Ok, 2006 Ram 2500, 4 door, 4 x 4 diesel auto trans. 48k miles. Here's the problem.... driving down the road and all the gauges and warning bell from seat belt come on. Ok ... check engine light is on, seat belt undone light and bell is on every warning light on the dash comes on... speedometer drops to o tach drops to zero gauges all stop working except voltage and gas gauge continue to work. Truck keeps running... sometimes! Sometimes not often but sometimes the truck will die when all these gauges and lights go berserk. It may happen when sitting at a lihgt, it may happen at 70 mph. sometimes the gauges and lights will flop on and off like an alarm clock. Sometimes you get in the vehicle and start and it will run for five seconds and die. Start again and the same thing, five seconds and die. Then will turnover but not fire. Get out come bac in five to ten minutes... cranks right up and drive off no problem. Sometimes after one of these gauge and light episodes the check engine light will stay on for a while.. maybe a few minutes maybe a whole day. Been to two dealers .. never acts up while they have it... they do not have a clue! Help.... anybody ever expierenced such with their DODGE CUMMIE ????

 

Do you know what kind of codes it's throwing?

Do you have any kind of box or programmer on it?

 

Your problem is so widespread and intermittent that I would suspect a bad ground.
There are dozens of grounds to check, that's where a service manual from http://www.techauthority.daimlerchrysler.com/ is indispensable.

 

Do you know what kind of codes it's throwing?

Do you have any kind of box or programmer on it?

Your problem is so widespread and intermittent that I would suspect a bad ground.
There are dozens of grounds to check, that's where a service manual from
http://www.techauthority.daimlerchrysler.com/ is indispensable

Both are excellent suggestions.

 

Bill that link does not work at my end , not sure what end its broke at .

 

Sorry try this instead https://techauthority.gltghosting.co...atalogId=10051

The factory service manual for my non-electronic 12 valves is over 800 pages,
can't imagine how big it is for an electronic engine.

 

Thanks for the input guys! That link did not work for me either, BUT I will try the other link now. No I do not know what codes because it will never miss a lick at a dealer or shop. Just had it at a shop for 4 days and it ran perfect everyday, went by yesterday... brought it home and 20 miles into my travels today... BAM whistles and lights and no tack and speedometer! Everything went back to intermentenly working and not working. It's driving me nuts. I had one person tell me he had a problem one time like this where a plate came loose in his battery and would fall over against another plate.... screw things up.... then straighten back up and everything be fine again. SOOO, I do not believe this is the problem but... I am going out to the shop right now and swap one of the batteries out with another and weed thru both batteries in a couple days and just see maybe. Actually posted this problem with high hopes of John Q. Public coming on and saying Oh Yea Been Their Done That and this is what it was and YADA, YADA, YADA and it will fix it. New it was to easy, but worth a shot, you never know. If I can ever be near a shop or dealer and it will screw up and stay screwed up maybe someone can get some pertinent info out of it. In the mean time I am gonna keep hunting and pecking. Thanks I am gonna try that link now!

 

Like the others have said, a bad ground or a bad connection at the battery. I have also read that a bad ECM will cause this but it's usually not the ECM.

 

Have you done any work on the truck recently, or had anyone do any service?

Like infidel mentioned, it sounds like a bad ground.

I recently added a set of driving lights and for a couple of days afterwards I was driving along like normal, and the truck suddenly stumbles and then regained its composure. This happened a couple of times and then it stumbled and died on me in the middle of an intersection. I don't remember what the gauges did, but I think they just went dead.

It turns out that I had loosened one of the (many) grounding wires that came off the drivers side battery and I forgot to retighten the connection. Although I thought I had checked everything I simply missed it. It was hand tight, so I didn't see it and couldn't feel it loose with my hand, but once I put a wrench to it I found that it was loose just enough (1 - 1 1/2 full turns) to break the circuit and kill the engine.

If you do replace the battery go around and check and tighten every connection to and from the batteries and see if anythings loose or corroded.
Good luck.

 

probly gonna be cluster itself, should have a stored code somewhere, most likely a lost communication code

 

Are you saying you took it to the dealer and they found no stored codes?

 

Correct, took it to a dealer twice now, same very reputable dealer and they have found no stored codes. I am hoping it fouls up on me one day when I am close to my local dealer, ( which is different from where I took it the other times) and I will be able to whip in there and they check it while it is actually freakin out. It is so unpredictable though it may do this for 10 seconds and it may not do it again for 400 miles. I really even would not fret it that bad and figure sooner or later it will totally quit somewhere and then they can figure out what it is BUT ..... the fact that it has died on me 3 - 4 times in the last two months is, welllll ...I do not want to be on the interstate going 70mph in one of those 5 mile long tunnels where there is construction going on and poof SHE DECIDES TO DIE< AAAGGGHHHHH!
I pulled both batteries out last night and replaced with spares but same oh same oh.
If I get something figured I will spread the word and maybe help some other soul!

 

check the plugs to the computers on the side of the motor and the main power feed to the power box on the fender

 

a friend of mine had an 05 or 06 doin something real similar and he found the ign switch was not fully returning to on after start-up. it was very intermittant but one day i noticed when i grabbed they key i felt it move a bit and the guages started to work.