1995 Dodge Ram truck stalled will not restart

Were you able to identify the smell, coolant, oil, electrical, rubber...? where was the smoke coming from in the engine compartment?

Joe

well i discovered that the coil burnt up that's most likely why it smelled like it was on fire and also why it wouldn't start. i'm changing that out today but when i pulled the tranny dipstick it smelled like that's what caught fire. very strong odor, i guess it's possible that with all the smoke under the hood it caused the tranny dipstick to smell too. i'm still just concerned about the noise i heard before all this happedened, not sure the coil catching fire would make that type of noise. also right now i don't hear my fuel pump when i turn key to on position. do you know if that's tied in with coil burned out?

Did the coil actually burn? Was there any damage to other items?

As far as the trans fluid, if it smells burnt, have it serviced with a new filter. The smell from the coil is most likely not what caused that.

After you get the coil replaced, let me know if there is a problem with the fuel pump.

Joe

ok coil wire burnt up it touched the exhaust manifold and burnt thru. i put another one on and now i'm waiting for my battery to charge it's like 10 below here right now! now another big concern i have though is i still don't hear the fuel pump kick on when ignition is in the on position and i know it used too. also i checked the tranny dipstick and it still has a smell too it and the fluid looks blackish almost like the color of oil. it looks to me like maybe the tranny got hot and caused tranny fluid to come back out thru the dipstick cause it looks like theres a little bit on the spark plug wires and around outside of dipstick. theres nothing under tranny leaking. like i said i changed the tranny out about 15,000 miles ago/3 months ago with another used tranny but when i did that i changed tranny filter and fluid. i'm worried the tranny is fried, what do you think? also since it's so cold is it possible my fuel pump froze up?

Hi:
Don't worry about the fuel pump yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Get the battery charged and see what happens. If it doesn't start, check for spark. If you have spark, give it a shot of starting fluid. If it starts with the fluid, but won't without, then we'll move to the pump.

As far as the trans, service it again. It's common for them to get dirty and it doesn't mean there is a problem. Since you got it used, it may not have been serviced prior, and keep in mind, new ATF has a cleaner in it. Maybe it just did some cleaning for you.

Let me know what happens. Listen, I need to go out of town tonight. I will take a laptop with me and check for your reply, but I may not be able to check until around 10 PM eastern time.

Joe

thanks for all your help i certainly appreciate it. i charged the battery still no spark now i m wondering if it's the coil it's self. i'm thinking maybe when the wire burned maybe it shorten out the coil. i'm gonna try to check that for now. i'll keep you posted on what happens

If you are getting power to the coil (12 volts) chances are you are right.

Joe

ok when i check to see if i'm getting 12v do i do that with key on or off or does it not matter?

Hi:
That is with the key in the run position.

ok i checked power to coil i'm not getting any nothing 0 volts. where do you think i should start at?

Check the power distribution box under the hood. I believe there is a ignition relay that may be bad.