Hello!

I am trying to help a missionary family fix their 2002 Dodge Ram 3500 5.9L van.

The problem is that the spark plugs wont spark. The van will crank but no sparks (examined spark plug connected out of cylinder while cranking). We replaced the ignition coil but it did not change anything. Also we connected an error code reader to the van but it was unable to connect. It would not receive any error messages. The odometer on the dash says NO BUS. Now some other posts on this website have suggested that the ECM/PCM may not be busted though and suggest cleaning all the wire connectors and plugging them back snug but with that we had no luck.

One thing I did read on a post that we have maybe not tried was to see if the ground faults from the engine block to the van body were connected well (to prevent voltage spikes in the ECM/PCM sensors). We will check this soon.

Are there any other insights into what could possibly be the problem?

We hope to not have to replace the ECM/PCM if possible to save money but if it comes to that we may have to do so.

Thanks for any helpful suggestions or comments you could offer!

Best,
Luke

 

If you're still getting the "no-bus", then it's pretty much 99 to 1 that the ECM is shot.
Sorry, but that's about 250 bux. Ka-ching !
At any rate, you're going to have to get rid of the "no-bus" before you can do anything else.