sometimes when I start my truck up (2008 dodge ram 5.7L) every gear selection in the dash has a square around it (selected) and they all stay selected until I put it in "D". Do anyone know what the heck is going on??

 

I saw that in my '05 Chrysler mini-van... it ended up being the BCM (body control module) going out. Of course, it wouldn't start, the radio didn't work, etc. So hopefully that's not your issue.

joe

 

I know the gear shift indicator for the dash is actually in the trans. So maybe that is going out???

 

hynes,
did you ever find a resolution to your issue? I have the same issue of all gears being selected on the dash, but my truck won't turn over. Wondering if you figured it out. Thanks.

 

Nope .. It happened to my truck that one day and that was it . I did find my battery to have a couple dead cells. so I dunno if the computer lost battery power somewhere along the way or something. but I replaced it and never had a issue since.

 

Funny because my 2008 Battery had a few dead cells as well w/only 9kmi. I was having querky electrical issue's until it was replaced. There's what's called a "twisted pair" of wires that is most of the trucks wiring. This means that there are no frame grounds but rather negative polarity to cancel out unwanted signals. When you have a weak battery and a few dead cells, the polarity can actually reverse and cause electrical gremlins such as you had.

 

Not to totally revive this thread but I'm having this exact issue. Previously I would get the all gears selected on start extremely rarely. Just today it's doing it nearly every time and doesn't wanna start 90% of the time (sometimes I get lucky)

When I turn the key the starter solenoid clicks once and stops and doesn't crank. The dash shows all the gears selected. As a note I had my starter replaced less than a year ago so it's pretty new. Has anyone figured this one out?

I think i'm going to try a new battery after work just to see how that turns out.

 

Well I still haven't resolved mine (haven't had time to work on it, but I think mine is a grounding issue as I have just installed a new engine). In my experience, the clicking sound your getting is because of a dead/low battery. I've had that same sound on many different cars whenever I had a dead battery. Maybe try jump starting it from another car......if it starts right away I'd say the battery is your issue.

 

Also maybe check the connections to your battery, one of them may be loose/corroded.

 

Disconnect battery, disconnect transmission 23-way connector (drivers side next to linkage) then spray it out with "wire-dry" or similar electrical contact spray.. wait a few minutes, then reconnect everything and then tsee if it fixes it. I had the same problem after removing the valve body from the trans, the connector was dirty and not connected properly, the truck would not start and had all the in dash gears selected with the squares around it... it might work, might not, but it only takes a few minutes to try...