A-Poc

I fixed the majority of my electrical problems a week or so ago BUT there is one that remains unresolved. It being 30 degrees farenheit this morning she doesn't like starting too well without her grids. When you turn the key there are no 'Check engine' light, no 'Water in Fuel' light and no 'Wait to Start' light unless you let it sit there with the key in the on position. After 10 mins of sitting the lights came on but when the 'Wait to Start' light went out and after I cycled them 2 or 3 times I turned the key and she was dead. I did this about 10 times and nothing. Now... when you have the key turned there is a FAINT clicking coming from the first relay but not loud like it was before I looked into my wiring issue. The only way she started was when I held the key wide open until she went... after 3 or 4 rolls she went and talk about a ROUGH start. I hate doing that so I need to know... is this symptoms of grids or a starter relay?

Sorry if this sounds like a repetive post but my electrical issue is getting very narrowed down and I would like to FINALLY nip it in the bud.

Mike

A-Poc

I guess I'm going to have to take a stab and say its the grids... ah well...

Hillbilly_Deluxe

Well mike it appears everyone is sick of your electrical questions.

wannadiesel

You guys already swapped a different PCM in there, didn't you?

You might consider throwing an ignition switch at it, can't hurt. I can't think of a good reason why the bulb check wouldn't happen as soon as you turn the key, but then happen if you let it sit.

DODGE 92

ID LIKE TO HELP but i dont no what to tell you

JKM

Yes , we swapped in another pcm , temporarily , and it had no effect on anything at all, so we swapped it back out for his origional.

AFAIK , he is out in his shop as we speak about waist deep into that truck , so lets hope he comes back with some good news.

He was telling me earlier that he still has one relay making a faint clicking , so i am thinking he still has a bad connection somewhere in the system, and it isn't allowing him full voltage/current to the relay. If i wasn't 1.5 hours (each way) away from him , i'd be there helping him right now.

A-Poc

Well I took another look... Cleaned and Greased every wire I could get my hands on. Nothing has changed. ALTHOUGH I did find out something remoltly interesting. Next to the grids there are a couple solenoid posts that run wires to the drivers fender and meet up with other solenoids, one being positive and one being negative. HOWEVER, even with the key on, those posts next to the grids those are BOTH negative. I figured maybe one should be positive and one negative but they weren't

Jim5870

I had a grid relay seize up in the normally open position once.
I changed it out with a Ford starter type relay.

JKM

Mike , i'll price a Grid for you as soon as i can get up to cummins EC , but i really doubt this is your problem, pull the relay that is clicking , and check the connector for 12v , and ground, test the relay also , maybe it is bad?

And do check for 12v att he cables going to the grids , if there is no power there , the grid is probably fine. , worst case scenerio , you hook up a simple on off solonoid , and a push button somewhere in the cab, push and hold it for 5 seconds , or 10 seconds , or however long you deem necessary , then crank the ol girl over. I know it's a hillbilly fix , but it's better than no grids. We had to do the same thing on the combine for the either start (no grids or glow plugs at all on it) , something in the circuit wasn;t operating , and it simply wouldn't start without some fun juice.

Alec

It sounds to me as though you have some other problems. However, if I understood you correctly, you say that the last time the grids worked, you cycled them more than once without starting the engine. According to the shop manual, this will cause the grid that is energized to burn out. So, you may now have a second problem.

A-Poc

I too think there is an alternate problem but like Alec said chances are there's probably more than one issue here. I went and priced some grids from mopar and it rung in at $260 Canadian. Now if I can make it until this weekend I plan to check into things so HOPEFULLY it all can be resolved.

If anyone has had past troubles with their grids let me know how they went. All help and advice is needed because I NEED my grids this time of year.

DODGE 92

apoc i spoke with a mec friend being that you turn the key and after a while the lights come on he suggested you look at you ignition switch take it apart and match up the wires he said its a way to check it out and its sounds good to me i had stuff go crazy on my old gm once and that was the trouble