Engine/ECM troubles

[dripley]

Do tell what this other place is and what it cost.

[Ihwelk49]

The other place was a local shop he said may have a used one on the shelf. 

[Ihwelk49]

got ecm in working great so far with 15 miles on it. Only issue is cruise control light stays on all the time 

[Dieselfuture]

I added few heavy grounds to my truck also, battery's to body and frame and frame to body. About half the thickness of regular leads, just something I had laying around. Can't hurt 

[dripley]

Does the cruise work?

[Ihwelk49]

no it doesn't work

[Mopar1973Man]

20 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

I added few heavy grounds to my truck also, battery's to body and frame and frame to body. About half the thickness of regular leads, just something I had laying around. Can't hurt 

 

 

 

Not suggested... Adding extra ground to mask over a problem tells me there are existing ground issues. 

 

As my article starts out...

 

Before Testing - IMPORTANT PLEASE DO NOT SKIP!

Before doing any testing of the alternator for AC noise, make sure to remove any and all wiring modifications. Return the electrical system back to stock. Make sure there is no extra grounds, relocation of ground wires or noise filters installed before testing the alternator. It has been brought to my attention that wiring mods can and will provide false passing grades for the alternator. The entire electrical system should be left stock and unmodified so you (the owner) are alerted sooner to impending alternator failure. Stock system will show AC noise issues much sooner than modified system which will mask the issue and then typically cause damage to ECM, PCM or VP44 sooner.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Mopar1973Man

[JAG1]

Hey Michael Nelson you are an electronics guy...... If the ECM is getting so tough to find... soon the only ones available will be the 2400 dollar ones... What makes it difficult about diagnosing what's wrong and soldering in new components?

 

I'm wondering also, do you think the ECM might be manufactured with a deliberate weak points in which acts like fuses to protect the rest of the circuitry? Therefore most likely places to find the problem making most failures a likely point for repairs?

 

Remember when I accidently shorted my ECM and had all kinds of weird things happening to the gauges, where crazy and they all went away after unhooking the batteries? What causes it to correct itself like that?

 

T.I.A.

Edited January 21, 2017 by JAG1

[Dieselfuture]

@Mopar1973Man that's good to know, thanks for pointing it out. I can see how it would mask some issues. In my case I didn't add grounds to reduce ac noise. After I rebuild my alternator and got it working right, I decided to add extra grounds then. And to be honest I thought I was doing a good thing. But I guess if alternator decided to get waky I might not know about on time. 

[JAG1]

I added extra grounds in case AC voltages spiked while on long out of state trips.

 

Besides, not having much faith in Dodge electrical from owning a first gen for the last 20 years. I don't want to stir a pot here but, I know good grounds are added protectiont too.

 

I added an ECM  ground  instead of only thru the engine block. Don't ask me how I shorted it out.. All went back to normal after disconnecting batteries for half hour

Edited January 22, 2017 by JAG1