Hello, I have a heavy duty 2500 4x4 and began having problems with the FOB not turning a couple of month ago. It would work sometimes, and sometimes I would have to push the ignition in and out with a regular key or flat head and the ignition would turn, lights come on, etc. but would not start, put the FOB back in, turn back and forth a couple times and then it would start.

Any suggestions? The dealer did not have another ignition in stock and said it would cost me $400+ taxes to fix. I only have 125K on the truck but they will not cover under warranty. What was so wrong with the regular key that would work for 40 years????

Is this ignition module serviceable? Will the battery in the fob cause this?

Thank You,

 

Welcome to DF!

With 125k on the truck, I'm surprised there is any warranty left at all. Even the powertrain expires at 100k, unless you are talking kilometers. If that is the case, go away, we have enough Canadians here. Just kidding!

I would try and replace the FOB battery, just to try the cheap/easy thing first. Don't want to spend $400 for a repair only to find that less than $10 in batteries would have fixed it.

What was wrong with the regular key is thefts. The more complex the key/ignition, the more the thief has to know to steal the truck. There will always be thieves who can do it of course, but by making it harder and harder, the number of thieves with the necessary skills shrinks.

And for future reference:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...s-section.html

 

Battery in the fob does not impact the RFID and even if it did, turning the ignition is a mechanical issue.

The ignition switch costs maybe $50 for aftermarket part

 

Thank you for your comments. Yesterday I removed the ignition module and opened up the black plastic housing to expose the inners. It was a bit intimidating with the circuit board and a bunch of mechanical mechanisms deep inside the unit.

I began by un soldering 3 points on the edge of the circuit board that feed the pickup coil around where the FOB is inserted, and 2 other solder locations roughly in the middle of the circuit board that feed the small solenoid, and removed the circuit board.

I then removed the white housing to expose the mechanical components. I found that the mechanism that is supposed to move to allow the FOB to turn was jamming. I also noticed that the solenoid and mechanical lever was not necessary for the electronics to work, so I removed the solenoid and levers from the device.

I reassembled the housing and circuit board, re soldered the 3 pins to the circuit board, (the other 2 were now not required) and reassembled the outer housing. I reinstalled the ignition module in the truck and tried the FOB.

It worked and it is now impossible for the mechanism to jam again unless some other parts were to break inside the unit. The ignition will turn with a large flat head screw driver but will not activate the power or start the truck, the FOB is required for this.

Just saved $400, by the way, the batteries were the first thing I tried and made no difference.

 

Awesome!