2014 1500 suddenly died on interstate

[revkevin]

2014 Ram 1500 Laramie 5.7

I was driving down the interstate and heard a pop sound (the best I know how to describe it is like a breaker tripping in another room) and my truck immediately died, but I didn't lose power steering or brakes. I pulled over to the side of the road and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. By the time I opened the hood the smoke was gone but there was a smell that was kind of a combination of a hot electric smell and hot antifreeze. The cab of the truck had the same smell. The dash and radio were cycling through all kinds of messages and modes, kind of freaking out. If I put my foot on the brake and pressed the button to turn it off, nothing would happen. If I pushed the button without my foot in the brake it would turn off. When I would try and start it, the electrics would come on and start cycling through all kinds of stuff, but the truck wouldn't even attempt to turn over, no click or anything. I had it towed to a mechanic that was close by, and he has not been able to figure anything out. Any suggestions?

 

[RamDiver]

2014 Ram 1500 Laramie 5.7

I was driving down the interstate and heard a pop sound (the best I know how to describe it is like a breaker tripping in another room) and my truck immediately died, but I didn't lose power steering or brakes. I pulled over to the side of the road and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. By the time I opened the hood the smoke was gone but there was a smell that was kind of a combination of a hot electric smell and hot antifreeze. The cab of the truck had the same smell. The dash and radio were cycling through all kinds of messages and modes, kind of freaking out. If I put my foot on the brake and pressed the button to turn it off, nothing would happen. If I pushed the button without my foot in the brake it would turn off. When I would try and start it, the electrics would come on and start cycling through all kinds of stuff, but the truck wouldn't even attempt to turn over, no click or anything. I had it towed to a mechanic that was close by, and he has not been able to figure anything out. Any suggestions?

Start with a visual inspection, looking for damaged, charred or chaffed wiring.
Check all fuses.
Inspect all coolant lines for seepage.
Load test the battery with a toaster-style load tester like this $18 unit from Harbour Freight.

And check for DTCs and report.

.

 

[Burla]

Find another mechanic...

 

[revkevin]

That’s already in process.

 

[revkevin]

Start with a visual inspection, looking for damaged, charred or chaffed wiring.
Check all fuses.
Inspect all coolant lines for seepage.
Load test the battery with a toaster-style load tester like this $18 unit from Harbour Freight.

And check for DTCs and report.

.

Mot seeing any obvious frayed wires. Fuses look fine. Tried to jump it and it did nothing. Don’t see any coolant leaks.

 

[RamDiver]

Mot seeing any obvious frayed wires. Fuses look fine. Tried to jump it and it did nothing. Don’t see any coolant leaks.

Did you load test the battery with a toaster-style battery load tester?

.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Sniff the back of the alternator ...and the fusebox for burt smell. The drive belt is good? Is there a coolant leak? Or just the smell of coolant? What is the coolant level? All the rotating elements up front still turn ok?

 

[revkevin]

@RamDiver I haven't done that yet. I just got it towed back to my hometown today and just had a few minutes to give a quick once over.

@Jeepwalker Thanks for the sniff tips. The main belt looks good. I can't find a coolant leak. The coolant level seems to be good. As far as the rotating elements, the fan turns by hand, but I can't move the belt by hand, which I think is normal. I'll take the tension off the belt tomorrow to see what does and doesn't rotate.

Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it.

 

[Marshall]

there are main fuse links on the battery posts on these trucks, I have never had one go, but they are the main power feed, so check that , and check cck breakers and fuses, I imagine the fellow would have done all that ?
Sounds like you lost volts /power to something. Smoke= fried wire or something, Shorted alternator? I think one of of those batter power fuse links go there?
Easy to give suggestions in the office with coffee, Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Wild one]

Check the positive red lug on the back of the alternator,it has been known to touch the alternators case and short everything out.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

If all the checks here have been done, put a breaker bar on crank pulley and try to turn by hand, if it doesn't turn you have internal problems, what condition is the engine oil it?

 

[revkevin]

Alright. The starter was completely burned up. The mechanic replaced that to find that it has no compression. The starter just spins until you hit the off button.

 

[Marshall]

You mean it just spins the motor ,but does not start?
Or has he actually checked compression with a gauge.
No way in hell you will lose compression on all cylinders, unless the crank shaft is on the road under the truck.

No spark or no gas would be my thoughts.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Alright. The starter was completely burned up. The mechanic replaced that to find that it has no compression. The starter just spins until you hit the off button.

Unless he actually did a compression test......its probably an electrical issue.

 

[revkevin]

A different mechanic suggested that whatever jolt fried the starter may have sent extra gas to the engine thinking it was trying to start the truck, causing the spark plugs to fail. That seems plausible to me and would seemingly explain the whole situation from the pop I heard on down.

 

[62Blazer]

A different mechanic suggested that whatever jolt fried the starter may have sent extra gas to the engine thinking it was trying to start the truck, causing the spark plugs to fail. That seems plausible to me and would seemingly explain the whole situation from the pop I heard on down.

I'm not an ASE certified mechanic by any means, but that comment doesn't make any sense to me at all. Really sounds like an electrical issue.....and if you heard a loud pop and saw smoke I just can't imagine it would be that hard to track down what is fried. I would be starting with a volt meter and start tracing down where I had power. Start at the battery and verify 12+ volts, and go down the line. Check for power going to the TIPM (fuse box), to the starter, etc....

 

[revkevin]

The starter is what was fried. The wire going from the connector on the starter into the casing was melted.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Why would that shut your vehicle off ...on the hwy? Or affect compression?

 

[RamDiver]

The starter is what was fried. The wire going from the connector on the starter into the casing was melted.

AFAIK, there is a fused link on the positive battery terminal supplying power to the starter.
Even if the starter suffered a complete meltdown, that fuse should have opened before the wire could bake.

There must be much more detail to this puzzle than has been provided so far.

.

 

[revkevin]

@Jeepwalker First of all. I am not a mechanic, so I am just trying to piece together something that makes sense based on all the different things I have been told. What I understood the mechanic to be saying was that whatever fried the starter may have also caused it to send a signal that the truck was trying to start and needed gas to do that even though the truck was already running. The "starting" gas combined with the "running" gas being simultaneously sent to the spark plugs could have killed the engine. Then once the starter was replaced it could turn the engine that had no spark due to flooded plugs thereby not causing the engine to fire and giving the impression of having lost all compression. That seems plausible to me. However, to @RamDiver 's point, that still leaves open the detail of why the starter spazzed out causing the other problems. The missing piece to that puzzle seems likely to be electrical as @62Blazer has indicated.