ehenrie

2000 Ram 2500, 5.9l diesel, 4wd. U-joint went bad, ignored it too long (3 weeks), got to vibrating bad at 50-70 mph. Noticed transmission hesitating and needing a touch of throttle to go. Tuesday got around to getting u joint parts, noticed trans fluid leak which now went major (30 miles, 6 qts) as i was going to work with parts in hand. Fixed (rear) driveshaft, both joints. Front one was toast. Still huge trans leak, another 6 qts of fluid to go home. Replaced rear transfer case seal (where drive shaft connects), didnt look like that was really leaking. Also not from front trans seal/torque conv, and likely not wheel front drive seal. Drove 2 miles, still leaking, parked overnight (outside), slightly sub-freezing temp outside. Trans leak has coated most of transmission, dripping, etc.

This morning, batteries almost dead. Unusual, but i can deal with it. Cleaned, greased, re-connected (4) batt terminals. Charge batteries. replace section of flexible hose on trans cooler lines where I had repaired a hard line wear hole several years ago. No apparent leak there but hard to tell with all the fluid already everywhere. No start. Crank, occasional fire, but no run. Ran radiant heater under truck for 30 min., batt charger still on. Finally started. Now get CEL code P0238, CHECK GAUGES lite on. zero oil pressure indicated. Engine won't shut off. Turn key on/off, no change. Pulled engine fuse to kill engine. checked oil. Low, but should be enough to make pressure. Added oil to full. Re-start engine, shows good oil pressure... for awhile, then zero, still p0238 CEL, and CHECK GAUGES. Repeat. Same issues, particularly the oil press indication. It seems to be a bad indication rather than zero pressure, but hesitant to drive for now. Shut off engine with key, works per normal, except slight delay before engine actually turns off. Never noticed that before.

So, among the several problems encountered I fixed the battery terminals which were dirty and a bit loose but were working prior to this. I'm working to fix the trans fluid leak. The no start I suspect was water in the fuel?? perhaps, and the heater warmed it up enough to get going? Could the oil pressure indication be from trans fluid oil everywhere? I'm going to go get some foaming engine cleaner and try to clean things up.

Any suggestions? Has anyone seen this before?

Thanks in advance.

ehenrie

Forgot to mention, the truck has a Quadzilla(?) Adrenalin box that for some time has not worked properly, but doesn't cause problems (as far as I know). I sprayed foaming engine cleaner all over underneath to try and get as much of the trans fluid off. Restarted the truck, still same issue with the oil pressure indication. T then unplugged the big connector off the front of the Adrenalin box under the hood and restarted. This time the oil pressure indication stayed steady at normal levels. I still have a huge trans oil leak, but I think I at least spotted it. I set the E-brake, put it in gear while running, and looked underneath. Hopefully its just a matter of acquiring some heavy duty hose clamps and installing them. Gonna go make a run for those momentarily.

patdaly

P0238 is MAP voltage high, so it could be either the MAP or the Quad............ Given the deal with your OP sense, I would say leave it off..........

Hope you get your leak fixed as well.

SIXSLUG

If it's running, you have oil pressure...

I'd do as Pat sug't and unhook adrenaline...

ehenrie

I now have the Adrenalin disconnected. I think it'll stay that way. Latest status: No Turbo Boost. Still get CEL w/P0238/P0237. Still have large trans fluid leak. Tightened tranny pan bolts. Most were not tight. Tested, still leaking, perhaps not as much but difficult to quantify. I no longer have the means to adequately troubleshoot this problem so I made an appt with my Dodge Dealer for a service call. Taking it in Wednesday morning. Thanks for the advice.