1999 Ram problems
From : bob
Q: gary wrote hi everyone. this is my first visit to your group so forgive me if this has been asked before. i have a 1999 ram 1500 with the small v8...i think its a 318...cant remember the liters. 2 weeks ago the truck developed several problems overnight. i drove it one day...everything was fine. the next morning the abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. i can only imagine that i have some sort of computer chip or board that has gone bad or has dirty contacts but i have no idea where to begin looking for it. anyone had a similar problem and have any idea what to do about it thanks in advance! gary theres really only one semi accurate way to track down these bizarre electircal gremlins. go to a hop that has a code reader and pay the bucks. sure youll spend $50-75 on diagnosis. but its a whole lot cheaper than guessing. but before you do take a look under the hood for the obvious stuff loose connections corroded battery terminals etc. a bad ground can do some strange things. -- ..bob 97 h-d fxdwg - turbocharged!! 01 dakota quad sport 5.9/auto/4x4 83 gmc jimmy beater 66 427sc cobra replica - project 66 mustang coupe - daily driver -----= posted via feeds.com uncensored usenet =----- http//www.feeds.com - the #1 group service in the world! -----== over 100000 groups - 19 different servers! =----- .
Replies:
From : tom lawrence
abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. your rear wheel speed sensor has gone out on you. its located on the top of the rear differential. go to your dealers parts counter and get a new one should be around $40. theres one bolt holding it in - take the bolt out disconnect the electrical connector carefully - it breaks without much effort then grab the base of the sensor with some pliers and twist back and forth while pulling it out. put the new one in lightly grease the o-ring on the new sensor - makes installing it easier bolt it down plug the electrical connector back in and youre all set. thats the cause of three of your four symptoms abs brake light and speedometer. this has nothing to do with the idling however... but one thing at a time. .
From : gary
hmmmmm...sounds interesting. im still a little puzzled about the idling problem though because when the problems with the brake lights and speedometer disappear which normally happens for 5 to 10 minutes or so it will idle perfectly. i still think that the problems are some how related. i see no real connection between the problems but they come and go at the same time. thanks for the advice! gary abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. your rear wheel speed sensor has gone out on you. its located on the top of the rear differential. go to your dealers parts counter and get a new one should be around $40. theres one bolt holding it in - take the bolt out disconnect the electrical connector carefully - it breaks without much effort then grab the base of the sensor with some pliers and twist back and forth while pulling it out. put the new one in lightly grease the o-ring on the new sensor - makes installing it easier bolt it down plug the electrical connector back in and youre all set. thats the cause of three of your four symptoms abs brake light and speedometer. this has nothing to do with the idling however... but one thing at a time. .
From : tom lawrence
then you might want to check the main connector on the pcm and make sure that is has not become lose or corroded. yep. make that connectors - theres three of them. passenger-side of the firewall - look for the silver box with all the wires coming out of it. .
From : tbone
then you might want to check the main connector on the pcm and make sure that is has not become lose or corroded. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving hmmmmm...sounds interesting. im still a little puzzled about the idling problem though because when the problems with the brake lights and speedometer disappear which normally happens for 5 to 10 minutes or so it will idle perfectly. i still think that the problems are some how related. i see no real connection between the problems but they come and go at the same time. thanks for the advice! gary abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. your rear wheel speed sensor has gone out on you. its located on the top of the rear differential. go to your dealers parts counter and get a new one should be around $40. theres one bolt holding it in - take the bolt out disconnect the electrical connector carefully - it breaks without much effort then grab the base of the sensor with some pliers and twist back and forth while pulling it out. put the new one in lightly grease the o-ring on the new sensor - makes installing it easier bolt it down plug the electrical connector back in and youre all set. thats the cause of three of your four symptoms abs brake light and speedometer. this has nothing to do with the idling however... but one thing at a time. .
