Hi, all... First post here. I'm working on a 2001 Ram Wagon 3500 127" WB (15 passenger) van for a charity I work with, getting it ready to take a bunch of high school kids to Mexico to build a house.

The van's got a power drain that's sucking down the battery pretty quick (it usually won't start after sitting overnight). I threw a meter on it this afternoon, and saw that I could kill the power drain pulling the wires from a 20 amp self-resetting circuit breaker that's located just forward of the main fusebox on the left side of the dash. Here's a photo of the smaller fusebox with an arrow indicating the circuit breaker...



I should mention that the circuit breaker is sitting right where the dome light relay normally sits (I pulled it so I could see JUST the current drain from the unknown source).

I'd really (!) appreciate it if someone could tell me what this circuit breaker feeds. I would hate to end up in Mexico without any way to start our work van...

Thanks!
Mark in Mesa, AZ

 

Ill have to go out to my van and look - but I think that is the power seat or power window...

 

I was surprised that none of the fuses were called out on the inside of the fusebox cover panel, just the ones in the "main fusebox".

Worst case, I figure I'll just relocate the feed for that circuit breaker with a jumper wire, to a source that's hot only with the key on (assuming it's not powering something that HAS to be on with the key off, but other than the radio (which is an aftermarket unit that's not connected there), I can't imagine anything that would be all that bothered by this change.

But I'd prefer to find the source of the drain and fix it, of course, so would really appreciate anything that would help me trace this down. Thanks!

 

man it took me a while to figure out what the heck is going on there..


there should be a fuse where that circuit breaker is patched in. That circuit is for the interior/dash lights and power mirrors...

 

Thanks - that's good news. I just pulled the source leg, and hooked it up to a source that's on with the key. Hope that fixes the problem.

I'd left the battery disconnected overnight (charging it) and today I have an ABS failure, and it seems like the IAC (Idle Air Controller) is FUBAR. I'm guessing that this is because the computers that control them lost their memory overnight. Oops.

I "fixed" the IAC problem by wrapping a few layers of tape around the throttle linkage (where it bottoms out against the "nub") so it'll idle (it would die as soon as I took my foot off the gas otherwise). I assume that the IAC will still work fine once the computer comes back online (assuming it WILL, that is).

Not sure about the ABS failure - I guess I'll just wait to see if it clears itself over the next week. Just driving to Mexico pulling a trailer... what could go wrong? ;-) Obviously, I'll get serious about the ABS if the brakes don't seem to be at 100%...

 

That silver do-dad in the photo, Chrysler has a TSB out for our vans. Some vans were installed with this without the accessory. Chrysler says to remove the item because it 1. drains the battery. 2. It could cause a fuse panel fire. I have the TSB saved someplace on my computer and had a few times posted it here in the forums over the years.

 

Thanks, Stev... that helps a lot (I think). I believe I found the info on the TSB...

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...intVersion=YES

The van I'm working on doesn't have power seats, so I can only guess that something else is hooked up to the line as well, since it is drawing some power (though not a whole lot). The TSB suggests that the problem can occur when there is a "high resistance short" in the power seat wiring (which is apparently there even on a stripped-down model like this one). Thing is, when I pull the circuit breaker, I hear something in the dash click... like that circuit is powering something else. Of course, it might be something a previous owner hooked up.

I guess that moving the circuit feed to a switched lead is a good "fix", as long as a dead short doesn't develop in something that circuit breaker feeds (which could apparently cause it to get hot enough to burn). Of course, since this will now only happen with the van running, I'm not all that worried that it would get to the point of burning down the van before I'd notice it.

 

Well, this morning the van started RIGHT up with the new battery (sounded like it was turning the motor over 4x faster), and the IAC seems to be working, or at least it didn't seem to want to stall at idle. Also, the ABS and brake warning lights went out after a few miles of driving (and applying the brakes multiple time and restarting a few times just for good measure). Sounds like the van is good to go tomorrow (to Mexico, so let's hope it's at 100%). Thanks for your help, everyone...

 

Nice. Good to hear. Hope Mexico treats you well.

 

Thanks! FYI, the van performed perfectly during the trip to and from Mexico, including pulling an overloaded trailer back and forth to the job site, much of it over VERY bumpy sand roads. The last trip out was particularly funny, with the trim strip between the headliner sections falling loose. I told my wife (sitting in the second row of seats) to bump it back up, and when she did, both of the round widgets that hold the center part in fell out. Yes, Mexico is hard on vehicles.

The really great news is that the ABS and IAC problems cleared up after driving the van for a while. Thanks again, everyone, for your help. Hopefully this van will last through many more Mexican building adventures.

FYI - here is what we do down there: http://uthbuild.org/