1993 D150 Starting Problem

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airbournemike

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Jan 1, 2014
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Ram Year
1993
Engine
5.2 Magnum
So after countless hours of searching it's time to make a post. I bought my Ram 2 years ago and its been my daily driver ever since. The truck runs great and has been fun to drive until this winter. In the beginning of November it developed a starting problem. One morning I went out to start it and I hear this constant clicking noise under the hood, it would turn over but not start. After two attempts I go to see where the clicking is coming from but as soon as I open my door it stops, the truck fires right up. Now it has been a couple months still same issue, truck runs great after it's started. I've figured out it is the ASD relay making the clicking, I have to leave the key in the ON position for 5-10 minutes for the clicking to stop so I can start it. I have replaced the ASD relay with a new one but it made no difference. I've tried wiggling the harness in different spots from the computer to the firewall to see if I could find a loose wire also with no difference. The part that gets me is, we have had a few warm days where the temp was 50 deg or higher and on those days the truck fired right up, no clicking. It only clicks when it is cold outside, so far I know it will start right up if the temp is 44 deg or higher. And for one more kick in the junk, last night my truck just started turning over by itself in the driveway! I was sitting in my living room when I hear an unusual noise coming from outside. I open my door to see what it was and it's my truck, I literally thought some one was trying to steal it! I jump off my porch, run over to my truck to find the doors still locked and no one inside. Crazy!

So today I'm gonna begin troubleshooting the ASD problem, and I'm gonna replace the starter. I found that the starter is missing the terminal attachment and that one of the terminals is actually loose into the starter, kinda just sitting in there. Hopefully the self start was caused by the broken terminal but it needs replaced none the less since it's actually missing parts.

Has anyone else dealt with this ASD issue?
 

NYCruiser

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Dec 17, 2013
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Location
Yonkers, NY
Ram Year
2014
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Wow! Self start is scarey. I've heard of cars/trucks doing that with manuals parked in gear and taking off. Hope you get it sorted.
 
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airbournemike

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Ram Year
1993
Engine
5.2 Magnum
Got the new starter but haven't put it in yet. Started going through the harness and man is it a mess. Only found 1 wire so far with an issue. I'm not sure what it is for but it splits off of the ********* wire that goes to batt positive, then splits back together with another wire into the firewall connector. Someone has replaced this wire before, after I got all the tape off this section I seen it was soldered on both ends. I turned one of the soldered ends over to see how well it was done and it just came apart. I think I'm just gonna pull the entire harness out and fix that part of the harness along with a few of the connections I don't like. The injector section needs to be retaped as well, I have wires all over the place in there.
 

pierson5085

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Jun 4, 2014
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Location
Maryville, Tn
Ram Year
1984
Engine
5.2L crate motor
I had a 81 ramcharger 318 that had that problem. A wire running from the start solenoid burnt up. Take a screw driver and jump the two prongs on the solenoid and see if it starts. I had to install a push button start to start it from then on.
 
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