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View Full Version : 2001 Dodge 1500 battery drains


somehelp
Dec 21, 2007, 12:07 PM
Greetings to all. This being my first post on this forum let me give some history related to my question : This is my son's truck, all the trouble lights would trip out and he would loose all inputs to the dash. No speed, gas. Nothing. He took it to Dodge and they reset the computer. He drove it on a 500 mile trip and everything was fine. It sat a couple of days and then lost the dash again. He took it to Goodyear and they put new battery connectors on and a new battery. He took it to Dodge again and they said the computer was fine, they were thinking a short. He had been driving around until this weekend when he went to start it and nothing. No fuel injection, interior or hood lights. I told him to check the new battery to see if it was still up and it was not. After charging for some time he was able to start it but it ran rough. He thinks it is wiring gone bad and the truck is not getting anything from the power source. I'm leaning more towards the PCM even though Dodge says it's OK. I've seem lots of posts on other forums about dash and electrical problems with these trucks but no body has indicated what the solution turned out to be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

TxGreaseMonkey
Dec 21, 2007, 01:00 PM
. Test all fuses, and power through the fuses, in the under-dash fuse box and the under-hood fuse box, using the approach below:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-46563-3.html#post252145

. Check for codes.

. Check megafuse wire going from the alternator to the battery.

. Check the alternator, particularly the voltage regulator in the alternator. It works, in conjunction with the PCM, to keep the battery fully charged.

. Check for parasitic battery drain:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-46563-3.html#post241804

My bet is the alternator is bad.