hi guys, i have a 94 Ram van with a V8, this thing has me stumped, my wife was driving it, and it just died, no sputter, just dead. heres what i know, power to the asd, power to the coil and fp, but no ground to either?? after i spent a few days on it, i left it alone for maybe a month, then one day i go out there and jump in the drivers seat and the thing cranks right up! it ran for maybe 30 secs and died like i had shut it off, now were back to cranks but wont start. ive been looking around trying to figure out what kind of obd this thing has and ive heard everything from, on, off, on, off, on to get codes from CEL to DRB II scanner to OBD II, and heres something else, i get no CEL whatsoever i even took the dash apart and swapped the bulbs around so i had a known good one in the MAINT REQD spot but it never so much as blinks. im stuck and need a fresh perspective, where would you guys start?

thanks in advance
greg in pcola

 

There have been 3 or 4 people on this forum recently with similar problems. In most of those cases, replacing the ignition coil has fixed the problem.

 

You have an OBD-I system. the OBD-II came out in 96. Since you're not getting a CEL, then either one of the fuses for the ECM is blown, the connections to the ECM are dirty, or the ECM itself is no good.

 

that is what i decided a month ago when i gave up on it, when it just cranked up beautifully today it made me doubtful, have you ever heard of something like this? ive checked and rechecked the fuses, i know dodges are a little different than other cars when it comes to the ECM, my assumption is with the key on, i should get a CEL momentarily, correct? as it stands, key on, i get an (ABS) light for about 3 secs then it fades.. now that i think about it, and im not sure of this, but i dont recall ever seeing the MAINT light come on at all

 

When you turn the key on but don't start the engine, the CEL should come on and stay on.

 

thanks for the help guys, does anyone know where i can get a pinout for the ECU for this thing? i put a meter on the pins going coming from it, and i got some odd readings, 12.6v in some places, 11.8v in some, and even 5v on one.. id like to check and make sure ive got power and ground where i should

 

ECM will work fine for a few days and go out again and again--took me a year of that to finally replace mine after $126 tow bill