balsip

Absolutely agree with above. All I am saying it is so difficult to have a hard and absolute rule that a particular trouble code means an absolute particular hardware failure. Often it can be incidental as I have learned the hard way when I have written diagnostic software myself. I absolutely think this is best diesel site with Michael so dedicated to teaching and advising us on how to handle diesel truck problems. I only bought a vacuum pump and gauge set for HVAC problems because of Michael's excellent write-ups. Paid for itself several times already.

I had the P0216 in my truck when I checked codes before purchased my 2000 Ram in 2010. Mine was seized at minimum advance because of aluminum timing piston bore gauling which was apparently fixed in the new Bosch rebuilds. Caused a poor cold idle and lousy mileage. I am not sure how they fixed it but I they definitely identified the problem and improved things on the new one. Another big problem was the tiny circuit board in the pump. They used a soldering compound that broke down with engine heat and finally fixed that too in the new pumps. I have over 120Kmiles myself with no VP44 codes now. Apparently Bosch was using solder + flux as a paste applied to bottom of cct board and melted the component leads to the board in a quick convection oven pass. This new procedure replaced wave soldering machines but could not take continuous engine heat. I gather they have a better heat tolerant solder + flux compound that is more long term heat tolerant that does not cause open circuits like the original stuff. This same problem could be in our ECM failures as the engine block gets quite hot? Wave soldering machines are now obsolete. The way TFaoro remounted the ECM on the wheel well will make the ECM a lot cooler. Mighty impressive 64 page thread by Tfaoro on his rebuild - I learned a lot!

I have not signed in here for a couple of years but I can tell you that P0606 code is NOT the death of your ECM. I had exactly the same code plus P0123 for the APPS voltage. I bought a junkyard ECM and had Northland Dodge in Prince George install it. There were no ECM's in ALL of CANADA! The mechanic, Dave, told me there was a problem programming my VIN into the junkyard ECM but I had an Email from Bob Wagner at Smarty the day before. I had been considering a Smarty to do my own software VIN update. Bob said there are two copies of the ECM software in EEPROM and when you do a "Recovery Procedure " on the ECM it will take the factory VIN from the ABS braking module and and join it with the backup image and write it into the "Operating image". There was "Bingo" in mechanic Dave's mind when I told him this and he did it and it made the junkyard ECM work that day. Dave owned an identical truck to mine so I was confident with him and the service counter let me talk to him freely. By the way our software tools at the Dodge dealer is two generations old now and many are being sold off by dealers. Two weeks later and I have the same code INCLUDING P0606 which everyone here said is a guaranteed death of ECM. Not so. The OEM APPS unit is an active component with 4 operational amplifiers that appears to take the average of four physical wipers on the potentiometer (I am surmising by what I saw under the seal). I lost the hermetic seal on the APPS and frost formed on the thin film pot surface and electrically put the ECM 5 volt supply into current limit and set the P0606 code. The ECM had it's 5V supply dragged down by the APPS and set the P0606 code in my mind as I am an electrical engineer that used to design microprocessor boards. I changed to a simple Timbo APPS (which is really just a WILLIAMS passive potentiometer, no active solid state components ) and no further problem. I still have my original perfectly okay ECM sitting beside me as I write this but the junkyard one has cold high idle which I prefer so I keep original ECM as spare. No further problem for last two years. By the way, by luck only my Cummins engine number was only about 200 diference from the donor ECM - pure luck.

The drive shaft splined shaft near the front U-joint absorbs different drive shaft effective lengths as bumps and weights are absorbed by the suspension. Length changes as angle of drive shaft changes WRT transfer case and front axle geometry. If you changed the front axle this can change things and spline can hit the stop and give a jolt sensation. Something worth checking? You can disconnect one end and check the travel by pushing and pulling on it as it has a rubber boot hiding the splines visually.

I went through electrical engineering in 1969 and we were taught that they were functionally the same as a regular diode but with much lower voltage drop and much faster switching time, ideally suited for switching mode power supplies that rectify in the KHz range rather than 60hz. So I do not see how they would block ripple? They are better specs these days but functionally the same as far as I know, and 1969 shows how old I am. I agree that the alternator full wave bridge will probably be the culprit for ripple and should be replaced instead of trying to mask the root cause.

I just uploaded the whole parts document for the 2000 Ram in the DOWNLOAD section. It is what the dealers used at the parts desk at the time. Look at 47RE "Gear Shift Lever" in the directory section. Once you get familiar it becomes easier to get around. When in Adobe Reader you can go under "Edit " and then "Find" the part no. It takes a few second to search that big document.

