ECM Issue?

[ccrider]

Had a put an external voltage regulator on my truck because the one in the pcm went bad a long time ago... anyways today the truck started to overcharge, i cought it and pulled over asap. unplugged the external regulator so the truck was just running off the batteries got about half way home and the thing died going down the road. Pulled over, checked my raptor pump and it was putting pressure to the filter housing just fine... changed filter, it was not that bad and usually they do not just make the truck die, but changed it just in case. Then it started up and drove home fine. After about 10mins of being home went to move the truck started then died right away. Started it up again and let it run for about 20mins and it did just fine. Then went to move it again tonight and started ran for about 10mins in the driveway then died. Went to start it, died instantly. Started it again, ran for 5mins or so then died. After all this had a guy come over and he started yankin on that harness that goes into the back of the injection pump. now it will crank over but not start and the wait to start and od off light are on when they key is at the off position but not when the key is turned on.... Was just wondering if anyone had any ideas, Could that overcharging cause my ecm to take a dump? Also when turning key to the on position there is a loud click from the engine but its down by like the ac compressor sounds like then when I turn the key off it clicks again, and that happened after the guy was yanking on that harness to.

[Mopar1973Man]

Well you going to have to check for error codes ot see what is going on first thing...Also make sure you batteries are in a good state of charge before testing anything.

[MnTom]

Do you have any type of programmer on your truck? I saw one that would start fine, allow the throttle to work for about 5 seconds and then run without the key even in the ignition and give a bunch of codes. That one turned out to be the programmer.

[Mopar1973Man]

No programmer...But I do have a Edge Comp...

[jlwelding]

You need to do some testing for sure, but it sounds to me that the clicking noise on the right side of eng, after pulling on wires is the ac kicking in and out.It sound to me you have major wiring problems that just started with the charging system and is working it,s way around.You can find wiring harness for about 100.00 and it not hard to install.

[ccrider]

Well pulled the plug off the injection pump and messed with it because it didnt seem right, but also unplugged the 3 plugs on the pcm to check if they where possibly green or anything. Truck started right up after all that. Went down the road a while and all of a sudden the lift pump wasnt getting power, fuel pressure dropped and then there we sat. then got thinking and unplugged the pcm again and let it sit unplugged for a few mins. plugged it back in and it lasted long enough to get home. So I am about 90% sure it is the pcm now. Any body know where I could find one, been looking around but it seems no one can get a hold of one accept the dealer.

[dripley]

Unless you have rewired your lift pump, it recieves power from the ecm not the pcm. You really need to check the dtc's so you dont throw a bunch ao part s at it.

[Mopar1973Man]

Dripley is right...

[ccrider]

well I was told the ecm and the pcm are the same thing. Must have been misinformed, anyways the computer that I unplugged was behind the airfilter mounted on the firewall with 3 large plugs. but anyways when it does whatever it does the lift pump dosent pump, and the ac pump clicks, and the truck does not ding when the doors are open and the wait to start and brake light is on when the key is out, untill I unplug the computer behind the airfilter and plug it back in. we did find a buddy with an extra pcm or ecm, which ever one it is, and plugged it in, truck worked but ended up doing the same thing after about 10mins of idling. Also I did plug it into a scanner, and did not show a single code.

[dripley]

well I was told the ecm and the pcm are the same thing. Must have been misinformed, anyways the computer that I unplugged was behind the airfilter mounted on the firewall with 3 large plugs. but anyways when it does whatever it does the lift pump dosent pump, and the ac pump clicks, and the truck does not ding when the doors are open and the wait to start and brake light is on when the key is out, untill I unplug the computer behind the airfilter and plug it back in. we did find a buddy with an extra pcm or ecm, which ever one it is, and plugged it in, truck worked but ended up doing the same thing after about 10mins of idling. Also I did plug it into a scanner, and did not show a single code.

The pcm is behind the air cleaner with three individual plugs. The ecm is on the engine block behind the fuel filter canister with a single 50 pin connector. It is sounding like an ecm issue, but i would expect some troubles codes being set. Did you use an OBDII scanner connected to the OBD post under the dash?

[ccrider]

yea i did connect to the port under the dash. I was talking to another guy I know that has a quite a few cummins 2nd gens and he had a similar problem like this a long time ago, truck would go for like 30miles or so and just die. said he changed so much stuff and didnt get it running for like 3 months they finally brought it to cummins and they change a temp sensor and had to thing running in about 30mins. Being 30bucks I ordered it just incase, but I will look at the ecm and get back with ya.

[Mopar1973Man]

well I was told the ecm and the pcm are the same thing. Must have been misinformed, anyways the computer that I unplugged was behind the airfilter mounted on the firewall with 3 large plugs. but anyways when it does whatever it does the lift pump dosent pump, and the ac pump clicks, and the truck does not ding when the doors are open and the wait to start and brake light is on when the key is out, untill I unplug the computer behind the airfilter and plug it back in. we did find a buddy with an extra pcm or ecm, which ever one it is, and plugged it in, truck worked but ended up doing the same thing after about 10mins of idling. Also I did plug it into a scanner, and did not show a single code.

Not knowing you year of truck but I'm going to drop a link to the wire map... http://articles.mopar1973man.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:dodge-ram-turbo-cummins-24-valve-engine-wiring&catid=26&Itemid=107 PCM (Powertrain Control Module) is what controls the A/C, Voltage regulator, transmission,etc... ECM (Engine Control module) is what controls the engine and VP44. As for using someone elses ECM or PCM remember they are VIN locked so don't expect it to work properly either. It is a protection system added to the device to keep unauthorized software/hardware from being use accidentially causing engine or truck damage. Sounds like a wiring problem...

[dripley]

If you could fill out your signature in the user cp with your truck info it would help. It could be as simple as you say. The trouble codes really help in pointing in the right direction. Not having any will make it interesting. When my ecm went out I had codes enough for every one here. Dont rush out and buy one.

[ccrider]

Alright filled in my signature with what I have, Also another thing probally should have metioned is A few of the guages on my pulse monitor are not working and that started with the issue, one of them being coolant temp and ecm voltage. however my insturment cluster is still reading voltage and coolant. I will be looking into it more tommoro

[Mopar1973Man]

If it was me I would back out of the Quadzilla addons for testing purposes and see if the problems go away...

[dripley]

If the quad is the problem, it might not throw any codes.

[ccrider]

Unplugged the quad and plugged everything back in stock, did the same thing.... then we called a dealer and the guy said when that usually happens in there experience it is the tps. Which I couldnt believe since it has been replaced and is only like 2 years old. So we decided to just unplug the tps... the truck ran for 3hours before I shut it off. So went down and got a tps off a truck, hooked it up plugged it in and started it up... it shut off within 5 seconds. So I took that one out put my old one back in, flipped over the fuse box to look for any bad wires or anything, its fine. then was i noticed my passenger side battery ground was not tight, and it has a medium sized black with brown stripe wire that goes back behind the airfilter by the pcm and into the wiring harness of the truck. Anyways tightened it up and started the truck up. Ran fine. Went and drove it for 20miles then back, idled for a few mins then drove another 15. The guy I was working on it with dosent think it was that ground wire though. he believes it was somthing in a plug or somthing somewhere that we messed with. Anyways its running and driving now, who knows what fixed it.