From : gary
hmmm...well im not familiar with a pcm. i looked in the area you described and found something resembling a heat sync that had 3 large plugs plugged into it. each of the plugs had lots of wires coming from it. i took the plugs loose and looked at the pins and connectors. all of them appear to be in good condition. i didnt see any corrosion or anything. i blew them out and plugged them back in. i took them loose and plugged them back in repeatedly just in case there was a little corrosion that i couldnt see...maybe i could scrape it off. it didnt help. im not 100% sure i was working on the correct thing though. i do remember seeing some printing on it that said something about software so i am pretty sure that there is a computer board or something inside of it. i greatly appreciate the advice. any other ideas should i open that thing up and look inside of it did i do the right thing with what i think is thepcm gary then you might want to check the main connector on the pcm and make sure that is has not become lose or corroded. yep. make that connectors - theres three of them. passenger-side of the firewall - look for the silver box with all the wires coming out of it. .
From : draegus
the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. draegus hi everyone. this is my first visit to your group so forgive me if this has been asked before. i have a 1999 ram 1500 with the small v8...i think its a 318...cant remember the liters. 2 weeks ago the truck developed several problems overnight. i drove it one day...everything was fine. the next morning the abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. i can only imagine that i have some sort of computer chip or board that has gone bad or has dirty contacts but i have no idea where to begin looking for it. anyone had a similar problem and have any idea what to do about it thanks in advance! gary .
From : tom lawrence
the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. but thats not going to cause an idling problem... thats the piece that doesnt fit. .
From : tom lawrence
hmmm...well im not familiar with a pcm. i looked in the area you described and found something resembling a heat sync that had 3 large plugs plugged into it. yep - thats it. i greatly appreciate the advice. any other ideas should i open that thing up and look inside of it no did i do the right thing with what i think is the pcm yes. any other ideas this is a strange one... the idling problem is the thing that doesnt fit - everything else is classic rwss failure symptoms. just for the hell of it can you measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine off it should be above 12.5v. with the engine running you should see 14v. .
From : garygary
ok...i measured the voltage and it is exactly as it should be. one other thing possibly worth noting is that whenever i am having all of the problems and the truck will not idle there is a strong smell of rotten eggs in the exhaust. i assume this is telling me that whatever controls the mixture is not working properly / getting bad info from a computer. something else that i didnt mention and probably has no significance is that the truck is a manual transmission. did any of this info give you anything else to go on thanks again! gary hmmm...well im not familiar with a pcm. i looked in the area you described and found something resembling a heat sync that had 3 large plugs plugged into it. yep - thats it. i greatly appreciate the advice. any other ideas should i open that thing up and look inside of it no did i do the right thing with what i think is the pcm yes. any other ideas this is a strange one... the idling problem is the thing that doesnt fit - everything else is classic rwss failure symptoms. just for the hell of it can you measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine off it should be above 12.5v. with the engine running you should see 14v. .
From : gary
even the idling problem the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. draegus hi everyone. this is my first visit to your group so forgive me if this has been asked before. i have a 1999 ram 1500 with the small v8...i think its a 318...cant remember the liters. 2 weeks ago the truck developed several problems overnight. i drove it one day...everything was fine. the next morning the abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. i can only imagine that i have some sort of computer chip or board that has gone bad or has dirty contacts but i have no idea where to begin looking for it. anyone had a similar problem and have any idea what to do about it thanks in advance! gary .
From : dennydraegus
most teams tear down the engine rebuild it or replace it and service the clutch pack in about 45 minutes. so slow we at team wheel horse can swap motors belts tires and weights in eight minutes. now if we only had a hemi.......... g denny it must take the jaws of life to pry your fat ass out of the drivers suit. the pink nomex one. bfg roy roy ive always shyed away from this topic but ive now gotta ask. does sue know how often you think about my ass it seems like you are mentioning it fairly often recently. bg denny after seeing the pink bunny costume...... share with us which fantacy you saw this. and it had better be good..... not your ass your fat ass. im just amazed that your tractor can haul anything that large. shit im amazed that your truck can haul anything that large. gbfg let me refresh ones memory. who had to sell the z06 due to ones posterior not fitting thru the door anymore who had to get a bigger vehicle so they could take advantage of the wider seats who is selling their truck cause they cant get their puddin cheeks that high any more who is giving up the route cause they cant get their lazy ass out of bed in the middle of the night whos dog has the biggest ears ring any bells gbfcg denny .
