Great work!

Try disconnecting the and cleaning the following: The three PCM connectors The engine harness to truck harness connectors (left of brake booster) The ECM connector, it has a bolt in the center of it. The ECM sends a pulsing signal that matches RPM to the PCM, that's how it knows the engine is running and can energize the trans, alternator and AC.

Typically on the diesels the red/white wire is always hot and the green/black is hot when ignition is on. The start wire run down the same tube as the +battery cable to the starter.

There are lots of options for the lift pump power it really depends on how big the pump is that you are using. There are a lot articles about it all over the forums and the manufactures of the pumps usually have some instructions too. The green with black wire in the engine connector (near center of the firewall) is Keyed power from the fuse block on the side of the dash. It only has a 10 amp fuse so it will need a relay setup for a serious pump. The fuel shut down has a pull in wire and a hold wire, both require a lot of current and have relays on the 12 valve trucks and fusible links. The pull in part is turned on momentarily by the starter wire. If left on it will destroy the shutdown solenoid. If you are getting rid of the ECM there is going to be a whole mess of electrical issues some are not easy fixes either. Some folks rig up a choke cable to shut off the P7100 saves a lot of headaches.

The temperature sensor is used to make fine adjustments to the battery float voltage for optimal battery life. It's not used to determine battery health. The crimping only vs. Soldering debate depends on the lugs and tool quality most DIY stuff is not very good so there can be corrosion problems. A top notch crimp tool and dies are very expensive and require matching lugs to get a perfect fit.

Add on like amplifiers, radios, trailer brake controls, inverters, GPS and phone charges can still draw current when off.

Any codes? will it go over 2000 in neutral?

The vp44 also computes RPM from its internal position / speed sensor and sends it to the ECM by the CAN bus. The edge gets its RPM from the bus.

Find the light green / black wire on the connector that goes to engine harness it's near the center by where the vacuum lines tee off. Back probe or pierce it with a voltmeter or test light even better. It should have 12 volts with key on. Then plug in PCM if the voltage drops out then it's loading it down. The ltgn/ bk wire goes through a fuse on the side of dash. I had a truck that a mouse chewed the wire behind the clutch pedal. The red/ white wire is always hot check it the same way.

The steering gear box can start leaking at the bottom seal usually because the bearing wears especially with big tires. Carefully inspect the AC clutch too there are 3 or 4 mini leafsprings that can get cracks and break also the disc can wear and may not engage sometimes. Check metal on drivers door latch around the screws cracks like to form there. One more thing the draw straw likes to rust through or crack at the top of the fuel tank.

Bushing or bearing both have pros and cons. Bearing better performance less fault tolerant. Bushing better fault tolerance less performance. The 6 speed is already stiff to shift and hard on syncros so a bearing could be better.

Loosen a couple injector nuts then bump the starter and leave key on on you should hear the electric lift pump running for a while. Repeat a couple times. Tighten nuts and cycle the lift pump again then try starting. You must have good batteries to start. Not all lift pumps work that way. This is for the stock lift pumps.

When I was experimenting with the CAN bus i noticed that the Idle validation signal wire from the TPS goes to both the VP44 and ECM. When the signal changes levels the VP44 changes a single bit in one of it's handshake messages back to the ECM. At the same time the ECM sees the level change and makes sure the message received agrees. If there is a mismatch for to long it can set a code. I would suspect a P0122 code but who knows for sure, I don't have the code listing for the ECM. I wouln't think the MM3 would be changing the data form the VP to ECM only the other direction. Theoretically the bucking itself could be causing massive rapid changes in the TPS back and forth and the ECM thinks the signal is faulty. Thats seems unlikely. It's more likely they need to apply more fuel dampening in their tune.

Okay thanks for clearing that up. I was almost thinking they cracked the vp code and were reflashing the module on top of it.

I'm a little confused. Is the mm3 just a ECM flash without a wire tap? Are they able to override the built in fuel duration limits of the VP via the CAN bus, I didn't think that was possible. Anyway that's a lot of money invested.

