My 99 ram 2500 diesel got harder to start the last few weeks now it's dead and won't start at all. It cranks but that's it. It's been hard starting(long cranging time) the last couple of weeks but would always start. Now nothing. Any ideas??

 

Mike, welcome to the site.
Now spend some time reading and searching.

You need to find out how much fuel pressure it has at the injection pump.
Did you run it lower than 1/4 tank? Has it sat a long time with little fuel in it? ( it may have bacteria growth)
Change the fuel filter and take a picture. Is it filthy?

 

I would almost bet money it's a starter. They get weak and can't crank hard or fast enough to get the motor to fire. I chased a similar issue for weeks checking fuel batteries cables and so on. I skipped the starter because it was only a year old. These motors require gobs of torque from the starter to fire right. The engine simply eats starters. I have done 4 in 100k miles. Different manufacturers and companies. I would recommend starting here as it is a simple job to do and not too expensive.

 

weiercd mite be onto something. trace your power and see of it is goin to the starter, on the older trucks the shutoff solenoid is suspect too. go through your compustion triangle (air, fuel, heat), and make sure all of the sides of the triangle are there, fuel and compression are goin to be your most likely candidates. sometimes only part of the starter fails and it can be fairly easy to rebuild.
http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm
this guy might be able to help with the starter side of things.

the easiest way to rule out the starter is to run power to it directly. it will either work or it wont. once you rule it out though its one less thing to worry about.

 

You can do this with a pair of jumper cables fairly easy.

 

I'd love to help you out but I need to know more details. If you havent solved your problem, take a moment and tell me exactly whats been happening and I'm sure I can point you in the right direction. Dont throw money at it.

 

Sounds like a fuel problem to me as well... wether it be filter, no pressure or a crack in one of the lines... I had my return line crack and had hard starting issues..