Hi I am hoping you all can give me some help. I drive a 3500 ram van. (2000)
It has been in the shop for almost 3 weeks now. I had it towed in after it would not start one morning. It would crank but not fire. They shop said it was the computer. They sent it off to be repaired. I picked up the van and had it for less than 24 hrs and it did it again. They said something is shorting out the computer and they don't know what it is. Any suggestions? I have 10 kids and really need my van!

 

Although there is wiring all over the place that can give you one kind of a problem or another. I recall one of our regulars around here having a similar issue with burning out PCMs. It turned out to be the wire that runs down to the front side of the tranny for operating the lockup solenoid had worn through and was shorting to ground. Give your shop a call and ask them to inspect that wire for damage. I 'think' it's a blue wire with a black stripe running down it's length.

 

10 kids? You need something besides your van!

 

On the off chance I am the regular whom Alloro is referring to I must point out that I have only replace the ECM once. I did find a shorted wire on the tranny. By nature it is always the last thing you check, in my case it was the last possible thing there was to check.

Your mechanics determined the ECM had failed without determining why it failed. You are lucky the new one failed quickly.

According to Cardone it is rare for them to fail on their own, something causes it, and all solenoids and sensors must be tested or any replacement ECM's warranty is void.
http://www.cardone.com/english/club/...%2077-0005.pdf
http://www.cardone.com/English/club/...ARTNUM=79-9887

 

I will call the shop tomorrow and have them check it out. I really need my van back.
Some days I think I need my head examined! ten kids are alot but we adopted a large sibling group.
Thanks for your help!

 

You were, but don't let the fact that I quoted you go to your head.

 

I only felt the need to reply because your post made it sound as if I were a drooling idiot who kept replacing ECM's thinking they were all bad, until I finally found the melted tranny wire. It was after I found and replaced the wire that I felt confident in ordering a new ECM.

I did send a bunch of ECM's back, but only because they mixed up the numbers for the manual and automatic transmission models. It wasn't until I opened up my old one and found a part number which corresponded to the listing for the manual transmission ECM. SO I ordered that one, and informed Rockauto and Cardone of their mistake. They thanked me but would not reimburse me for the return shipping costs, But I was so happy to have a running vehicle and overdrive that I couldn't be bothered to make a stink.

Now where is that gorilla thumping his chest emoticon? Ooh OOh grunt.

 

As usual...I strive for accuracy.

 

Dang, I set myself up again!

 

Don't feel bad, you're in good company! Many a great man hath fallen beneath my sword.