buzzman

Well, I finally finished the W-T wiring mod to my 98.5 truck. I had previously replaced all the battery cables and various chassis ground wires. And I replaced the battery clamps with military style clamps. I added the #4awg wire between the negative posts of the batteries as W-T suggested. I ran the new alternator charge wire through a 150amp breaker mounted near the passenger side battery. The ground wire connection, the #8awg and the three smaller wires seemed to be done well. They were crimped and soldered nicely and covered with some heavy duty heat shrink. Maybe I should have left them alone and just ran the #8 wire to the driver side battery...but I did it like W-T did. I checked the AC ripple before and a after the modification. AC ripple before the mod = .028-.031 vac. This was with all accessories turned off and all noise filters removed. Actually, I tested with and without the noise filters and it didn't make much, if any, difference. During my first measurement I forgot to turn off the blower motor and the reading was .039-.043 vac. AC ripple after the mod = .010-.012 vac. Nice improvement! This was a reading I took after I drove the truck around for about 10 minutes. The first reading I took was right after I got all the wires hooked back up and the reading was higher at .014-.016 vac. I hope this solves my T/C locking/unlocking issue. I want say thanks for all the help I got from this forum. Buzz

Got it! Thanks a bunch. This is an amazingly helpful forum for those of us who like these 2nd gen CTD trucks. Buzz

I have been reading this thread over and over. I have the grounding side figured out, but I need clarification on the alternator charge wire. As shown in the attached photo, my 1998.5 has this junction block that hooks to the back of the alternator. I think it's different than the alternator connections on the 1999-2002 models. The block has the #4 awg charge wire, a #6 awg ground wire that runs a short distance to an engine block ground, and two #14 awg wires. I think I need to keep this junction block. So my questions are: 1. Do I just cut that #4 awg charge wire (the wire on the left in the picture) that goes through this junction block and eventually snakes it's way over to the PDC and 140 amp fuse and throw it away, therefore no more 140 amp fuse...and then run a new, much shorter, #4 awg wire directly to the passenger side battery positive terminal? 2. Should I add a fuse to that new #4 awg wire? Many thanks to W-T, Mopar1973man, IBMobile, and others for describing this fix. Buzz

Well, I got my rebuilt ECM back from Auto Computer Specialists and installed it about two weeks ago. It works great. No more WTS light delay. It was easy to work with them. Turn around time was about 12 days total. Thanks to this forum for the help and recommendations. Buzz

Mopar1973Man, Wow, thanks for the link!

No I didn't. Is the error code page somewhere on this forum? Buzz

Well, the WTS light delay issue has returned. Based on the recommendations here, I called ACS, Auto Computer Specialists. I will send my ECM off to them. I also got a P0122 code this time (APPS low voltage). Is that caused by the bad ECM? Thanks, Buzz

Thanks dripley, that is more involved than just moving the ground. Now I have to see if I can do it correctly to my truck. I may have more questions.... Buzz

Mopar1973Man, Thanks for the suggestions. What is the W-T ground wire mod? Some time ago I removed the ground wire from the loom that runs from the passenger side battery across the alternator and re-routed it over the radiator and enclosed it in a metal braided hose. That didn't seem to solve any of the problems. Is that what the W-T ground wire mod is? I don't know what the PCM fuse mod is? Can you enlighten me? I sure hope I'm not hi-jacking this thread too much. Let me know and I'll start a new one if needed. Thanks again, Buzz

A couple weeks ago I replaced the alternator on my with a brand new one. The WTS comes on normally now, no delay. It's been working fine for two weeks. Hopefully that solved my problem. Happy, happy! About a week ago, I also replaced all the battery cables (2/0), new crimped ends, all ground wires, and used military style battery clamps. This might also help since my original clamps and cables were looking bad. Much thanks to this forum for the great information it provides. Buzz

dripley and Dieselfuture, thanks for the info about where the ECM is located. Buzz

I'm having a similar problem with the WTS slow to come on. If I have to eventually replace the ecm, is it the computer bolted to the block or the one on the firewall? Thanks, Buzz