Hi,
Can anyone please help with my newbie problem?

Was driving in snowy and wet conditions at about 55mph when my MIL symbol came on along with the ETC light flashing.
The truck felt as though it was down on power and "Missing" somewhat.
I managed to get home about 5 miles, and switched off, leaving it to stand for about 10 mins.
Now when I switch on and get the engine running, the MIL light stays permanently on, but no ETC light flashing. The engine doesn't appear to be running rough either.
I live in the UK and access to a decoder might be very hard.
How do I decypher any error codes and where would they be displayed?
Also, do you think water might be causing the problem?
Any thoughts on this would be greatfully appreciated as I need urgent help on this?
Cheers.
AL.

 

abarmby,

In the lower part of your profile, you can put info concerning year of your truck, and needed other specifics that will show each time you post. Without this info, the response to your question will be measured at best because no one knows what you are driving, the miles driven, liter size of engine, type tranny etc. If you add this to your profile it makes it much easier for you and everyone that sees your post.
concerning the problem you are having, it sounds like you most likely have a moisture or possibly iced connection situation. Just because the truck feels like it is running ok, doesn't mean it is. The ECM may be making BIG adjustments to accomodate whatever the problems is. Get the truck inside, let it warm up and dry out. Check the plug wires out to see if they are arcing, (insulation starting to break down) and the simple stuff first.
Also, there is a way to find out what codes its setting using the the trip reset or something like that. One of the other people here can fill you in on that. I haven't needed to do that as I have a scanner, something you might want to invest in, especially being far away from an available one, trouble shooting the current day computerized systems in all the present day vehicles for the "not formally trained" can be a bit of a challenge, me being one of them. Check ACTRON as one possibility--get the best you can afford, and if you are far from a scanner DRB II minimum, DRBIII if you can afford it. You may be able to recover some of your investment from people around you----a small fee for its use.

 

Hi and thanks for the help Gone Fishin.

I've hopefully "cleared" the problem by letting the truck sit for 30 mins whilst war and with the negative battery lead disconected.

When I fired up the truck, the MIL went out (thank the Lord) and she seems to be running fine.

I haven't had time to check the connectors etc on the truck, but tomorrow I'll be un-clipping and re-connecting any and all connections I can find and spraying them out, with an electrical cleaning solvent which has a moisteure dispersant included.

A friend suggested (thanks Southernspeed),it may be a connector iced up/water ingress. That could be it, as it's -4deg C here in the UK, and the weather was terrible this morning when the fault ocurred. Rain, hail, sleet and snow plus the -4deg C, don't go too well eh, especially on electrical connections?

I'm having a good look at the truck tomorrow and will post my results.

I will ammend my profile as well when I get time, as your so right about giving people something to work with in respect of what type of truck I'm driving etc.
Couple of quick questions:-

Does the Superchips programmer module read error codes?

and does anyone out there, know how to check error codes on an 2003 5.7 ltr V8 Hemi QC short box using the trip/overhead console ? please?

Cheers for all the help.
Allan.

 

abarmby,

glad I could help. Just a suggestion. When you start pulling the connectors apart, use compressed air, as then you don't have to worry about any chemical attack on the plastic or metal in the connections. Once you feel satisfied that they are dry, use a little silicone grease on the seal boot to insure they stay water tight after you put all the effort into it.
Water and crud can do some really weird stuff to the electronics, including short them out.
If you don't have access to silcone grease, a little white grease can be used also. I know that when I replaced the ECM on my old dakota, they specifically called the white grease out as a sealing agent, so much so that they said to "pack" the connector box with it prior to plugging in the the connectors to it----what a mess!!!

As far as super chips scanner, I do believe it does read the error codes, but if you do a search in google or another search engine, you can go to their web site and check it out for yourself---horses mouth sort of thing.

 

You can also have the OBDII codes display on the odometer. Do a search to figure out how (I forget) and let us know what it is and we or you can look up the OBDII code. Too bad not all manufacturers have built in hour meters and ODBII codes.

 

Thanks Doc, I knew someone would know.

 

Just a quicky................is it a good idea to pull the battery off when cleaning these plugs?

My idea is it would stop any potential voltage spikes/surges when dis/re-connecting the connectors?

Once again cheers, and also HAPPY NEW YEAR [sm=deal.gif]to all here on Dodge forum[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

I would disco the battery for sure. Better safe than sorry!
Happy New Year to you and yours too!