Please Please Help

[JAG1]

JJSNOW sent me this PMso I asked Mike Nelson to get it Posted for @JJSNOW....

 

My dually 98.5 ram 3500 5.9 turbo diesel has been down since May.  I have spent thousands and thousands on parts.  I have replaced every part per mechanics request from the injector pump, every sensor on the truck and now I am told that I need to send my PCM off.  I don't have the money to continue this journey.  I love my truck.  It is for me.  A guy hit me and I had just received a check to have it fixed.  After purchasing my new bed (which is still in Mississippi and not picked up yet), new carpet, finished my stereo system, immediately had to start buying these parts.  I was so excited to finally get it all prettied up and then this!  

 

The mechanic is a very good friend of mine but I am very suspicious sometimes on his motives so now I am asking you to tell me what I need to do.  I have caught him in some untruths.  Last week he said we needed to put it on a more detailed scanner.  Now mind you he has worked his *** off.  But I asked him if _____'s Garage had a scanner.  He said yes and he would run by there.  When he got back he said "they don't rebuild PCMs they send them off."  I was just blown away that was not why he went down there!  When things don't make sense to me they are usually lies!  I sat him down and got him to give me a list of the symptoms:  

1.  Alternator not charging.

2.  Gauges not working.

3.  Odometer blinking code 920, 921, 999.

4.  OBDM port not responding to a scanner.

5.  No throttle position sensor (and I can't read the next word)

6.  Short in wiring harness going to the alternator.

7.  No reverse lights and all other lights working.

 

Because I am a girl and blonde I have had numerous mechanics lie and take thousands and thousands of dollars from me.  Some of them screaming the name of Jesus on Sunday and taking my $100 dollar bills every other day of the week.  And some of these things I should have been smarter!  

 

I am ready to give up on this truck.  Its loud, its powerful, it pulls my horses down the road like there is nothing behind it yet it has broke me, and I think all this may have even broken my cowgirl spirit.  It has completely exhausted me to the point of considering selling my horse farm which I have lived on my entire life but without a truck I am dead in the water.  I  have worked my own fingers to the bone my entire life to have the farm and the horses I have now... I have had a horse since I was 3 and right now I have the nicest horses I have ever owned yet I can't do anything but feed them.  I know this sounds very dramatic but I promise I have been through things and somehow still managed to keep this place and doing it all alone.  I say all that to describe how overwhelmed and beat down I am.  I can't afford some fancy truck when I am struggling already after Covid took my business out two years ago.  

 

Can you please help me.  If you can't help me with my truck point me in the right direction to see a psychiatrist because that is exactly how bad this daily bull crap has affected me.  I will be forever indebted to you!

 

Always, JJ @JJSNOW

Edited December 28, 2022 by JAG1

[Great work!]

Take the alternator in to be tested first. A bad one can damage a PCM again.

Double check ALL fuses. A PCM can cause all those problems however so can other less costly parts. You may want to watch for a doner truck or parting out truck and store it behind the barn. Parts are getting hard to find.

[Mopar1973Man]

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

1.  Alternator not charging.

 

Do me a favor and check the blue wire on the alternator for +12V power while the engine is running. Also make sure your tach is working. If there is no tach signal the PCM will not turn on the alternator field. If the PCM is for sure dead head over to @Auto Computer Specialist and they can rebuild the PCM voltage regulator I just had a 1997 Dodge rebuilt last month for a local rancher. 

 

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

Gauges not working.

Gauges are get there data from the CCD network and could stem from the PCM problems being the PCM is having issues. If there is a cluster problem for sure there is Module Masters in Moscow ID that rebuilds the dodge clusters and ABS computers. 

 

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

3.  Odometer blinking code 920, 921, 999.

 

Most likely there is a issue with the PCM being the PCM is not responding but double check the pins in the OBDII plug I've seen it on my truck and few others after a few thousand cycles of being plugged into it might of push a pin out of the plug under the dash. It doesn't take much to push it out and double check the pins. I'm kind of doubting its happened being there is other issues pointing to the PCM.

 

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

5.  No throttle position sensor (and I can't read the next word)

This is going to be tough without the OBDII socket working and might have to return back to it after the repair.

 

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

6.  Short in wiring harness going to the alternator.

So the blue and green wires. The blue is +12V from the PCM that powers also the trans relay in the PDC. The green wire is a variable ground. If the blue wire shorts out it will fry the PCM quickly. You want to ohm test between the blue wire and ground to verify this. Make sure the PCM is unplugged and alternator is unplugged too for the test. Neither blue or green wire will be active till there is tach signal sensed by the PCM. Again back to a PCM problem. I do have a PCM protection fuse mod that will keep this from happening again. Oh yeah make sure to load test your alternator on a test stand.

11 hours ago, JAG1 said:

7.  No reverse lights and all other lights working.

Automatic or manual? Manual is just a 2 wire switch typically near the shift tower. Automatic does the switch action inside the transmission. Might also check the fuses in the dash on the driver side for a blown fuse.