As best I can describe it, if anyone has been driving a car when the catalytic converter melts down or plugs up the engine gets generally sluggish and struggles under its own weight. Throttle works but no not really because its just bogging it further in a sense.

 

Or how about those of us with Edge tuners who take off driving before it loads and you get that sudden burst of power when it does start working. That sudden contrast between no tune and tune. However in my case only 200 yards prior i was running the tune and it just suddenly fell on its face then as i said its a sudden burst of power when it clears up.

 

I hope that description makes sense because its what my entire issue is but i'll explain it specifically here and just refer to it as "symptoms" to save some typing

 

I have to pass by a particular factory very frequently. Its the main road through town and my route to work or stores unless i take the back way or long way. As i approach this segment of road that these "symptoms" occur for, (haven't measured it exactly but maybe a few hundred yards or so), my edge tuner is typically at level 4 with the boost compensation backed off or level 5 if im in a mood, regardless of load you can feel that level. Suddenly i get those "symptoms". Throttle works. No lights or anything out of the ordinary. I make it that short distance up the road and depending on where my foot is even in level 4 with the boost comp backed off it'll usually dump a little smoke and then back to normal as if nothing happened.

 

I bought this truck in 2016 when i lived in california. maintained it in arizona. still have it in florida. i've literally crossed the country and can solemnly swear this is the only place this has ever happened to the truck. the factory iteslf isnt necessarily close to the road. the nearest power transfer station is about 3/4 of a mile away. no cell towers that im aware of. there is the helicopter field but my house is much closer to the field than this segment of road is. the only other businesses in proximity is a handful of restaurants and stores and i think a parts house and a oil change place and a carwash.

 

I did the W-T mod years ago and even changed the diode if im not mistaken. I've taken care to make sure my batteries are all kept in good shape. APPS is weeks old. There was even a year period of time when the truck was down and it was acting up then too. Happens on both sides of the road but not every single time just 50/50 probably.

 

I thought APPS but its done it with at least 3 different sensors from 3 different companies (OE, Pensacola Fuel Injection, Oreillys Standard ignition currently).

 

Im not exactly expecting results so much as im sharing in hopes someone has some sort of clue because i absolutely do not have any idea what would cause something like this outside of some sort of interference violations i mean this is just weird to me. Im not saying im jumping for a lawyer at all its just one of the weirdest things ive encountered and ive seen some pretty wild complaints having been in dodge dealerships for so long

When my air dog quit I was about five miles from home. Truck had no noticeable difference in running at all. If it wasn't for the fuel pressure Guage, I'd have not known the pump quit. 

Air dog appears to be pumping. Relay definitely was toasted. Connector was cracked from the heat. Just got a new connector and relay spliced in with good connections. Battery connections are all clean and right. I’m using the military grade terminals that Napa sells and the copper lugs that you have to pound tight with that wedge tool and a hammer. No visible corrosion on any of the wires outside of some oxidation on the galvanized pieces. 
 

tested it with a jumper wire and it is pumping. So I just finished heat shrinking and taping the wires for the new relay and connector. Guess we’ll see how this goes

Sometimes relays burn out. Im not good with electrical, can you do a current draw on the pump in case the motor or pump is going out and drawing excess amps causing heat in the relay?

 

Don't even know if something like that is possible. 

23 minutes ago, Max Tune said:

Sometimes relays burn out. Im not good with electrical, can you do a current draw on the pump in case the motor or pump is going out and drawing excess amps causing heat in the relay?

 

Don't even know if something like that is possible. 

 

If the fuse didn't blow out then the current is in check. But.... A weak connection will cause a connector to fail and melt the plug and burn the connector. 

9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

If the fuse didn't blow out then the current is in check. But.... A weak connection will cause a connector to fail and melt the plug and burn the connector. 

I'll second that, driving home from a site on Tuesday night I get a headache after about 20 miles and thought I could smell something, thought it was from outside the truck so carried on with the window down slightly, got home no problem

Same thing Thursday night, same site, about 15 miles into the drive home towing my workshop in the dark gets a headache but this time the lights went off for a second or two not long after the headache came on

Top left of the dash just above the headlight switch was getting rather hot, I checked it out Friday morning after fitting a new MAP sensor (been messing about for a week or so) and light switch connector melted a little and evidence of 1 pin getting really hot, bad connection inside the switch for sure, fitted the one off of my 3500 and all good.

