Electric issues
Asked by lakester66 Jan 07, 2013 at 11:34 AM about the 2009 Dodge RAM 1500 Sport Crew Cab RWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
At first thought it was just the heater/AC fan not working. Then noticed the airbag and antiskid light staying on. As well as the doors will not lock, from the door or the fob. Any suggestions on what this might be?
Thanks
4 Answers
Problems with multiple circuits usually is a bad ground problem. Check the resistance to ground and add another ground wire if it's over a couple ohms. If the grounds are good, check for a large maxi fuse in the engine bay fuse box that feeds several circuits. Could be a bad fuse or a poor connection downstream.
Check for proper operation of the FCM, and BCM. You may have to take the truck to the dealer to get FCM and/or BCM codes pulled, unless you can find a good shop with the correct diagnostic equipment. On a truck this new it posesses a high speed CANbus communication system, with subsystems called LINbus systems. LINbus is set up as follows: The audio system has 1 head unit which is called the "master" unit. Connected to the "master" are slaves (these are all terms that are actually used) the factory amp, and speakers are all "slaves" to the "master" head unit which in turn is a slave also to the BCM. if a speaker shorts to ground, it will set a code under the audio selection on your scan tool. The door locks, HVAC, interior lights, so on and so forth are setup in this same LINbus system.
dodgeowner2008 answered 7 years ago
Check body, frame, and battery grounds for corrosion. My remote start and keyless entry failed at 93,000 miles on 2008 ram 1500 big horn. I sanded and added di-electric grease to these connections, and problems vanished.
dodgeowner2008 answered 7 years ago
on the 2008, the engineers installed the frame ground right in the drivers front wheel well area, prone to corrosion from rain, salt, etc. obviously.