I have a no start a lot of times if I jump in a turn the key on. If I wait for all the dings on the dash it starts every time. Is this normal? I  has been like this for a long  time.

You have to wait for the wts light to go off, ECM is booting up

1 hour ago, Dieselfuture said:

You have to wait for the wts light to go off, ECM is booting up

 

That and the grid heaters if its cold and your still using them

Kinda what I thought but not sure I had a computer that was on the way out.   You folks know your stuff and would be curious if I would be better off switching the computer from my crashed  1999 
Dodge ram 2500 if there was some upgrade from the 98.5 to the 1999 Dodge Ram 2500  truck.  

the reason I ask is that when I wanted to run a smarty tuner the whole truck would just not accept any tune I tried, I had to disconnect the battery and wait and I could then restore the truck to normal.

Is the wait to start light coming on at key on or is it delayed? If the WTS light is not coming on at key on then the ECM is NOT booting properly. If this condition exist, on a warm day, it is only breifly on at key on. These trucks will start with the WTS light on even in cold weather. The WTS stays on in the cold until the grid heaters heat up. It is best to wait until the light turns off, but the engine will turn over and most likely start with the light on, depending on the temp and condition of the engine. 

 

I jumped in mine when it was 6 months old on a ten below 0 morning. Put in the key and not thinking started the engine. It fired right off but I have never heard that much noise under a hood in my life. Mine will still start to this day with the WTS on.

 

Bottom line is if the WTS is delayed in coming on it will not start until it does. And that is an ECM problem.

The only time I pay attention to the WTS is the first start of the day. After that I stab the key, twist, and fire the beast up. 

 

Like everyone said above if the WTS is not lighting up instantly the VP44 and the ECM are not booted up and are braindead till at least the WTS light comes on. The very first instruction is to light the WTS up and the check for IAT and battery temp to figure out if grid heaters are required. It possible to have 190*F engine temp and 120*F IAT temp and still get grid heaters pre-start and post start this is based on battery temperature.