From : draegus
follow me here the pcm gets numerous signals from ecm cab and the transmission solenoid assembly. if the pcm is getting no/erroneous vehicle speed input via the rwss but the transmission and the ecm are giving inputs of variable temperature engine speed etc. then how is the idle set to correct parameters it will not idle or will be rough and can change quickly. i may be wrong wouldnt be the first time but it seems to me to fit the discrepancy and worth a look. gary im definitely interested in knowing what you find out. good luck. draegus the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. but thats not going to cause an idling problem... thats the piece that doesnt fit. .
From : joe grisetti
rotten eggs smell is usually a sign of a catalytic converter problem isnt it joe ok...i measured the voltage and it is exactly as it should be. one other thing possibly worth noting is that whenever i am having all of the problems and the truck will not idle there is a strong smell of rotten eggs in the exhaust. i assume this is telling me that whatever controls the mixture is not working properly / getting bad info from a computer. something else that i didnt mention and probably has no significance is that the truck is a manual transmission. did any of this info give you anything else to go on thanks again! gary hmmm...well im not familiar with a pcm. i looked in the area you described and found something resembling a heat sync that had 3 large plugs plugged into it. yep - thats it. i greatly appreciate the advice. any other ideas should i open that thing up and look inside of it no did i do the right thing with what i think is the pcm yes. any other ideas this is a strange one... the idling problem is the thing that doesnt fit - everything else is classic rwss failure symptoms. just for the hell of it can you measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine off it should be above 12.5v. with the engine running you should see 14v. --- outgoing mail is certified virus free. checked by avg anti-virus system http//www.grisoft.com. version 6.0.538 / virus database 333 - release date 11/10/2003 .
From : gary
yeah but again...the smell goes away when the intermittent problem goes away. rotten eggs smell is usually a sign of a catalytic converter problem isnt it joe ok...i measured the voltage and it is exactly as it should be. one other thing possibly worth noting is that whenever i am having all of the problems and the truck will not idle there is a strong smell of rotten eggs in the exhaust. i assume this is telling me that whatever controls the mixture is not working properly / getting bad info from a computer. something else that i didnt mention and probably has no significance is that the truck is a manual transmission. did any of this info give you anything else to go on thanks again! gary hmmm...well im not familiar with a pcm. i looked in the area you described and found something resembling a heat sync that had 3 large plugs plugged into it. yep - thats it. i greatly appreciate the advice. any other ideas should i open that thing up and look inside of it no did i do the right thing with what i think is the pcm yes. any other ideas this is a strange one... the idling problem is the thing that doesnt fit - everything else is classic rwss failure symptoms. just for the hell of it can you measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine off it should be above 12.5v. with the engine running you should see 14v. --- outgoing mail is certified virus free. checked by avg anti-virus system http//www.grisoft.com. version 6.0.538 / virus database 333 - release date 11/10/2003 .
From : gary
thanks! i really do appreciate the input. im not sure if you saw my other post where i mentioned that this truck is a manual transmission. does a manual transmission still send info to the pcm would that affect anything anyway my wife drives a 99 dodge durango with a 383 and an automatic tranny. are the rwsss interchangeable it would probably be easy to swap them to eliminate a possible cause if they are. follow me here the pcm gets numerous signals from ecm cab and the transmission solenoid assembly. if the pcm is getting no/erroneous vehicle speed input via the rwss but the transmission and the ecm are giving inputs of variable temperature engine speed etc. then how is the idle set to correct parameters it will not idle or will be rough and can change quickly. i may be wrong wouldnt be the first time but it seems to me to fit the discrepancy and worth a look. gary im definitely interested in knowing what you find out. good luck. draegus the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. but thats not going to cause an idling problem... thats the piece that doesnt fit. .
From : tom lawrence
anyway my wife drives a 99 dodge durango with a 383 and an automatic tranny. are the rwsss interchangeable it would probably be easy to swap them to eliminate a possible cause if they are. im pretty sure the durango uses the 9.25 rear axle so yes theyd be interchangeable. give it a shot - see what happens. .
