The wheels on the bus go...oh, there is "no bus"

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Yeret

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Well, looks like I've encountered the dreaded "no bus" issue. Here's the scoop. Starting up the truck, no problem. Driving for a bit, no problem. However, about half way into town the dinger starts going off with either the air bag or ABS light flashing randomly. All the while, the speedometer keeps jumping from speed to 0. Then finally, the speedo zeroes, the tach zeroes, ABS, air bag, low fuel and check engine lights come on, then all the other gauges zero. And of course, the odometer reads "no bus."

Now here's the thing. If I shut the engine and power off, then restart it again, everything returns to normal. At least for a little while, then it does it again.

I've so far tried disabling the ABS but that had no effect. All 3 connectors to the ECU seem tight and all grounds under the hood are in place.

Anyone know a good place to go to next? From what I've read, a short in virtually any electronic on the truck can potentially cause this. FML.
 
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Yeret

Yeret

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Poking around under the hood today, I noticed that the screw on the "engine inline" connector in the underhood fusebox was loose. I could literally turn it with my finger. I tried to tighten it down, but it does the ole' tighten-loosen-tighen-loosen thing, suggesting that it is stripped. Someone had messed with it at one point?

I tightened it as best as I could, but being as it is stripped, I'm sure that it'll work it's way loose again. I had the battery disconnected while changing the oil and when I hooked everything back up and started the engine, all seemed fine with the dash even after running for a good 20 minutes.

Guess we'll see how everything is when I drive her again...
 

avantiguy

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I can't picture the screw, but if the stripped threads are in plastic, shave a piece of soft plastic off an old toy, glass etc and put it in the hole. Replace the screw. Usually, it will smear the plastic into the threads and hold if you don't torque the heck out of it. A variation of the old matchstick in a hole in wood repair.
 
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Yeret

Yeret

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Okay guys, my problem has gone from frustratingly annoying to just plain bizzare. I left work today and sure enough the dash no bus's. However, when I get home and shift the truck into park, suddenly the dash came back up to normal. Okaaay, that's odd. On a hunch, I shifted the truck back into drive and sure enough, after a few moments, the dash konked out again. I shifted back to park and the dash came back up again.

I did this with all the gears. Reverse and neutral had no effect, but every time I shifted into one of the forward gears, the dash died but then turned back on when I shifted into park.

Sooo, does anyone have any idea what's going on here? I spent a good portion of the weekend researching the "no bus" problem and of all the instances I've read, none of them were anything like this. WTF?
 
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Yeret

Yeret

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Still batting zero. Spent all day looking around, can't find anything odd with the wiring or connectors. After driving for a bit more, I've noticed the dash gets pissy when the truck nears a complete stop or when I'm heavy on the gas. If I'm light on the throttle, it doesn't seem to do anything.

A couple of times, the dash went no bus, but then came back up. Still comes up no problem when I turn the power off, then back on again. Engine and transmission run no different than before.

Sigh, damned electronics...
 

DodgeTx

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When I had the no bus issue my truck would die 2000 5.9l 2wd. it ended up being the PCM for me.

Seems you have an issue with the actual cluster wiring or ground. Now I could be wrong but I'd put some money on it.
 

Pntyrmvr

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I have a 2005 300C that would say no bus when the broken wires in the driver's door jamb protective rubber bellows would short against each other. I figure the crossed circuits so badly messed up the computer that it just gave up. Sadly for you I think this means you have some broken wires. Somewhere.


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."
 
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Yeret

Yeret

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The problem definitely seems affected by throttle input. If I'm any more than a hair into the throttle, the dash starts dinging up. If I'm completely off the throttle, then everything is okay. Today, I made all all the way from work to home without killing the dash (though it meant driving 60 the whole way). Of course, there's a long steep hill in my path and sure enough, when I gunned it to zip up it, the dash went kapoot.

Now, the dash never dies right away. Rather, the gauges all zero out one at a time while the idiot lights start popping on. I've discovered that as long as the odometer is still reading mileage or even if it's flashing, I can "catch" the dash by simply letting off the throttle as long as the truck is already moving. Once the "no bus" appears, that's it. The only way I can get it to come back up is to cycle the power.

Basically in a nutshell, in order to keep the dash up, I need to get up to speed as quick as I can once I shift into drive, then let off the throttle and let the truck coast as much as possible. To muddle things up even more, the problem also seems sensitive to ambient temperature. If it's warm out, the dash is much less fickle. However, if it's cold out, as it was the other morning, the dash will completely crash before I can even leave the parking lot.

And as I've said, if the truck is sitting still in park, reverse or neutral, I'm fine. As soon as I shift into a forward gear, the dash starts to crash and I've got anywhere from several seconds to several minutes to get up to speed and get her coasting.

So, so bizarre...
 
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Yeret

Yeret

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Well, decided to dig a little deeper in my attempts to fix this. I pulled the radio since it has it's own issues. No dice.

I've just pulled the gauge cluster and didn't see anything obvious except for a missing "Check Gauges" bulb. Anyone care to venture a guess as to why this would be missing? A couple of the tabs on the clear cover are busted indicating that someone has been screwing with the cluster at some point...
 

Pntyrmvr

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The last owner couldn't figure out the problem either so he tried pulling the bulb.


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."
 

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