Hello; New Member from Kodiak, Alaska

[Old Blue - 1998.5]

Hello from Kodiak Alaska!  I've been lurking around here for years, and have found many helpful tips and much information when finding and fixing the first problem I had with my Dodge - Old Blue.

 

 Old Blue is an early 1998.5 with the 215hp Cummins 24V and automatic transmission.  It is a Quad Cab 4x4 dually.  Nice big truck - God help me check my sanity if I ever buy another one like this....Just Kidding.  Been a good rig, but not without some problems with design and 'quality' issues.

 

I'll be looking for some help and more information. Its looking more and more like I may be trying to find a replacement ECM for Old Blue.

 

Thanks-

[Mopar1973Man]

Ok... Before replacement I need you to verify the alternator noise voltage before you even go down that road. Now if the alternator passes and still having issues then the only thing I can suggest is finding a ECM rebuilder and have them re-man'ed the ECM. There is no more new ECM's to be had as far as I know.

[Old Blue - 1998.5]

Thanks Mopar1973Man -- I think I read something about the alternator noise issue here before. I was going to fire it up and check DC voltage at the pass. side battery terminals with the engine running, and then switch my Digital VOM to AC and note what I see there - Is that the correct procedure?

 

My truck pitched a "Check Engine Light' while easing down the road at around 45mph - Not loaded or pulling hard.  My throttle was not responsive and, engine 'limited' to around 1400 rpm and I couldn't hear the turbo anymore, so I assumed it was in some sort of limp home, protect itself mode. Since then, it has gotten worse and is pretty much 'not drive-able'.  I either have idle output, or a jerky, unsteady (and quick!) back and forth between idle and 1400 rpm.

 

I actually bought a DRB III tool and found a P1689 code in the ECM. (No Communication between ECM and Injector Pump Module). I have been working through the troubleshooting steps in the Dodge Factory Manual and am down to the point of checking out connections between the ECM and the computer in the fuel injection pump - So I have some more verification to do on the truck before I actually get to the stage of picking out a good ECM place to deal with. The next thing will be pulling off the fuel filter housing and cleanup so I can get that 50-pin plug off of the ECM (without issue) and verify good connections and no shorts or opens between the 50-pin plug and the Fuel Inj. Pump computer.  I have checked and cleaned all the grounds and they check out good. Good connections and good fuel injection pump relay. I didn't want to mess with, and so put off to last, getting at the ECM and that 50-pin connector. I guess I'm concerned that if something is not broken or damaged now, it will be by the time I get that plug off - ha ha .

 

Any help or advice you or others may offer is greatly and sincerely appreciated. No Dealer here anymore, so I am on my own. Truck is a 'boat ride' away from the mainland and dealer help. Previously, successfully diagnosed and made temporary work around for Dodge's Fantastic Seatbelt Retractor Controller Module - What a fiasco that was.  I finally wired in a switch to turn the solenoids off and on, because I had to wait four months for the new part to get to me.  Ha ha ha .  Hence the purchase of the DRB III....

 

Thank You....

[Mopar1973Man]

Here is the video on how to do the AC noise test...

 

As for the P1689 code here is the article on testing that out...

 

[Old Blue - 1998.5]

Thanks -- So in the AC Noise test....What is a good number?  You're showing around  0.033VAC- and I understand that could vary as far as load - No accessories running etc.

 

What is a bad number? 

Seems like I remember reading you tested one that had 0.5VAC and you replaced that alternator. 

I'll be checking that out tomorrow....Thanks Again....

[TFaoro]

With no accessories on I believe the accepted number is below 0.10 AC, but @Mopar1973Man would know best.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[dripley]

Welcome to the forum. 

[Mopar1973Man]

0.01 to 0.03 is typically good.

 

0.05 is marginal some have reported odd behavior issues.

 

0.1 is a fail...

 

My first alternator was a bad front bearing.

 

My second was a bad case and allowing the rear bearing and shaft to bounce making random AC noise issues.

