2003 Dodge Ram Diesel ***Need help with DTC's***
From : nojodas67
Q: we have a 2001 dodge ram 2500 cummins 24 valve td quad cab long bed. we bought a camper recently and weighed the unit today. it weighs 10280 lbs with camper empty two persons. both axles are within the specified gawr. camper tag says 3000 lbs and i figured around 6800 for the truck so that is not much more than i expected. however list gvwr is 8800 lbs. truck handles just fine and feels just fine with this load on it. i really dont notice any handling difference with load on or off. i do notice a slight performance hill climbing at high elevation difference. camper sets rear of truck down 3.75 inches and sets the front of the bed down 1.625 inches. i have air bags with 15 psi. they can take up to 100 psi. truck has camper helper spring and sway bar package on it from factory. i have 10 ply load range e snow tires with studs. right now they are 70 lbs but i can put them up to 80. air bags say they do not increase load capacity. not sure if camper helper springs and sway bar do or not. it does not seem as campers much lighter than this can be bought and dealer said it was just fine for this truck but i needed air bags. suggestions advice thanks in advance charles .
Replies:
From : nojodas67
i am about to flush the radiator in my ram 2500 with cummins engine. the bottle cap says use only special coolant. what could be so special about this coolant; afterall its a cast iron block and head engine. gm now has a lawsuit against their special coolant; experts claim it ruined their engines. any thought john .
From : nojodas67
there is should be an amp on each of your front speakers. did they work before you installed the new stereo if they did then you need to pull out the new one and make sure that you hooked up the blue wire on the new one. this is your remote amp turn on and with out this hooked up your fronts will not work. my front speakers in my 1999 slt have quit working. is there an amplifier or connection common to only the front speakers i replaced the stereo so i know the problem is not there. both front door speakers and the small speakers near the winshield have quit working. connector to the back of radio is in great condition and fits snugly. any help would be appreciated. rbari at sbcglobal.net .
From : tom lawrence
another poster@noaddress.com writes if overheating occurs only at periods of extended idle then my kneejerk shadetree diagnosis is the radiator itself may have become internally choked with rust and deterioration such that the volume of coolant able to circulate through it is significantly reduced. a radiator shop is probably going to cost you less than taking it to a dealership. thanks thats not it; periods of extended idle let it come back to a normal temperature range. its pulling hills & running the ac that cause the overheating. symptoms which point to either an airflow problem or a constricted flow volume problem. a partially obstructed radiator or hose would give these exact symptoms. replace the radiator. also make sure you have the right water to antifreeze fluid ratio. .
From : tom lawrence
just finished up installing dashtop dash cover and niteglow guage faces..... -- billy 95 ram2500 12v c -- posted via demon.com - premium uncensored group service -------http//www.demon.com------ unlimited access anonymous accounts uncensored broadband access .
From : tom lawrence
it starts fine at first and idles well after about 10 seconds it starts to misfire but there is no pattern to it. its not like it has a constant bad injector. its more like intermittent. not familiar with diesel engines ive only worked on gas engines for about 15 years so i have a good understanding of misfiring engines. upon light pressure to the throtle then it seems to misfire correct itself misfire again and so on until its returned to idle but again there is no apparent pattern. sort of like running on 5 cyls. but having a child turn off one cyl. when he feels like it. i just came back from running it again and it had a constant misfire more noticeable in gear so i thought for sure i had no compression in one cylinder. then i shut it off and started it again and it ran fine for a little while until it began its sporadic attitude again. at least i know there is nothing internal wrong with it. the problem must be like you said electronically controlled. i dont see any electrical connection at each injector. how is the injector timing controlled. on a gas engine there are two leads at each injector. but on this one the only thing i see is the fuel line coming out of the rail that goes to each injector. please explain further. thank you again in advance. john .
From : nojodas67
what is the tone ring is that the somewhat thin plate with teeth that mounts behind the harmonic balancer thats it the crank sensor was replaced but there seems to be no adjustment possible it just slips in the round hole of the aluminum timing case replaced and held in place by one screw. how do you align it well as you noted theres not much of an alignment possible. i was saying that if the mount was bent at all that the timing could be altered. you really cant see this without a drb3 scan tool as dodge re-programmed the cummins ecm so normal cummins diagnostic tools wont work with it - gotta be the in-house scan tool. especially with the new common-rail engines it can be very difficult to troubleshoot a problem without the proper electronic diagnostic tools - since hardly anything is mechanically controlled anymore. fuel pressure is controlled electronically injection timing and duration are both electronically controlled - about the only thing thats still mechanical is the valve timing. can you describe how it runs you said it runs rough.... does it idle rough but smooth out with throttle any smoke on start-up/run another common cause of a rough idle is a failed injector and the way its usually tested is by disabling each injector in sequence with the drb3. when you diable the bad one the engine idle doesnt change - whereas disabling a working injector will cause a stumble/rougher running. this isnt easily doable otherwise as you only have three injector connectors - with each connector serving two injectors. .
