I have a 2001 Ram 1500 with a 5.9. When I try to start it, it turns over fine. The gauges never come alive but all of the lights on the cluster come on. In the odometer area, it flashes "NO BUS". Anyone seen this?

 

I just had the same thing on my Ram 1500 4x4 SLT Quad cab. Its a 2004. After reading alot of forums on this, it could be a few things...most common is water in your ABS case, or a bad PCM.

I had the water in the ABS. Dealer charged me $170 to fix / grease the box...now all gauges work well. Instrument clusters can go bad as well, but I'd start with the ABS, then check the boxes on the passenger side firewall (under hood) and make sure they're securely attached.

 

that no bus happens when you use a programer through the ODBII port under the dash... defenatly either a PCM problem or liek the fella said above an abs problem..but thats the first ive heard of that cuasing it...

 

Thanks for the info...I just had the No Bus show in my odometer this morning. Then the ABS, MIL and Air bag lights stay on, as well as no gauges working...hoping it won't cost to much.

 

I have had this problem on my 2001 V6 several times and always came and went but always ran fine, just the gauges where all dead. I would always restart and it would go away or disconnect connectors to the ECU and clean all the grounds under the hood and it would go away. Well this time it would not go away and so I did the usual stuff and still had the problem. Finally found this time it was the electrical connector called Engine Inline in the fuse box under the hood, it has a philips head bolt in the center of it. Just disconnected and reconnected and the gauges all work now.
Charles
2001 Ram 1500 V6

 

had the same problem. unscrewed the engine inline, and fixed it in less than 5 minutes. thanks for the help.

 

Nothing better than a 5 minute, zero dollar repair! I'll bet many computers and instrument circuit boards are replaced that are just fine, many times it is just a bad connection causing problems with modern cars and trucks. Never hurts to rout around yourself with the negative to the battery disconnected.

 

OK so here's a new one. I just bought a 2000 dodge ram 1500 5.9. The truck will start but I have to have the obd2 reader plugged in. If running and I unplug the obd2 reader truck dies. If I try to start it without the obd2 reader it cranks but doesn't turn over. No bus shows in odometer window. Then if I plug in the obd2 reader then the fuel pump kicks in. Any help here?