 

Then last one was causing the cruise control to rev and drop randomly. My cruise is fly by wire not vacuum. So my first test was unhooking the alternator field on my way home. Problem gone. Then hooked back up and tested I got for sure a mid 0.3 AC volts. Even NAPA bench tester failed it too.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Mopar1973Man

[JAG1]

2 hours ago, dripley said:

Welcome to the forum. 

x2

I used to live in Kodiak. Everything was gravel roads back when I was there

[Old Blue - 1998.5]

  Hey Thanks Guys, for the welcome messages and the help-suggestions- advice. Especially to Mopar1973Man - Invaluable!  Many Thanks.  I'll be doing some more research on the truck and we'll see what happens with that.

 

We still have many gravel roads here, but a lot more pavement too - Old Blue was purchased new in Anchorage in May of 1998. There were some signs early on that some aspects of the vehicle were going to be trouble - I'll never buy a first-year design again...The first thing that the dealer could never really fix, were some issues with the cruise control.  I learned early on that it needed to be constantly monitored, and that sometimes (especially when it was around 35 F and below...Not to Use it - (At All).

 

The second thing was the Seatbelt Control Module that ruined a perfectly good set of batteries before I finally got wise to that. The third thing was generally what I consider to poor practices and poor design of many electrical components and wiring, compared to how I would do it.  Profit margins and 'planned short life span' I guess. But besides that, I still love that old truck. 

 

I was offered a smokin' good deal on a 2012 'Tradesman'  Cummins 1-ton SRW 4x4 crew cab at a dealer in Vancouver, WA some years ago.  My wife said I should take it, but we still had Old Blue.....Oh well.

 

Thanks again - Enjoy your Independence Day! 

 

p.s.  Apologies if this should have been in another thread. Please feel free to move or relocate as needed.

 

Edited July 3, 2016 by Old Blue - 1998.5
Typing/Spelling (two-fingers working OT)

[JAG1]

No problem. We have many threads requesting scrambled eggs and end up omelets.

 

.

Brett what did you do to get rid of the issue with the seat belts?

[CSM]

welcome.  

 

as for the 35f... are you meaning -35f?  

 

the truck should be happy below 35f, and well below if plugged in.  ive had to start mine at -25f and it was cranky, but ran fine once warmed up.  i wonder if your grid heater is working properly.  

[Old Blue - 1998.5]

On 7/3/2016 at 0:41 PM, JAG1 said:

No problem. We have many threads requesting scrambled eggs and end up omelets.

 

.

Brett what did you do to get rid of the issue with the seat belts?

Permanent fix was to replace the'"Seat Belt Control Module" - If I remember correctly the Dodge Dealer charged me around $70 once they got them in stock and sent a new one to me. The seat belt control module is a small box (containing an inertia switch and a small circuit board) under the center portion of the front seat.  In a quad cab it is responsible for unlocking and locking the solenoid lock for the seat belt reel - the reel and electrics are all buried in the seat back of the front seat (in a quad cab.) It unlocks the reel so you can pull the belt out, and then locks it, after you go driving, to provide shoulder restraint. After I figured out what was wrong, I called the dealer up in Anchorage.  (I used to work the parts department for a Ford/Volkswagon dealer, and also a time selling GM parts and parts for Mercury Recreation Products and Yamaha recreation products, so the first thing I always ask -'Is this a stock item?' If it is, the dealer is stocking and selling them for a reason - like a lot of trouble with them or a lot of 'replacing' going on....) So the dealer told me that they normally have them in stock, but they were on 'backorder' and he could put me on the list and notify me once they had arrived.  As it turned out, that took over 4 months, as I recall.

 

 Since I needed to use the truck, I identified the wire for the switched lead coming out of the box going up to the seat belt reel latching mechanism. I used my PowerProbe tool to quickly determine which wire unlatched the reel when 12V was applied and wired in a temporary toggle switch, bypassing the control module.  To unlatch, apply power to pull back the lock plunger, to drive with seat belt latched, turn the switch off. The symptom, that I missed, is when that control module starts to fail, it will not respond to a timer circuit in one of the IC's on the circuit board in the module.  That means DC Current will be applied continuously to the two solenoids in the front seats (even with the truck off and the doors closed), and it will kill your batteries over time, especially quickly once it is cold out.  The darn thing killed my batteries in the middle of the winter, before I knew what was going on.

