Hello all, im new to this forum as well as basically the whole Ram truck scene. I drove the same 87 Toyota 4runner for 10 years, and due to a growing family I recently purchased a 2002 Ram 1500 4x4 Quad Cab. Other than a few quirks I like the truck. Ive had a few issues, plugged converter, blown heater core, bad thermostat. Most not all that cheap but with 80k i didnt expect a perfect truck. But this next issue really has me worried that i might have bought a lemon. So please read and if U have any suggestions I would appreciate them.

Here it goes,
I got up this morning and it was -10 degrees out, sure enough dead battery. Tried to start and the little red security light on the gauge cluster began to flash when trying to roll the truck over. Called a buddy and a few minutes later and some jumper cables it was running again.
As I walked around the front the disconnect the cables i noticed the headlights were on. I thought to myself well i guess thats why it died, i must have left the headlights on. Opening the drives door I reached in to turn the switch off and it already was in the off position. So i looked a little closer and realized the red security light stayed on but i had no dash lights, none of my gauges were working, no turn signals, no windshield wipers, or even brake lights. I did how ever have heat and the overhead info pod. Pressed for time I drove it to work anyhow. I figured i would pull it into the shop on my break and tinker with it.

I called the local Dodge dealership and the tech there said to just unhook the battery and let the computer reset. I did just that, When i hooked it back up, no change. I repeated it and left it off a little longer this time, and this time it worked..almost. I had all of my lights working properly except my odometer, and my service 4wd system light was on. The numbers on the odometer were all replaced with a series of dashes like this --------. Confused I shut the truck off and restarted it, when it fired back up the red security light was back on and dead dash again. I unhooked the battery once again, left it unhooked for approx. 20 minutes. Came back to it hooked the battery back up and back to normal again, all systems functional except the odometer still looked like ----------. The service 4wd system light was even off.

Frustrated and out of time at work I drove it home like that. Like i said everything worked properly except the odometer. Im confused as hell tho. I am mechanically inclined I work on cars and trucks and heavy equipment at work alot, and while i am not an electrical whiz I know the basics and admitadly have not really checked any as of yet. I thought I would pick some of your brains a bit or see if this is a common problem. I did a search and came up empty. Most people that have an inoperable odometer also have an inoperable speedometer as well, and that is just not the case with me.
If u all have any advice, insight, or tips on where to start checking electrical connections I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.


A few other things you might need to know.
4.7L
Automatic trans
Aftermarket Compustar remote starter without alarm
Cruise Control
The normal power toys,drivers seat,windows,lock etc. etc.
Normal black headed key w/o factory key fob. no factory keyless entry or panic alarm.

Again thank you. If u need any other information just ask i will provide you with the info you need.

 

One quick note about the lights. I've noticed if I turn the truck off, then turn the lights off, the lights do not turn off. Turning the switch on then off again, and they turn off. If I turn the lights off before the truck, they always go out.

Pretty wierd. I wonder if your cluster is going bad or there are loose wires somewhere? Other possibilities are PCM or TIPM (fusebox). There are a few plugs on the back of the cluster, maybe check those connections. It comes out pretty easy.

The little circuit boards on the bottom of the fusebox are known to get corrosion, maybe check those.

If you can find a cheap junkyard PCM, it will take you 5 mins to swap that out to see if helps.

Not sure what else it could be besides those 3 things. Unless there was something fishy with the remote start or something?

 

I missed this part. On second thought, I think the FCM (Front Control Module) controls some of those things. I know there are a few threads about these going bad.

Sorry, maybe someone else will have a better idea.

 

This is normal. I forget what it's called, but it's something like a courtesy light to give you 30 seconds or a minute or so to be able to see where you are going after you get out. Do the lights go out after a minute? If not, then, yeah... you have a problem.

 

If you turn your truck off prior to the light switch, your pre-programmed courtesy lights activate. If you turn your lights off prior to turning off the truck, then they shut off immediately. This is with all 2002+ Rams.

First I would look under your fuse panel in the engine compartement. Lots of guys with corrosion on the underside with the earlier year Rams as it's completely exposed. The corrosion can cause many electrical issue's.
Next thing, a dead battery and weak battery can cause the theft light to illuminate and cause electrical issue's within the Instrument cluster. You might want to have your battery tested. Even though it shows a good charge, you could have a dead cell causing issue's.
Next, when I had instrument cluster problems, I had exactly what you described...headlights were On in default mode regardless of their on/off position, I had no directionals or 4ways, I had no gas guage, not sure about the battery guage??, but my 4wd light was illuminated as well. I ended up ordering a new cluster from Dodge, I went there and they recorded my mileage and ordered the nnew cluster accordingly. It took 4 business days to arrive. I drove to the dealer and took out my cluster in their parking lot. Brought it in to the parts dept for echange of the new one and it auto programs itself. I drove away a happy camper. Cost me $321 w/tax.

One last thing, you can do a cluster test to make sure it's working properly. You push and hold in the trip reset while you turn the key to the On position(dont start) and then release the trip. Your guages will sweep one by one and your dummy lights will illuminate. Anything that doesn't work will require a cluster replacement. I really think you need to look into a possible dead battery.

 

Thank you for the help. Just to give an update to this situation, the other day I went out to the truck after work and my doors were locked. I knew i didnt lock them, i never do. I put the key in the door and unlocked the door and as soon as i opened it it the lights flashed and the horn went off. Not having a key fob on the key I had no idea how to shut it off. I tried to start it and that still didnt work, truck started but the alarm kept goin off. Eventually I found a wrench and unhooked the battery. After hooking it back up I had the same problem as before with the security light staying on and no power to any of my accesories. After a few times of unhooking and re-hooking the battery I got everything back except the odometer which still had --------.

I stopped at a local parts store and had my battery tested, test said I had about 50% life left, so i said screw it and bought a new one. After installing it I have not had any problems what so ever with the security system but the odometer still reads --------

I did the cluster test and everything lights up and sweeps normally the odometer even reads the different numbers while performing this self test giving the code at the end indicating all is well, then returns to ------------

Im stumped.

but thank you for all the help

 

Did you check the fuse panel under the hood like I explained? They cause alot of random electrical issues.

 

I have a 2002 ram 1500 base model/ v6 that needs to have an instrument cluster replaced, will a used one work from another truck? Does the engine size matter if all the other options are the same?