Hey gurus

I was out with my 2003 Ram 1500 5.9L and hit a snowbank on the road in zero visibility. I hit it hard enough that it cracked the air dam on the passenger side. I stopped and popped the hood and there was some snow on everything in the engine compartment but nothing extreme. I brushed some off and continued on my way.

I got about 15 miles down the road and the pickup just died--no warning lights, nothing. It would crank over but wouldn't fire. I got pulled into town, put into heated shop and its thawing out. Its been in for about 2 hours now. Friend came and opened distributor, sprayed wd40 and then used air compressor on it. I pulled the air filter out and it was somewhat iced up but no snow in the box.

I'm sure its somewhat flooded from cranking on it but its not firing. I'm going to leave it inside over night but wanted to see if you guys had any ideas or fixes from similar instances.

Also any help on taking the rest of the air dam off? Is there clips or bolts on these--i haven't crawled underneath it yet.

 

Check all the wiring going to the coil. Check all grounding straps. Check relays and fuses.
My thoughts are that it is coil related fwiw. It could have melted some snow and infiltrated the circuitry. If so, either a relay/fuse would blow, or the coil gives up the ghost.

 

by the way... I'm in the same boat as you w/ a magnum in a third gen.. I find a ton of help as far as the engine and drivetrain are concerned over in the second gen board.. those fellas would have been on this like white on rice if you had asked it there...

 

Agreed. Not many 5.9 guys over here as there are the new engine guys.

But all in all, you need to verify spark and fuel and go from there.

 

Let it sit in overnight and found that there is no spark. I have a coil and pickup assembly (under the cap/rotor) on order so hopefully I'll be back on the road next week.

 

Good trouble shooting. Let us know how it goes.