On 7/3/2016 at 7:53 PM, CSM said:

welcome.  

 

as for the 35f... are you meaning -35f?  

 

the truck should be happy below 35f, and well below if plugged in.  ive had to start mine at -25f and it was cranky, but ran fine once warmed up.  i wonder if your grid heater is working properly.  

 

What I meant to say is that the I learned never to use the Cruise Control below 35 degrees F - The truck had made one of its first long trips hauling 3500 lbs of camper up the Alaska Highway in early November one year, when we encountered temps as low as around -20 F. On 'cruise control', the problem that sometimes occurred was that the vehicle would start gaining speed like it was being 'commanded' to accelerate.  One time, on a long straight stretch, while my wife was napping in the co-pilots seat, it did it while we were cruising about 53 MPH with the camper on and loaded - I watched ahead, we had a long straight stretch and I just let the thing go, but kept a steady hand on the wheel and watched for traffic.  Road was clear and straight.  Co-pilot woke up and immediately got a set of very big eyes -"What the Heck is going on??" and I tapped the brakes and turned the cruise control off.  We were going 95 MPH when I shut it off, and it was still gaining speed.....

 

  And when we lived in Anchorage I made a couple of trips out to Glennallen in the dead of winter and encountered some -35 F - No problem with the truck, as long as I didn't engage the cruise control. I once left it parked on the roof of the parking garage at (then) Anchorage International for a week in the dead of winter.  (Not plugged in.) Got back in town, late night, -25 F and a wind blowing - Wondered if I would be calling my lovely wife for a ride....It started right up, no problem. But then it was only two years old and probably had less than 25000 miles on it.

On 7/3/2016 at 5:56 AM, Mopar1973Man said:

0.01 to 0.03 is typically good.

 

0.05 is marginal some have reported odd behavior issues.

 

0.1 is a fail...

 

My first alternator was a bad front bearing.

 

My second was a bad case and allowing the rear bearing and shaft to bounce making random AC noise issues.

 

Then last one was causing the cruise control to rev and drop randomly. My cruise is fly by wire not vacuum. So my first test was unhooking the alternator field on my way home. Problem gone. Then hooked back up and tested I got for sure a mid 0.3 AC volts. Even NAPA bench tester failed it too.

Mike, Thanks for your help and advice.  I had to get a spanking new upgrade to my test/diagnostic stuff, but my shiny new Fluke 115 tells me a I have a consistent 13.85 to 13.90 Vdc  at the alternator hot stud and the passenger side battery, and I am consistently seeing 0.059 Vac on at the hot stud on back of alternator.  Truck is warmed up  (as much as I can in driveway w/o driving) and no accessory loads other than the under-hood lamp.  It is a Denso 136 amp - Can you recommend one brand alternator over another, or any advice on whether NAPA might be a good place to pick up a replacement?

 

Next, I'll be checking again between the fuel injector pump wiring and the ECM. I'll be checking all connections to the ECM and special attention to the grounds.  Does the ECM ground to  the engine block through the mounting  bolts? I also have a new replacement lift pump (The one on the truck now is the original.)  I'll also be installing a fuel pressure gauge.

 

Does anybody know of a good mail-order ECM rebuilder that I can 'scout out'?

 

Thanks Guys....

[JAG1]

Thank you Brett for explaining that didn't mean to have to make you do a whole article write up though I think it should be put in the article data base though. It's a good one I think.

Edited July 15, 2016 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

Personally I've been just doing reman'ed alternators. I don't think it worth buying a new alternator after seeing several members here getting brand new alternator that are junk in the box. One member went through 5 "brand new" alternators before getting one good one. Just make sure what ever alternator you buy you have tested before you leave the store.