From : gary
cool! ill try it tomorrow and report back with results. thanks! anyway my wife drives a 99 dodge durango with a 383 and an automatic tranny. are the rwsss interchangeable it would probably be easy to swap them to eliminate a possible cause if they are. im pretty sure the durango uses the 9.25 rear axle so yes theyd be interchangeable. give it a shot - see what happens. .
From : tom lawrence
the pcm gets numerous signals from ecm cab and the transmission solenoid assembly. if the pcm is getting no/erroneous vehicle speed input via the rwss but the transmission and the ecm are giving inputs of variable temperature engine speed etc. then how is the idle set to correct parameters the operation of the engine at idle has nothing to do whatsoever with any input/lack of input from the vss sensor. engine idle is a function of the cks and cps to measure rpm and calculate fuel delivery time the map sensor to measure manifold pressure and calculate the amount of fuel to inject and the iac motor to regulate engine rpm to a preset level by altering the amount of air entering the intake. now if the engines warm and running in closed loop mode then the o2 sensors come in to play to regulate the amount of fuel delivered. the output of the vss has nothing at all to do with engine operation as evidenced by the fact that ive driven around with a malfunctioning/disconnected vss at one point for several weeks with no alteration in engine operation. the vast majority of people who have a rwss fail or beginning to fail never report engine problems - simply the abs warning lights coupled at times depending on how bad the sensor has gotten with erroneous speedometer readings. .
From : jimbob in dallasgary
my 2003 2500slt cummins quadcab 4x4 has the same problem.. just sneeze and it makes a chip especially around the door edges and tailgate. also it seems to scratch easier than any other vehicle ive ever owned. ive seen neons and others that have huge patches of paint that has peeled off while at the car wash just primer showing in these spots... the paint is about the only thing i would change on my dodge otherwise i love the truck!!!! this may only be a problem with my truck but i thought id post just in case others seem to have similar problems. my truck 2002 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel paint chips very easily. after 6 months and not going down gravel roads i began to notice paint chipping. i have previously owned chevys and they were used offroad way more than this dodge with very little paint problems. any insight. .
From : otrpu
even the idling problem the rear wheel speed sensor sends a signal to the cab controller antilock brake which then sends a signal to the pcm. a bad sensor could cause all of this. since its an intermittant problem it could be the sensor circuit or the sensor itself. best to check for any obd codes. draegus hi everyone. this is my first visit to your group so forgive me if this has been asked before. i have a 1999 ram 1500 with the small v8...i think its a 318...cant remember the liters. 2 weeks ago the truck developed several problems overnight. i drove it one day...everything was fine. the next morning the abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. i can only imagine that i have some sort of computer chip or board that has gone bad or has dirty contacts but i have no idea where to begin looking for it. anyone had a similar problem and have any idea what to do about it thanks in advance! gary hes right doesnt affect idle. ive experienced the problem. can also effect cruise not working but not always. the sensor on the diff is the first thing to swap/check next and more expense would be the abs controller. pray its the sensor. cheers steve j. .
From : Annonymous
gary i have the exact same truck with the exact same problems. i think the replies to your enquiries have expired. would you mind letting me know what you found out. thanks and regards russell on wed 12 nov 2003 034338 gmt gary nospam***rgdixon@carolina.rr.com wrote hi everyone. this is my first visit to your group so forgive me if this has been asked before. i have a 1999 ram 1500 with the small v8...i think its a 318...cant remember the liters. 2 weeks ago the truck developed several problems overnight. i drove it one day...everything was fine. the next morning the abs light is on the parking brake light is on the speedometer will not work until i am faster than 30 mph and it will not idle. occasionally the problems all go away at the same time for a few minutes then all re-appear at the same time several minutes later. i can only imagine that i have some sort of computer chip or board that has gone bad or has dirty contacts but i have no idea where to begin looking for it. anyone had a similar problem and have any idea what to do about it thanks in advance! gary .