All,

I have a 2000 Ram Van 3500 with the 360 engine. My alternator will not charge despite being replaced. Twice. I have also replaced the ECM. 3 times. What can this be?

 

How old is the battery? Had it tested yet? How do the terminals and wires look... connections at the alternator as well as battery and in between? Checked any fuses yet?

Was it running well before this happened? Does it crank and start but drain the battery as you drive? Can you charge the battery?

Might want to give a little more description of what's going on that may prompt someone to help that can help you out.

 

battery is fine. new terminals. the "check gauges" light comes on, and the voltage gauge drops to lowest point. This has done this for a while. thought it was ECM and replaced. still does it

 

This guy j.oliver over in 2nd gen trucks, similar problem found his problem was simply a fuse under the hood, have you checked?

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-charging.html

 

Replace or repair battery ground from neg battery terminal to firewall.

 

turns out my "new" alternator was at fault. Replaced it, and problem solved. I ran an extra ground a while back because of some issues.

 

Glad to hear it's resolved. Usually takes me 3 trips to the hardware store to get the correct part on project, guess it's kinda the same getting a working part these days at the parts house anymore.

 

I love my van, but Chrysler made so any engineering flaws on these things. The biggest is the heat that's retained in the engine bay. I have had to replace ECMs, rewired the harness, and constantly have to open hood to make sure nothing catastrophic is about to happen. That heat destroys EVERYTHING under there if its not metal! I'd move onto another brand if I didn't know so much about this one! Unfortunately its from having to fix it so much

 

Yes, you have it figured out. If you live where summer temps are routinely over 100F you will have to add additional cooling. Sitting and idling in direct sunlight at 110F will create underhood temps over 140 within a few minutes. I've measure 128F in the doghouse! Its unreasonable to expect your transmission to stay under 140 and your AC to work under these conditions.

However, this truck is an outstanding vehicle if you can figure out how to deal with the flaws. So far, I've rewired the weakest of the underhood electrical, added an aux battery system, removed the mechanical engine fan and replaced with two electric fans, rebuilt the AC completely , added a cold air intake scoop that actually works. Even with all those mods, I still shut it down if I have to idle in traffic at 112F for more than 10 min, and let the electric fans cool things down. Helps having a brand new radiator and a factory installed auxiliary trans cooler: but if you don't have these, I think you are pushing your luck.

 

Outstanding vehicle? Not hardly. I have owned several of them, and continue to buy because you can get cheaper than a Ford. I'm Chrysler loyal, and have a 1996 Dakota, 1995 Ram 2500 Cummins, and this van, so I'm no stranger to them. These issues were probably why they were the first to leave the full sized van market!