Red Lightning Bolt - Tried Everything

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THRobinson

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2003
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Hemi 5.7l
Had a few threads on this... not getting anywhere sadly.

Initially figured it was a throttle body deal... had the error come up and engine shudder and shut off. I cleaned the TB and it ran fine for a few days then did it again. Grabbed a TB from the wreckers, worked a few months then did it again. Bought a new TB and lasted a few hours and got the error again.

I have a 2003 Laramie 5.7l Hemi 4x4, and for 2003-04 of this model, the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor was below the battery tray. No longer made, NOS is around $650USD and I'm in Canada. Finally found a local(ish) wrecker with what I needed. Grabbed the APPS, cleaned the contacts with contact cleaner, and at the same time the plug for it as well as the contacts/plug for the TB. Installed it, did the reset and worked for a week.

By this time, my truck has sat around over a year total because can't work on it in the snow and various back related issues.

Drove it today, first time in a few months (needs brakes but want to drive it to keep this from seizing and battery charged) and 20min to town, grabbed a coffee, 20min home, city/highway driving... ran perfect. Then in my driveway I did a 3 point turn to back into it's parking spot and while in reverse, yup... that damn red lightning bolt and everything shuddering again.

What's left?
 

Karlsweg

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The dang plug on the TB on mine had to be pushed in really hard to make the red lightning bolt go away.
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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I saw that in another thread... hey maybe it was you. :D

I checked and the clips is still good on my plug, so I flushed the socket out with contact cleaner. I mean, could still be the issue but happened on the original, wreckers, and new TB... seems pretty snug on there. :(
 

Martins hemi

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Have you tried resetting it with the gas pedal? Not sure what they call this method but it fixed mine
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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Yup, end of my 3rd paragraph in the OP... reset it. Reset after ever occurrence. Got a socket wrench on my front seat now ready to disconnect the battery every time. :(
 

Recoil

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Have you checked your TIPM? I'm wondering if you have a bad/corroded connection somewhere that is causing this.
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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Hmm... had to Google what that was, found this video... and I do have a weird start issue that was never resolved. Basically, very random, I'll start the car, starts totally fine and normal, runs for about 2-3 seconds and shuts off. Not stutter, chugging, coughing, or anything... starts, runs, turns off. Of course, never does it when at the shop.

I wonder if the TIPM is at least easy to get to in the Dodge. I gotta work in the driveway and I'm in Canada so, cold and covered in snow right now. That's why the truck sat so long last year to get fixed.

 

Recoil

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The TIPM is easy to get to. It's under the hood on the right side near the battery. Do the reset by removing the battery cables from the battery and hooking them together for several hours. When the battery cables are hooked together, pull the TIPM and disconnect the plugs underneath to check for corrosion.
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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Update... for anyone following or finding this on Google.

In another forum, I had the same post. One night I started the car, it was dark, and I could see very very tiny sparkles on the engine behind the spot where oil goes in. Someone saw my thread and saw the part about the sparkles and had the same issue and said his grounding straps were rotted off. I checked, and sure enough, I had small 1" nubs of what use to be straps and one was where the sparkles were happening.

Discontinued, and rather than make my own, I just bought a 5-wire grounding kit off Amazon for $30CAD. 8AWG spool of wire was $35 plus needed the ring terminals and such. This was cheaper and easier.

Ran a cable from the passenger side valve cover to the driver side, and from that to the bolt behind the battery where it grounds to the frame, as well as a new ground from that to the negative terminal of the battery. Plus ran a cable from the alternator to the positive terminal (left original cable there). Not yet found the other ground, which I read was at the back of the engine block, but, just not found it it. Drove/Started fine today... fingers crossed.
 
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