Good afternoon all,

First, thank you all for the great resources on this forum. I've been gathering data from here for months now, working to restore my 1996 B2500 5.2L conversion van, and without Dodge Forum, I would have been stuck from the start.

That being said, I've hit a bit of a stumper. My van starts inconsistently. About 80% of the time, when I turn the ignition to start, there is no click at the solenoid and no start. However, after repeated attempts, the starter solenoid will engage and the van fires right up. To troubleshoot this, I've done the following:

• Replaced the ignition lock cylinder (it had broken and was loose anyways)
• Double checked and cleaned up the wiring from the ignition module through the steering column
• Verified all fuses and fusible links are sound
• Verified the battery (new) is fully charged, properly terminated, and grounded
• Swapped relays in the PDC, using other working relays in place of the starter relay
• Verified the Park/Neutral switch is engaging, however did not replace it
• Finally, replaced the starter and solenoid assembly

I'm at a loss here. I can't find a pattern for why I can occasionally start the van after repeated turns of the key. When the van rarely starts (which thanks to the solenoid and starter is a very healthy, fast start) the van runs great with no issues.

I have a copy of the starter circuit wiring diagram, and I don't see that the ECM is involved in the start circuit at all, so I haven't gone that route yet.

Before I buy a new starter relay, has anyone seen something like this?

Thanks in advance,

Cody

 

Replace the neutral safety switch (3-wire connector) on the left rear of the tranny.

 

In the past two months, more Ram Vans have had starting issues than I can really recall.

What Alloro mentioned usually works, however, if it doesn't, a simple task needs to be done.

One thing you need to do is to inspect ALL ground straps from the engine to the body and inspect the group from the fuse box to the box.

The other thing, test and possibly replace the ignition coil.

Beyond that you have tried many of the regular and deep dive solving.

ALSO, visit www.cpparts.com for all of your Glaval PrimeTime conversion van needs. CPC now owns the OEM parts and tooling for the Ram Van conversions.

 

How will changing an ignition coil make the starter turn?

 

Thank you all so much for the replies. On a hunch, I bought a new Ignition Switch Module (what the ignition lock cylinder slides into) and sure enough, it solved the issue.

The reason why I thought it might be at fault was because I noticed that switching the key to the "off" position was not turning off the car, but moving it to the key out position was.

SO, for the next person who has a similar issue, here is a recommend sequence of replacement from cheapest to most expensive. I of course, did not follow this sequence. Asterisks next to what I replaced, exclamation next to the fix.

• fuses *
• relay *
• column/starter wiring check *
• battery connections*/battery
• Ignition Switch Module !
• Ignition Column Lock (added penalty of needing to rock two keys now. boo to that.)*
• Starter Solenoid*
• Starter* (replaced solenoid and starter as a unit, instead of getting the solenoid rebuilt)

Thanks for the link Stev, I've been trying to track down parts for a bit.

All the best,

Cody

 

Had that happen to my Ram Van. The starter would crank, but no start. Replace the ignition coil and the van fired right up.

 

Oh I see, you misread what he was saying. His starter wasn't cranking, that was the problem, it's not that the engine wouldn't run.

 

It's been a long few nights on my end here ...

 

No biggie, I just wanted to know if there was some tip or fact that I wasn't aware of. Go get some sleep.