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Please don’t judge me I’m only fifteen and have inherited a truck from my late dad and I’m trying to get it back to running. I had to replace the turbo because it was blown. Before I replaced the turbo the truck would attempt to start with hot batteries but now(two months later) when I turn the key to where it should be running the dash panel doesn’t always light up, or it will light up and stay on until I turn the key all
the way to where it should try to start, then the dash panel loses power. I would appreciate any help at all.
How about if I judge you anyway?...My judgement is it's good to see a young man willing to get his hands dirty to carry on a family legacy...My congratulations, sir, and welcome to DTR...My first suggestion is to fill out your sigline telling us exactly what truck you have, what options and any modifications or extra equipment on it......Ben
Thank you, it’s a 1995 extended cab 2500 Dodge Ram. It’s 4x4 five speed with a 5.9 Cummins diesel, and I’m pretty sure its all stock besides the radio. The cabin fan works and so do the headlights, but besides that I’m not sure what’s wrong or what’s right, I’ve checked all the grounds that I could find on the frame and block and cleaned them up but it didn’t help so I’m open to all suggestions.
My next suggestion would be to use a test light on the ignition switch to see if it has power to the starter circuit when turned to the start position...Also look for burned terminals on the ignition switch...If power is good, use the test light to work your way down the circuit towards the starter......Ben
I think you should get a factory service manual first- they are cheap and offer you good wiring diagrams and diagnostic paths.
The lights going out and the instruments dropping to zero when the key is moved to "start" is normal- the power to other stuff is turned off while starting to have all the power available for the starter.
A simple check would be to use a 12V bulb connected to one battery of the truck while trying to start- you will either see the bulb dimming, meaning power is drawn from the battery and if the light goes very dim you see that you do not have enough power, or you see the light does not dim at all, this shows you that the starter does not get the signal to start.
So for the case power is drawn-
Try jumper cables from another vehicle, ensure that your batteries are good (charged and load tested separately) - Again 2 possible results: Bad batteries- fix accordingly, Good batteries- check your starter for reason of excessive power draw.(rebuild with new brushes )
Case no power draw: Check ignition switch, clutch safety switch and associated wiring.
Is the clutch safety button on the inside of the dash supposed to be grounded to the shaft that goes through it or is it okay if it’s horribly rusted like all of the metal under my dash?
The clutch safety switch does not need ground, it passes +12V from one contact to the other while the clutch pedal is pressed. Sometimes the switch goes bad and does no longer conduct electricity, leading to the problems you describe.
You can unplug the switch and use a test light, one end to ground and the other to the wire - you should have one wire where power is present with the key in the start position, the other will do nothing.
If that's the case you can short the switch with a bit of wire across the contacts of the plug, and see if it starts then- be careful that you do not leave the vehicle in gear while trying that, the Cummins has enough torque at idle to rearrange your garage and housing.
Yes sir I’ve got a multimeter, I’m doing my best to use it and a test light to test the wires that go to all of the starting system, and now the fuel system
Boothe, you didn't specifically state this in your post about power to the FSS - but going by that, is the truck not cranking? The FSS relay is triggered by the starter relay. If no power to the starter relay, then no crank and no power to the FSS relay. If the truck is cranking but not starting, then you need to look at the FSS and FSS relay (among other things).
I’ve got it to start finally and it will idle good, but when I got it up to about 2000 rpm it started smoking horribly and I started to lose oil. It’s a white- grey smoke. My dad had mentioned that he thought it needed a head gasket I think, but I’m not sure how to check it and I’m not set up to pull the engine to change it myself if that’s what it is.
...Ben
...Ben
...Ben
