I have an 04.5 3500 that just lost power as we were towing our 5er to our winter site in Texas. I plugged my Bosch scanner in and it showed the P2146 code for the #1 bank. The short story is that a mechanic has Ohm tested the injector solenoids and they're OK (only about 30k miles on the replaced injectors). He saw signs of a short inside the valve cover, but frankly, I'm not sure that wasn't from an episode we had 5 years ago. At any rate, he replaced the wiring harness but that didn't fix anything. For reasons that are irrelevant to this post, we can't stay here for the amount of time he said he'd need to trace the wires for an undisclosed short or to find an ECM and replace it. So we have some friends traveling up here with a couple of trucks and a flatbed trailer. We're going to trailer my truck to our site in Texas and I'll find a local mechanic to finish the repairs. I'd just like to be able to discuss the problem with him intelligently and make sure he's not trying to blow smoke up my ***. If the injectors and the wiring harness are both OK, is the ECM the only other thing that could be causing the problem? I had a Smarty Jr. program installed but, after the problem arose and before it went to the mechanic, I took the towing program out and reinstalled the stock program. That process went normally, but I'm not sure if that's any indication of the health of the ECM. Since my truck is an '04.5 am I correct in believing that any replacement ECM should be for that version or later? And that it should not be for an '04? Thanks for your input and replies.

 

To be certain you do not have injector issue before replacing ECM I would try this. One at a time, disconnect both wires from each injector and insulate the terminal ends so the circuit will not short to ground on the effected bank (1-3 for P2146 or 4-6 for P2149). Clear the codes and start the engine, check if the same code resets. If an injector is disconnected and the code does not reset, replace that injector.

 

2146 is a full bank code.

Having run into this problem a few times. Look very closely at the areas where your injector wiring runs close to the injector lines, even if it is enclosed with loom. That is where I've located full bank issues every time.
Not saying this is the be all, end all, but it is a good place to start.

 

P2146/2149 are usually death codes for the injectors.

If your replacement injectors were remans, I would recommend to pull them all and have them tested at a reputable shop.
Be prepared to purchase 6 brand new injectors which are very expensive.

If your replacement injectors were brand new Bosch, then I would continue to make continuity and harness checks.

Those codes can be caused by a single injector solenoid failure.
The injector solenoid can be replaced.

 

The procedure I posted above is recommended test by Chrysler for that code.

 

I'm not going to chronicle the saga that ensued after my original post, just suffice it to say that I finally got the truck to someone who could diagnose problems and not just replace parts. The issue was that #2 solenoid was just fine when the motor was cold but upon warming up the solenoid would go from 2-3 Ohms to 75 Ohms. They replaced the injector and solenoid and the truck is running great again. It makes you appreciate competent mechanics because, even the with the assistance and suggestions provided here, there's no way I was going to be able to find this problem sitting in an RV park. Thanks to all.

 

For an emergency tow service when hauling horses check on U S Rider. The only one that will handle trailer with horses.

 

Just seeing 2-3 ohm's says the injector solenoid is bad, first mechanic not good. I've had this issue several times, I ohm the injectors and the highest ohm reading gets replaced. Granted my failures were always in the 6-15ohms, but anything above 1 ohm is essentially bad.