Engine suddnely stops while driving

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fltarpon

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Ram Year
1999
Engine
V8
While driving down the road, the engine will suddenly stop. Just prior to the engine stopping, the speedometer and tachometer will go to zero, and the odometer says "BUS" which a mechanic has told me is the bus bar. But the same mechanic does not know the actual problem. And after a period of time, anytime from one minute to 30 mins after it stops, the engine will start again. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can fix this?
 

WilliamS

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Hemi 5.7
Does the truck lose all electrical power? Sounds like a power or ground somewhere shorting or losing connection. Has to be a major one. Start with the main fuse box.
 
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fltarpon

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Yes, the truck loses all electrical power, and the fuse box has no corrosion if you were asking if it does.
 

WilliamS

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Id assume the ground or the main power wire into the fuse box is your culprit. Trace them both and remove them. Sand any surfaces to remove corrosion and reinstall on both ends of the wire. Should be ground from box to chassis, and batter to the box. The buss fuse might be bad as well and just making contact internally by sheer luck.
 

Yeret

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I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut you've got a faulty ECU. The "No Bus" combined with engine shutdown is telltale. If you're very, very, very lucky, it's simply a bad ground but you're probably going to have to replace the sucker.

There is someone here who has actually fixed their ECU and posted a write-up somewhere here. I'll post a link if I can find it.
 
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fltarpon

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Thank you. What and where is the buss fuse? Sorry, I'm not a mechanic.
 

SportRam00

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Magnum 360
Like Yeret said, I also would bet you its the PCM. Usually a fault inside (aka bad solder) but could also be bad wiring/grounds.

Ran into the exact same issue with my truck.

Here is my experience and ultimate fix... http://www.ramforum.com/f61/random_stalling_when_hot_fixed-105537/

Quality PCMs are expensive! No harm in trying to repair it yourself to save time and money.
 
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