 

A poor electrical connection will generate heat and lots of it, time to order light switches  methinks

 

Since we are sharing electrical problems... both my trucks suddenly had very slow wipers about the same time on my 01 and the 02. They also sit out all winter so what I found was the electrical ground and power leads are connected at the wiper motor gear housing, always exposed to the rain and whatever underneath the cowell. I could smell hot electrical wire smell both times since the heater gets it's intake air from the cowell area. I removed the cowell and remove both wiper assemblies, sanded and cleaned the connections and added dialectric grease. Wipers now work beautiful. Just wanted to let you know where the culprit is if you ever have slow wipers.

If you turn the wiper assembly over, exposing the gear cover and connections, you will find it very easy to pull back the rubber cups at the pivot points on the linkage arms and inject some grease in there. The rubber cup/covers close back up over the ball joints when you let them go.

I had the wipers fail on Thor. It broke loose the passenger side wiper linkage. Be aware that system technically is not repairable like the old school truck where you could get the new plastic joint cups for the linkage. I ended up replacing the entire assembly as a unit for $250 bucks. Sad part is even Minnie it uses the same system and I had to replace a wiper motor. Cowl bowl was filled with standing water and rotted out the wiper motor internals.

long overdue update guys

 

thank you to everyone so far

 

so, as far as parts I've replaced this year since the last posts.. edge programmer actually died so I removed it entirely. I just can't leave it alone so I downloaded my antique 2004 edition superchips tune into it and its fine it runs great. got new tires, replaced steering box, replaced steering linkage (same 2010 complete assembly from the dealership), new steering dampener. replaced the output speed sensor on the overdrive housing. at the amount of fluid I've began to need for this truck I bought a 5 gal pail of valvoline hydraulic fluid (ill update with the specifics) with a can of BG transmission additive mixed in, it was $130/5gal at my local Napa compared to $10+ per quart of atf+4 since nobody carries it in gallons anymore I cannot find it here in a gallon. also added the power driven diesel cooler line kit which brought my heat exchanger back into the picture so I have properly regulated transmission fluid temp. still using an extra cooler mounted in front of everything.

 

one of the mechanics was kind enough to let me borrow his fluke meter for a few minutes today. I've been dealing with the lock/unlock syndrome again. its not behaving like the true symptoms though. its not the insanely rapid jerks, this is slower and way more dramatic which has me wondering about the alternator and the APPS. I also have the GM style VB solenoid upgrade and I'm not sure of the symptoms those display when they go bad.  these symptoms are not exclusive to the current condition of the truck but that has been happening with the edge, without the edge and with the superchips. I did not have a chance to find the information about the millivolts AC and where to check for readings or what the specific numbers were so I did my best to get the most logical stuff quickly I didn't have much time but I should at another time if I can hopefully gain some more education here

 

I did all testing with the positive lead touching the alternator charge wire, where it meets the passenger side battery (I've modded my wiring already)

 

with the ground lead at the passenger battery, I was reading 19mV AC with some fluctuation up to 34

with the ground lead at the alternator case, I was ready 33-34mV AC with some fluctuation up to 80

 

so as not to ignore the subject matter of the whole thread in the first place, I am still getting that interference at the same spot in town, again its with the edge, without the edge, and with the superchips. that whole situation is still beyond me. I will say the edge definitely amplified the effects so I barely notice it with the edge ripped out but its still occurring. maybe alternator combined with some weird residual from the power lines in that specific spot?

Gotta double check. 

 

Are you testing after the truck has been driven and fully warmed up? 

 

You need to take the truck out fully warm up the engine allow the battery to recharge and get the grid heaters turned off. This will skew the results being a grid heater solenoid can produce a jump like you call out 08 mV AC just from the solenoid magnet collapsing from the disconnect of the power. 

 

At the same time when you start your test did you leave the engine running and not shut down and restarted? 

 

This is why you leave the engine running because now if you are shutting down and restarting the engine even a warm engine and IAT is even above 60*F it's possible for the PCM to read the battery temperature which might be low in temperature and trigger grid heaters on the next start up. Again this will skew results.