I have a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Glaval Hi-Top Conversion Van. It has about 177,000 miles on it and has given me no trouble up until now!

I came home from work and went into the house. I was in the house for about 5 minutes or so and all of a sudden I heard my starter cranking! At first I thought someone was trying to steal my van so I ran outside and found my van locked with nobody inside and the starter was cranking. I went inside and put the key in the ignition and turned it to try and start it and it started up but when I turned it off the starter countinued to crank but didn't turn over.

When I put my key in and start it I have no problem however I can hear my starter cranking but it must not be engaging because it would grind with the engine running. Wouldn't it?

I have an alarm system with remote starter and I'm not sure if it could be causing the problem or not. The only thing two things I can think of doing is disconnecting the remote starter which seems to be working fine because I tried that as well, or get underneath and maybe tap the starter with a hammer. Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

 

There are several possibilities.

1. The remote start is malfunctioning and engaging the starter motor.
2. The ignition switch is faulty.
3. There's a short in your wiring harness.
4. The starter relay is shorting out.
5. The spring inside of the starter solenoid is broken.

Does the starter stop turning if your shifter is not in park or neutral?

 

 

Welcome to DF Try removing the starter relay, and see what happens. If stops you either have a bad relay and try a known good relay or the spring for the bendix drive is broken like alloro had posted early.

 

FYI - The starter relay is in the underhood fuse box.

 

I disconnected the starter relay and it kept on cranking which leads me to believe it might be the starter itself that needs to be replaced. If the ignition switch was bad when I removed the relay it would've stopped cranking so it looks like my ignition switch is good and my starter needs to be replaced.

Thoughts???

How hard is it to replace a starter in this van? I haven't bothered to go underneath and check, and right now it's buried in a snow bank thanks to the New England winter weather! LOL

 

Not bad. Disconnect the battery first. and you'll need a 5/8 box end wrench or socket, for the starter bolt and nut. either 7/16 or 1/2 inch wrench for the pos wire at the starter. The other wire could have a nut on it 5/16 or 3/8. But need to get the snow out of the way to lay on your back to remove it.

 

To be more precise, the Bendix solenoid on the side of the starter needs to be replaced, the starter motor itself is still good, otherwise it wouldn't have been cranking. But do replace the whole starter/Bendix assembly because of the damage this ordeal might've caused to the starter motor.