took them up to read and they were both bad. Purchased 2 new batteries and installed. Started the truck- it still didn’t turn over but there was a no bus warning. ABS stays on and after a second another warning comes on.

tried to run a system test on it but it couldn’t read.

Ive read several old threads about PCM/ECM and connections etc. totally a possibility it’s that or the pcm is bad.

i also read about water getting into the door causing it, but can’t find that thread. He did have a door leak this week.

Any thoughts on what else to test before he tows it again? (Just came out of shop)

 

Will the engine crank at all?

 

"no bus" means the cluster didn't receive any messages from the PCM. This *could* be a PCM problem however the fact that the truck is not cranking makes me think it's not. In these old trucks the PCM is not involved in getting the engine to crank (modern vehicles is a very different story...). Look at the basics, power and ground circuits, corrosion at connections etc.. You already have two new batteries but having the old ones die from day to another is very unlikely. That might be a red herring, they might have just not charged because of basic wiring issues.

 

Turn over is cranking.
Start is run.
So did it start/run or just crank?
Did you happen to clean the battery terminals so it gets a good connection?
With a scanner or the dash test?

 

No the engine won’t crank at all. Which was the original issue. We thought maybe the alternator. Then after the new batteries we have the warning.

After reading other threads I suggested checking his connections, cleaning any corrosion, etc. Will emphasize that. Can’t hurt to start there!

 

With a scanner or the dash test?[/QUOTE]

I believe he used a scanner. I’ll remind him of the dash test.

 

Just clarified- engine will crank- won’t start

 

Verify the PCM is getting power......