Try this: I have official Dodge Ram Parts diagrams/list .pdf's for many years. I gave Michael one for Download section but perhaps there is need for others? It is part No 1 and there are qty two in the linkage assy. Google part no. and you will find several places that sell it.

Jeremy, I have been through much of your replacements for slightly different reasons. I replaced my VP44 five years ago due to a stuck timing error code (P0216) and when I replaced the VP44, I increased my mileage by 10%. I did get that P0234 code you have when I chipped it with a mild Diablo Puck. Turned out the waste gate was stuck at the actuator linkage joint and just needed some cleaning and never seize lube. One thing is when you initially get P0234, the ECM goes into limp mode where it de-fuels until boost is under 22 psi again. Very rough and falls on its face. It throws the P0234 at about 24 to 24.5 psi. I used an adjustable boost elbow that bleeds air from the actuator air supply after an 1/32" orifice(to limit air loss) in order to increase the boost by opening waste gate later than stock. I would have needed a "boost fooler" (a zener diode at MAP sensor voltage equivalent to 24.3 PSI boost or so to limit max voltage seen by ECM) otherwise in order to get more power without codes. The 47RE auto would not take that kind of torque anyway. The fact that you are seeing balls of black smoke needs looking into since your "over boost" usually means too much air (and not too little air which is usual cause of black smoke). Perhaps the VP is defective and supplying far too much fuel for the APPS position? Anyway, you should look at Michael's wiring drawing below and fill out your signature so everyone can see your setup at a glance and you will get more replies. Michael's Wiring ECM/VP44 You can get all the wire colors there.

Michael, S165 is hidden in the loom. Read above. KC8KSG has made quite a discovery in my mind.

I think you have really found something that is very important. I am starting to think that splice S165 is hidden under the black plastic loom near ECM connector and somehow has lost its ground tie to the block/negative battery? Many people get this problem and it may be because this splice is just a crimped connection (prone to corrosion) hidden from our eyes by the plastic loom bundle? There are many many posts on finding S165 in other forums but no one actual seems to have found it or shown a picture. They seem to find black/lite blue tracer wire at a sensor and reground it and problem gone like yourself. Must be a mother to unwrap the loom and find it? The 2003 CR trucks have a Figure to give a physical location but our FSM has N/S for "Not Shown". Mopar1973Man wiring diagram says "Near breakout for ECM " for S165 below so I think that is where we unwrap it. I would take that as in the bigger bundle before the ECM breakout and it is probably a crimp jobber prone to the corrosion of winter salt spray.

I went to 1999 FSM .pdf from downloads section and did an Adobe EDIT + "FIND" on "S165". It gave this: "S165 (Diesel) Engine Harness, Near Engine Control Module N/S" on page 8W-95-2, so I am guessing it is a ground wire on one of the bolts holding the ECM to the block. Could always take bolt out, wire brush it, put on dielectric grease and tighten back up. Block threads tend to rust with age. I asked a Dodge dealer mechanic whether he removes the fuel filter when changing the ECM. He said "No, makes too much mess with diesel all over the floor. I just get down in there." Perhaps he hangs his ankles from the ceiling?

You are right Michael as usual with your common sense logic. My own personal opinion is that it is the ground corrosion and perhaps some connector pin and socket corrosion that is appearing on these old trucks. It is easier to mask the problem with filters (or separate grounds) than it is to dig in and find the real actual cause. I would want a oscilloscope to find it and how many mechanics would have a lab quality scope? They do have some specialized scopes but they are not general purpose differential input lab scopes required to trace it down to a particular ground connection. Mopar made a mistake in not going to differential inputs until 4th gen. My career job as an electrical engineer was control of industrial boilers, paper machines, turbo generators etc. and we always used 4-20 ma loops to/from the computer for the I/O. Inputs always had a 250 ohm resistor so you got 1 to 5 volts at the differential input amplifier. Zero volts meant an open circuit. Just about fool proof but expensive. Optical isolators on input amplifiers meant you could withstand thousands of volts difference in ground potential when a substation transformer blew up and automatically shut down the chemical recovery boiler safely on UPS power. A truck has nowhere near the physical distance and therefore potential difference in grounds but it does justify differential amplifiers to cancel out common mode ground noise.

