I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone can help me. I have two problems with my 98.5 ram 2500 Cummins. The first one started the other day when my wife went to start the truck. Unfortunately we left the overhead light on in the truck overnight. She went to start the truck in the moring and the battery did not have enough power to start the truck. As she tried to start it a couple of times, she noticed the "wait to start" light was flickering. Someone came and jumped the truck and it started up. Unfortunately the wts light is no longer working. Not sure if the bulb is out, or if there is a bigger problem resulting in the light not illuminating. The other problem is shifting related. It is an automatic with an edge chip on it. The chip is set to the lowest setting. I first noticed this problem when we were towing a Uhaul trailer across the country. Sometimes when I accelerate fairly hard or if the truck is downshifting for a hill, I get an intense vibration in the truck going in and out of overdrive. If I let off the gas (diesel), it stops. The truck also makes a ping noise shifting from park to reverse, especially if I am on any kind of an incline or decline. Anybody out there got any ideas on what may be wrong with my truck?

 

first off. . .with the weird shifting, this is a very common problem with the 98.5-02 trucks. it mostly stems from the battery ground getting corroded and the trans not getting a good ground. some have cleaned the cables up, others have replaced them. all in all that has fixed the problem.

the pinging you are hearing is probably a u-joint going out. they are not hard to replace and only require pliers and a vice to press it out.

the WTS lamp. I hope the low voltage did not dammage the computer and the relay controlls to the grid heater. once the temps go below 50F the grid heater kicks in. right now with the temps above that in NC it will only run a system check.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply. Any hints on how to check for the U-joint and where to look. I'm pretty handy with fixing things as long as I know what the problem is and where the part is situated. As for the shifting, I think you are right on about the grounds. I have read other posts here about the same truck shifting back and forth in and out of overdrive, which mine also does sometimes. I was not aware that the harsh vibration could be related to this same problem. As for the WTS light, should I bring the truck to a mechanic to check this one out. The truck seems to start up just fine, however, the light is still not working. Anybody have any suggestions for a good honest diesel mechanic in the Wilmington area. I just moved here from California, so I still haven't figured out who the better mechanics are yet.

 

The start lamp is probably just a bulb. When ever you turn the key on the wait to start light should come on, even if its just a second. As far as u-joints, I would just replace all the ones on the rear drive shaft. Its only $50 for the three of them and if your gonna ruin your day doing one of them, might as well do the other two on the driveline

 

before I would take it to the mech, I would pull the dash apart and get to the light itself. . .it could be it is just blown. . that would save you $30.

as far as the u-joints. . .if you grab the axel and twist it with your hand and notice "slop" at the joints then youve got it.

 

I seem to be having problems getting to the WTS lightbulb. I took the dash apart. Then I took the clear cover off the instrument panel as well as the screws that hold the instrument panel to the dash. I can see the WTS bulb if I lift the flexible black instrument panel, but I can not remove the panel because the guages hold it on. I pulled at the guages themselves to see if they pop off, but they don't seem to and I don't want to do any damage. Even though I can see the light, I can't remove it because it is set so deep in there. I tried lightly pulling at it with a hook out (fish hook remover), but could not get the bulb out. What am I doing wrong, how do I get at that sucker?

 

Unfortunately ( actually ... FORTUNATELY ) I've never had to take the dash apart. Hopefully someone else will chime in and help you out. I just stopped by to welcome you aboard.

Good Luck !!

 

Can you get me a pic, I've never had the gauges apart so I don't know. But if I could get a pic I might be ale to help ya.

 

I'm going to take another crack at it tonight. If I still can't get at the bulb, I will post a pic.

 

Well, I got the instrument panel out. Turns out is was just plugged in from the back, so I just had to use a little bit of force to unplug it. The lights come out from the back of the panel. The WTS light was not burned out, but the low wash light next to it was. I figured maybe it was the type of thing like Christmas lights where when one goes out, the rest after them go out. Closed or open circuit I think its called, not sure. This was not the case as I ended up switching bulbs around and the WTS light never came on. Some of the other lights stopped working after I switched them around as well, so I'm not sure what is going on. My check engine light is now on, so I guess off to the Dodge dealership I go tomorrow to have them run a diagnostic. The truck still starts and runs just fine.