I can't help with the part numbers but I changed a cab before. Put a 2wd quad auto gas 1500 on a diesel 4wd auto. Only one year difference similar options different radios. I had to change every harness over. Even above the headliner. I got it all done and the doors wouldn't plug in. Had to change the door harness too. Buy a set of those plastic body and trim removal tools to pull out the wiring with out marking the paint and plastic. They work great especially the crow foot one.

I think the TC unlocks when the brake pedal is pressed too, not sure. Clean all the battery posts again that used to fix my truck.

Since the dash has been out you need to check the three wiring connectors that plug into the back side of the fuse block. Squeeze your hand up above the parking brake and feel around for them, they plug into the backside of the fuse block they are extemely difficult to remove even when the dash is pulled back. The plastic latches offten get broke, I know from experience. They could have worked loose just push on them to make sure they are seated. Did you try swapping around the fuel system relay its the one in the lower left corner of the PDC when standing by the drivers fender?

I have a Glowshift combo gauge now it works okay but is cheaply built. I had pillar gauges in another truck. In my opinion none of the gauges are dimmable enough and are annoying at night.

The Chrysler engineers and Cummins engineers both tried to follow sound grounding principles. They both kept the grounds short and direct. They obviously wanted to test run the engine and harness at the cummins factory and the Dodge folks wanted to be able to check their systems before the engine was installed. The problem is the PCM is grounded to the passenger side battery which seems right (good design practice) and the ECM is grounded to the block by the starter which has a huge ground cable to the driver side battery. The TPS signal is ground referenced to the ECM and then shared to the PCM. The PCM has a different ground lay out which causes a ground difference and differential mode noise to be present in the TPS circuit. The PCM should have been grounded to the same bolt that the ECM grounds are terminated at. That would have meant an extra bolt and tool operation on an assembeld and painted truck. A signal ground return could have been put into the engine harness connector but that violates some other engineering principles. Say one of the main grounds is disconected and all the ground current for the AC blower or head lamps runs through the small signal ground and PCM it can cause a fire or at least fry the PCM. The quick fix was to put in a very large "signal ground" and then run it accros the alternator to the passenger battery so it takes a totally different path then the TPS signal wire and causes differential mode noise. If it ran the same direction and lay out as the TPS signal it would have common mode noise which is easily handled and cancelled out. The large "signal ground" should have set off red flags. The PCM should be grounded to the engine by the ECM ground with a seperate ground to the cab and another ground ran along side the fuel level sensor wire to the tank to prevent noise in that circuit too.

Low voltage and electrical noise in the system cause a lot of problems. The grid heaters are a heavy load when first started.

Should be codes if 100% electrical. Slides into OD sounds bad though.

ECM on engine provides rpm oil temp to CCD bus. PCM on fire wall provides speed mileage and fuel level to cluster. The PCM send trip/mileage increment messages to cluster. The actual sync of the odometer to PCM is some closely guarded secret. The CCD busses come together at the PDC fuse block. Inspect the wire harness over the engine since you were working in that area with the head. May have damaged some wires. Could be corroded connection at the PDC from sitting so long. Try cleaning the CCD bus bridge connector and wiggle the terminals and wiring while somebody watches the cluster.

Need more info. Does it suddenly engage and take off normally at 2K rpm or does it just seem lazy. Slipping means the rpms flare up when the pedal is pressed hard or pulling hard. Is reverse working normally?. Lazy usually means electrical issues. Scan Codes. Remove clean and reinsert the connector plug on the tranny also check the control cable. The second gear band linkage and anchor are known weak spots and can bend or break.

That bare spot completes the ground through the NSS and provides ground for the start relay. The linkage may need adjustment. Try holding the key in start with one hand and move the shift lever up and then down through the ranges slowly if it starts then adjust linkage

I tow a lot and bypassed the rear brake load sensing valve because it was leaking. I also put in the 33 mm brake cylinders in the rear and new axle seals the truck stops great now and brake pads last much longer. It will lock up the rear running empty easier but I let the ABS deal with it.