Ah Yes, there is a difference. The ECM on the diesel is directly connected to the APPS wiper on pin 25. Now note Pin 28 of the 50 pin ECM is an analogue OUT signal sent to pin 23 on the C1 connector on the PCM which is an analogue input which affects the 47RE shifting/lockup software. See wiring diagram 8W-30-39 in the 1999 FSM. In the gasser, the APPS is wired directly to the PCM and it functionally takes care of both engine power and transmission shifting with no need for the AO to AI connection ECM to PCM. CAN II Bus is too slow for software passing of this parameter - requires about 1/10 of a second updating response time. Cummins was responsible for all EPA certifications on the diesel while Mopar certifies their own gassers hence no ECM on the gas engines. The newer APPS in the redesigned 6.7 L has two APPS. Interestingly one puts out 1/2 the voltage of the other so that when they are subtracted you get 1/2 APPS Position. Just add one more bit to the A/D converter and you get the lost resolution back. I assume they are doing it this way to eliminate need for a negative voltage power supply which is the most unreliable component in a computer board due to electrolytic capacitors in a regulator circuit. Ah Yes, there is a difference. The ECM on the diesel is directly connected to the APPS wiper on pin 25. Now note Pin 28 of the 50 pin ECM is an analogue OUT signal sent to pin 23 on the C1 connector on the PCM which is an analogue input which affects the 47RE shifting/lockup software. See wiring diagram 8W-30-39 in the 1999 FSM. In the gasser, the APPS is wired directly to the PCM and it functionally takes care of both engine power and transmission shifting with no need for the AO to AI connection ECM to PCM. CAN II Bus is too slow for software passing of this parameter - requires about 1/10 of a second updating response time. Cummins was responsible for all EPA certifications on the diesel while Mopar certifies their own gassers hence no separate ECM on the gas engines. Functionally, this signal is exactly equivalent to the kick down cable that used to go to the transmission modulator lever in a mostly mechanical transmissions like the 618A or 47RH transmission. Our 47RE uses mechanical cable for gears 1 to 3 and computer software for gear 4 and TC lockup so I guess you would call it a hybrid. Dodge was always 20 years behind on this stuff but the transmission was reliable. The newer APPS pedal in the redesigned 6.7 L has two APPS. Interestingly one puts out 1/2 the voltage of the other so that when they are subtracted you get 1/2 APPS Position. Just add one more bit to the A/D converter and you get the lost resolution back. I assume they are doing it this way to eliminate need for a negative voltage power supply which is the most unreliable component in a computer board due to electrolytic capacitors in a regulator circuit. Cheaper than Military grade components I guess. Does this make sense?

I took a look at that 1996 gasser wiring diagram and was surprised there is same type TPS (throttle position sensor) but PCM does all functions of ECM diesel as well as tranny. PCM gets the TPS and fires the fuel injectors as banks of three or four (6 and 8 cyl.). Generator capacity and currents are probably half the that of a diesel though so ground resistance drops are less I would guess. Bet Mopar redesigned this from "single ended" to "differential noise cancellation" in later designs as well, like the diesel.

The above is the 3 phase rectifier bridge in the alternator. The green waveform is what you would see on an oscilloscope with no battery (or capacitance) . ie. the battery tends to store energy (voltage x current x time) between peaks which is why it is so important to have a good battery and good connection to lessen that AC ripple to Michael's 0.01 VAC. When doing this test it is important there is no big loads on the electrical system like grid heaters or headlights etc. The true measurement would be an oscilloscope waveform to diagnose the diodes since a bad(open) diodes makes one of the "1,2, or 3" waveforms go to zero. If the diode is shorted then it is worse as the voltage goes negative but heat usually burns it up and it fails open eventually. The problem is that this AC waveform eventually ends up on every point of ground resistance within the engine bay. That it is one reason it gets worse with age - rust. Mopars biggest mistake was not making the APPS input amplifier a "differential amplifier" with the ground noise cancelling out automatically (via subtraction as noise on two +- signals is identical as long as it is a twisted pair). They started doing that with new design in mid 2000's as I have seen two APPS right at the pedal and they do a subtraction of the two signals. I get away with a low pass filter of a capacitor and resistor to ground but everyone's situation may be different depending on ground rust and alternator condition. I also have a switch to disable lockup at any time which is good for saving wear and tear on lockup disk in the flat city driving and even though filter is adequate. I use a relay to open the lockup solenoid and and switch a resistor in instead - just to fool the PCM into thinking it is still a connected circuit and avoid limp mode on the tranny.