From : tom lawrence
what is the gcvwr meaning truck/trailer combination. gvwr is the truck. now i suspect that 10k gcvw is within spec especially since you mentioned that your gawrs are within. we have a 2001 dodge ram 2500 cummins 24 valve td quad cab long bed. we bought a camper recently and weighed the unit today. it weighs 10280 lbs with camper empty two persons. both axles are within the specified gawr. camper tag says 3000 lbs and i figured around 6800 for the truck so that is not much more than i expected. however list gvwr is 8800 lbs. truck handles just fine and feels just fine with this load on it. i really dont notice any handling difference with load on or off. i do notice a slight performance hill climbing at high elevation difference. camper sets rear of truck down 3.75 inches and sets the front of the bed down 1.625 inches. i have air bags with 15 psi. they can take up to 100 psi. truck has camper helper spring and sway bar package on it from factory. i have 10 ply load range e snow tires with studs. right now they are 70 lbs but i can put them up to 80. air bags say they do not increase load capacity. not sure if camper helper springs and sway bar do or not. it does not seem as campers much lighter than this can be bought and dealer said it was just fine for this truck but i needed air bags. suggestions advice thanks in advance charles .
From : nojodas67
i like the graphic of the bighorn sheep on the topper........ thats cool thanks. the decals were made by http//allterraindecals.com and i couldnt be happier. how is wifes truck coming any updates currently bickering over the pillar. i wont settle for anything less than replacing the uni-side. they want to cut it out roughly a 4 foot section of the pillar not even at joints and weld in a new section........a frankenstein job. -- nathan w. collier http//utilityoffroad.com http//inlinediesel.com http//7slotgrille.com http//bighornrefrigeration.com .
From : nojodas67
if overheating occurs only at periods of extended idle then my kneejerk shadetree diagnosis is the radiator itself may have become internally choked with rust and deterioration such that the volume of coolant able to circulate through it is significantly reduced. a radiator shop is probably going to cost you less than taking it to a dealership. thanks thats not it; periods of extended idle let it come back to a normal temperature range. its pulling hills & running the ac that cause the overheating. however im leaning toward a radiator prob. at this point. another poster@noaddress.com writes tom lawrence tnloaswpraemnmcien5g@earthlink.net wrote thanks i was wondering about the fan... it seems slow to me but it is turning. but this is my first clutch-fan ive had vehicles with electric fans otherwise. any specific tests i can do with the engine running at operating temp watch the fan as someone shuts the engine off. if it stops turning almost immediately the clutch is doing its job and is engaged. if it freewheels for a while the clutch is shot and needs to be replaced. did this & the fan seems okay. when the van overheats sitting at idle for a few minutes with the heater going full-blast does bring the temperature gauge back down to the middle. i had the radiator flushed; seemed like the thermostat must be working right it did open. guess im starting to suspect the radiator itself even though it looks to be in good condition. .
From : fmb
thanks for everyone who replied to this thread. replacing the serpentine belt *partially* fixed the problem. it still gets too hot pulling a hill i.e. the hill up to my house. however it seems okay on the freeway now... at least during this cold-weather spurt were having. the serpentine belt seemed fine when i checked it little wear evident & few cracked v-grooves none of the long cracks the haynes manual warns against. i was surprised that changing it made any difference at all. so theres still some problem but not as bad. i can only suspect the radiator now & im trying to find a radiator shop with a good reputation not as easy as it sounds!. just trying to get the van reliable enough to take on a couple of pending long trips. these vans were designed to last a quarter million miles werent they i.e. the ram van 2500 mines less than half that but ill say that the overheating is the only problem... everything else about it is terrific! .
From : langerhans
most of these do not make sense; 2122 2121 & 2127 refer to pedal position sensor; this truck is not equiped with adjustable pedal. or is it the same as the throtle position sensor. 0480 cooling fan 1 control circuit/open low speed fan relay; truck is not equipped with electric fan. 0533 a/c pressure sensor high i have not charged the a/c system yet. 0118 engine coolant temperature sensor high 2509 ecm/pcm power input signal intermittent could this be the result of a bad ecm or pcm or bcm. this truck has a diesel engine control module as well bolted to the side of the block which is the one that showed a small 1/2 crack in the case. any more comments thoughts thanks in advance. .
From : fmb
ok i have a 2003 dodge ram diesel vin#6 automatic trans. the following dtcs are displayed in this order 2509 0193 0118 0113 0533 2122 0251 0480 2127 2121 0073 i purchased the truck wrecked and just got it running yesterday after replacing a long list of parts in the front end. it runs a bit rough right now; i am suspecting a bad ecm also because the housing was cracked and i sealed it with silicone sealant. thank you. .