Uh oh Christmas Eve truck issue

[CaliDodgeRam]

merry Christmas all! Hopes yours is going better than mine! Don’t know if this belonged in electronic, engine or general so I stuck it here!

Two weeks ago driving down the road 4WD service light comes on. I pull over check under the truck both differentials and can’t find anything. Turn the truck back on lights gone. Figure I’ll have the dealer check it on the next major service.

Today I pull my truck up to wash it, wash it, don’t spray under the hood go to start it and nothing but a CEL and the red lighting bolt (electronic throttle control) battery is good, 52k miles, this happened once months ago but when turning the key off and on again fired right up. Of course this happens right before a 700 mile round trip next week. Any ideas or get it into the dealer Tuesday, I figure it’ll take a dodge certified mechanic to figure this one out. I’ve done a ton of reading and seen everthing from ABS sensors to new throttle body etc. haven’t had any new mods on this truck since under 15k miles and pulled the tuner 30k miles ago. The only extra in the last year was an insurance plug in for a month to price the truck only operated in the weekends and for long trips. Thanks I’m advanced!

 

[tones2SS]

Merry Christmas man.
Sorry to hear about your issues. When I had my '05 Ram Daytona, the red lightning bolt showed up. I took it to my buddy's shop and he just took the throttle body off and cleaned it really good and it worked fine after that. Never another issue and it ran it a little better after the cleaning, which would be expected. Hopefully you don't have any electric gremlins.
Good luck man.

 

[csuder99]

I wouldn't throw parts at it yet, I'm leaning more towards an electrical issue. The truck is a 2012, how old is the battery ? I know from experience with a Grand Cherokee that an old battery can have voltage drops that cause the service 4wd and CEL to come on. Along those lines, check the connections from the battery to the chassis and alternator. Do you have access to an ODB2 code reader ? Or a battery load tester ?

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

Battery is good. Will look deeper into the connections, no reader unfortunately

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

Also what would you be checking besides the battery voltage with power off since I can’t turn it over. Anything specific? Where does the battery connect to chassis?

 

[chopperman1]

Battery tester needed. Measuring volts are simply not enough. Take it out and bring it auto parts place to test. You can also try jumper cables from another vehicle.

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

Battery is 3 weeks old :/

 

[kad]

Battery is 3 weeks old :/

It's still possible for it to be bad. Could have a flaw from the factory.

-K

 

[Burla]

It is best to ignore that light, more then half the time it goes away, the other 1/2 no big deal. I would drive 700 miles round trip if that came on w/o worry.

Is your cruise control working?

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

It is best to ignore that light, more then half the time it goes away, the other 1/2 no big deal. I would drive 700 miles round trip if that came on w/o worry.

Is your cruise control working?

Can’t get it to start at all though

 

[CostaRam]

I just been here somehow similar:
ABS Light on, Service 4x4 on ( 4x4 dead), ESP OFF light on, Park Assist Off light on, Cruise control not working, code for Bank 1 O2 heater 1 faulty
Code was rear driver side Wheel Speed Sensor (ABS) sensor working wrong, swapped with passenger side sensor and error moved, changed sensor all fine except O2 sensor heater
Bought new sensor, hung up from ordering and guess what ... error went away and never came back, new O2 sensor is momentary used as paper weight ...
2 weeks later same light on, code was right passenger side wheel speed sensor faulty, change it errors went away
Now all seems to be fine.

Red bolt is trottle body problems, cleaning helps usually

However, first thing is to read the codes to narrow down the error.

Chris

 

[blackbetty14]

50 amp load test the battery for peice of mind. Depending on the quality of the battery it could already have a bad cell. Or a malfunctioning/dieing alt causing it not to fully charge. Seems odd this all started and you have a new battery in it after 3 weeks.

Nothing got into the TB area? I had a mishap with my 14 where a paper towel got into the TB area and messed with the blade causing all kinds of hell.

A no crank start means the engine doesn’t turn over. If that’s the case it’s battery/starter or electrical related. I wonder if the 4x4 is malfunctioning and causing the PCM to think it’s in gear or something which won’t let the truck crank over and start.

 

[csuder99]

Ummh .... you got a new battery three weeks ago and the trouble started 2 weeks ago .... ? That might be more than a coincidence. Again, check all the connections and see if you can jump start it.

 

[hoe...]

Disconnect battery for half an hour.
Reconnect and see what happens.
Seems to be low voltage/electrical related.
Might be a bad earth connection.

Sent from my LON-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[Fergusontd]

Can’t get it to start at all though

Be sure to check negative battery cable where it fastens to ground (body or frame). Could be corroded or loose.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

PCM is bad :/ 2 months after the power train warranty expired. Dealers wants 1600 to replace and the part is at least 10 days out. They want extra to expedite. In the process of calling another dealer now. Just my luck.

 

[huntergreen]

Extra to expedite? I would be done with them.

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

Extra to expedite? I would be done with them.

Very disappointed, I have had good experiences in the past with them.

 

[crackerjack1957]

http://www.fs1inc.com/chrysler-dodg...1YcFExoC2ikQAvD_BwE&make=95&model=51&year=193

 

[CaliDodgeRam]

Actually it’s the PDC, service advisor misspoke. So the fuse box 1611 out the door which includes a the expedited $45 which only guarantees 2-3 day shipping. I have reached out to Ram cares waiting for a response.