We've all done the W-T mod.. but has anyone dealt with interference from outside the truck?

[2000Ram2500]

What did you say about the fuel pump lead becoming an antenna?  I’m about to do some electrical work today.

 

Late last week I noticed my fuel pressure gauge was at zero but it’s been a nightmare to keep it working reliably so I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed yesterday when I wanted to drive the truck to work that I didn’t actually hear the fuel pump cycle on, and and a bump of the key did not run the pump for 20 seconds only clicked the relay a couple times. So I checked underneath made sure my pump was still connected and then popped the hood and looked at my relay and saw a slightly melted wire and the relay connector was falling apart and a pin wasn’t even in its slot anymore.

 

what’s even more of a mystery is it showed absolutely no signs of not having a lift pump. When the previous one failed it barely ran. I was running the truck like normal as if everything was fine. Do these pumps siphon? Would a larger fuel line allow it to siphon enough to not die or run terribly? I’m hopefully about to find out more 

 

edit for clarification: I have another car so I wasn’t driving the truck all week with no pump just one trip across town

Edited January 28, 2023 by 2000Ram2500

[Max Tune]

When my air dog quit I was about five miles from home. Truck had no noticeable difference in running at all. If it wasn't for the fuel pressure Guage, I'd have not known the pump quit. 

[2000Ram2500]

Air dog appears to be pumping. Relay definitely was toasted. Connector was cracked from the heat. Just got a new connector and relay spliced in with good connections. Battery connections are all clean and right. I’m using the military grade terminals that Napa sells and the copper lugs that you have to pound tight with that wedge tool and a hammer. No visible corrosion on any of the wires outside of some oxidation on the galvanized pieces. 
 

tested it with a jumper wire and it is pumping. So I just finished heat shrinking and taping the wires for the new relay and connector. Guess we’ll see how this goes

[Max Tune]

Sometimes relays burn out. Im not good with electrical, can you do a current draw on the pump in case the motor or pump is going out and drawing excess amps causing heat in the relay?

 

Don't even know if something like that is possible. 

[Mopar1973Man]

23 minutes ago, Max Tune said:

Sometimes relays burn out. Im not good with electrical, can you do a current draw on the pump in case the motor or pump is going out and drawing excess amps causing heat in the relay?

 

Don't even know if something like that is possible. 

 

If the fuse didn't blow out then the current is in check. But.... A weak connection will cause a connector to fail and melt the plug and burn the connector. 

[wil440]

9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

If the fuse didn't blow out then the current is in check. But.... A weak connection will cause a connector to fail and melt the plug and burn the connector. 

I'll second that, driving home from a site on Tuesday night I get a headache after about 20 miles and thought I could smell something, thought it was from outside the truck so carried on with the window down slightly, got home no problem

Same thing Thursday night, same site, about 15 miles into the drive home towing my workshop in the dark gets a headache but this time the lights went off for a second or two not long after the headache came on

Top left of the dash just above the headlight switch was getting rather hot, I checked it out Friday morning after fitting a new MAP sensor (been messing about for a week or so) and light switch connector melted a little and evidence of 1 pin getting really hot, bad connection inside the switch for sure, fitted the one off of my 3500 and all good.

 

A poor electrical connection will generate heat and lots of it, time to order light switches  methinks

 

[JAG1]

Since we are sharing electrical problems... both my trucks suddenly had very slow wipers about the same time on my 01 and the 02. They also sit out all winter so what I found was the electrical ground and power leads are connected at the wiper motor gear housing, always exposed to the rain and whatever underneath the cowell. I could smell hot electrical wire smell both times since the heater gets it's intake air from the cowell area. I removed the cowell and remove both wiper assemblies, sanded and cleaned the connections and added dialectric grease. Wipers now work beautiful. Just wanted to let you know where the culprit is if you ever have slow wipers.

Edited January 30, 2023 by JAG1

[JAG1]

If you turn the wiper assembly over, exposing the gear cover and connections, you will find it very easy to pull back the rubber cups at the pivot points on the linkage arms and inject some grease in there. The rubber cup/covers close back up over the ball joints when you let them go.

[Mopar1973Man]

I had the wipers fail on Thor. It broke loose the passenger side wiper linkage. Be aware that system technically is not repairable like the old school truck where you could get the new plastic joint cups for the linkage. I ended up replacing the entire assembly as a unit for $250 bucks. Sad part is even Minnie it uses the same system and I had to replace a wiper motor. Cowl bowl was filled with standing water and rotted out the wiper motor internals.

[2000Ram2500]

long overdue update guys

 

thank you to everyone so far

 

so, as far as parts I've replaced this year since the last posts.. edge programmer actually died so I removed it entirely. I just can't leave it alone so I downloaded my antique 2004 edition superchips tune into it and its fine it runs great. got new tires, replaced steering box, replaced steering linkage (same 2010 complete assembly from the dealership), new steering dampener. replaced the output speed sensor on the overdrive housing. at the amount of fluid I've began to need for this truck I bought a 5 gal pail of valvoline hydraulic fluid (ill update with the specifics) with a can of BG transmission additive mixed in, it was $130/5gal at my local Napa compared to $10+ per quart of atf+4 since nobody carries it in gallons anymore I cannot find it here in a gallon. also added the power driven diesel cooler line kit which brought my heat exchanger back into the picture so I have properly regulated transmission fluid temp. still using an extra cooler mounted in front of everything.

 

one of the mechanics was kind enough to let me borrow his fluke meter for a few minutes today. I've been dealing with the lock/unlock syndrome again. its not behaving like the true symptoms though. its not the insanely rapid jerks, this is slower and way more dramatic which has me wondering about the alternator and the APPS. I also have the GM style VB solenoid upgrade and I'm not sure of the symptoms those display when they go bad.  these symptoms are not exclusive to the current condition of the truck but that has been happening with the edge, without the edge and with the superchips. I did not have a chance to find the information about the millivolts AC and where to check for readings or what the specific numbers were so I did my best to get the most logical stuff quickly I didn't have much time but I should at another time if I can hopefully gain some more education here

 

I did all testing with the positive lead touching the alternator charge wire, where it meets the passenger side battery (I've modded my wiring already)

 

with the ground lead at the passenger battery, I was reading 19mV AC with some fluctuation up to 34

with the ground lead at the alternator case, I was ready 33-34mV AC with some fluctuation up to 80

 

so as not to ignore the subject matter of the whole thread in the first place, I am still getting that interference at the same spot in town, again its with the edge, without the edge, and with the superchips. that whole situation is still beyond me. I will say the edge definitely amplified the effects so I barely notice it with the edge ripped out but its still occurring. maybe alternator combined with some weird residual from the power lines in that specific spot?

[Mopar1973Man]

Gotta double check. 

 

Are you testing after the truck has been driven and fully warmed up? 

 

You need to take the truck out fully warm up the engine allow the battery to recharge and get the grid heaters turned off. This will skew the results being a grid heater solenoid can produce a jump like you call out 08 mV AC just from the solenoid magnet collapsing from the disconnect of the power. 

 

At the same time when you start your test did you leave the engine running and not shut down and restarted? 

 

This is why you leave the engine running because now if you are shutting down and restarting the engine even a warm engine and IAT is even above 60*F it's possible for the PCM to read the battery temperature which might be low in temperature and trigger grid heaters on the next start up. Again this will skew results.