99 Ram 2500 van engine stalls or will not start

2012 DODGE RAM

SWEDE

MEMBER
2 POSTS
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I have a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 cargo van. 5.2L V8, Auto trans, A/C, 52000 miles. It has a radio but no other electric conveniences. A few weeks ago the engine quit on me. It started right up again. The next time it would only crank but not start. All gages were at zero and a message "no buS" were in the odometer window. I did not get a trouble code in tha code reader. Sometimes it runs and sometimes it does not. I will continue to trace this intermittent problem but would appreciate any sugestions as to the cause.

Update: I have traced the problem, I think, to the driver side (there are three) 32 pin connector to the computer, located in the heat above the engine. Wiggling indevidual wires does not seem to make any difference. If I push hard on the connector I can get the engine to work again. Could a curcuit board in the computer have a crack in it? It seems to solid a moumting for that to happen.

Jul 25, 2007 at 6:45 PM

DPWD23

CAR REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
136 POSTS

If you continue to have problems I would recomend taking it to a dealer or another mechanic who would have a scan tool with the vehicle specific codes (or able to pull car data from ecm). They will be able to identify which component on the BUS is dragging the system down. The most common of all is the connection on the back of the instrument cluster. Unplugging that for a few moments works in quite a few cases. Other than that, it's a guessing game if you don't have the proper scan tool.

Aug 3, 2007 at 12:26 AM

SWEDE

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thanks for your sugestion. I did take it to a dealer and they put in a new computer so hopefully that will take care of it. I got it back yesterday. I was lucky because it was still under warranty, just under 8 years.
Any sugestions how I can keep it cooler. It is located in the engine compartment just above the engine. Not a proper place for electronics without proper shielding or cooling

Aug 3, 2007 at 10:32 AM

DPWD23

CAR REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
136 POSTS

I can't come up with any ideas right off hand, but some things NOT to do...
No water coling ideas :P
Don't stick any reflective insulation to it. Although it seems like a good idea at first, it will also hold heat generated by the electronics inside and fry it faster.
IF it is behind a plastic panel, go ahead and stick a small piece of reflective mat to the plastic, but just enough to reflect radient heat away (under and on engine side). Last thing you want to do is create a heat trap that ends up making the area even hotter!

I'm sure you could fabricate a sheet metal heat shield for the bottom and side that is closest to the engine and stick the reflective mat on the engine side of that, to reflect the radiant heat away from it. space it an inch or three away from the ECM to allow for air flow to the surface of it. Any modifications like this would likely void the warranty, so it's best to leave it alone until it's no longer under warranty.
You could also rig a small 12 volt fan from radiohut to blow on it when the key is on. Position that so air from near the fender is blown on it, but at highway speeds enough air flows through there to blow anything away that's not bolted down.

Aug 3, 2007 at 11:21 AM

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