Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

RUSTY Cuda said:
Think it's time to start another box for you, wiring, filter & belts 1st in.
Oh yea, I have another neutral safety harness , I can send that to replace the one you sent me.
Click to expand...
I'm not too concerned about the NSS harness. I don't own anything that'll be an automatic by the time I'm done wth it. 😁

RUSTY Cuda said:
So I'm hoping my 05 ram pickup battery drain down problem is finally fixed. guess I'll know in a few days, had it in for inspection & asked them to change the wiper switch on the arm & the park relay, someone steered me in that direction.
The mechanic thought on it a while & remembered that it's usually the switch in the motor that causes the parking to fail, He changed the motor first.
It was still draining down, & the battery they warranted 2 years ago was testing bad, so they tested the battery, with the cables off it was losing power over night.
Warranted it again (to my surprise because the original one would have been out by now) & hooked everything up & let it sit a few days & it started every AM.
Now in the beginning of this problem it would take a few days to a week to drain down, so I won't be sure till it sits a week or 2!
I'm hoping that one is finally solved, been going on almost 3 years.
Click to expand...
This may not be something you see often in your neck of the woods, but on Dodges of that era--hell, well back to the 1990s--what is often causing a parasitic load is the underhood fuse box itself. Here in the Salternate Dimension, unbolting the fuse box and flipping it over often reveals a mess of corrosion that looks a lot like birch moss. While it's not necessarily conductive enough to cause goofy electrical gremlins, it will present enough parasitic load to kill a battery overnight. If it's still actin' funky, have them look at the underside of that fuse box. We've seen it a lot here where on warm winter days and in the spring, the salt spray rivals a Pacific cliff during a typhoon. My Dakota had that issue, but I only knew of it from seeing it several times in the shop at work on much newer trucks.

It's by no means a Dodge-only issue, but it seems to be more common on those.
 
They did a clean up under the fuse box when it first started a few years ago,it was a mess under there.
It was ok for a few weeks & then started draining again.
This truck basically sits in my driveway, I rarely use it, it's there for backup if the car ever goes down or I have a load to haul, if I put 1000 miles on it in the last five years it's a lot
 
Just tried to track your boxes to give you a heads up, both #'s wouldn't work, I hope there's not a problem I got the #'s off their receipt, those work at the PO.
 
I've received the boxes. I haven't had a chance to open 'em, but they look to have arrived in good shape. The compressor box held up well.

Had the parts with me to ship today, then forgot: First Wednesday of odd months, we have a company meeting during lunch hour. Almost got out the door around 3:50, then a motormouth customer came in and kept me occupied for almost half an hour. Well, the post office closes and my employee leaves at 4:30, so it wasn't happenin'. I should be able to get the boxes shipped Friday without issue, but I really wanted to get 'em out today.
 
No problem, there's no rush, it's not holding up anything.
I have to bite the bullet & get insurance pretty soon, once the alignment is done & front end is greased I can start taking little test drives around the neighborhood before I hit the highway for some kick down tests!
Glad they both arrived, 1/4 inch driver for a drill will help with taking my home made crate apart!
 
Jass looks like your box will be delayed a few days at the least, went in to test the A/C in the cool garage & the car wouldn't start from the key again, it did start by jumping out the starter relay & ran, we did get power to the yellow with key in start position.
Hoping it's just the starter relay, no stock at auto zone, will be in in a few days.
I had packed the ignition switch this time, now I'm praying it's not that!
 
I'm screwed, it's not the starter relay, good thing I was planning to buy a spare anyway.
Back to tracing wires, Mark might be free tomorrow to help. He knows way more than I do!
 
Put a test light or multimeter to the large wire that goes to the starter from the relay. Twist the key and see if you've got voltage there. If you do, it's the starter itself. If not, work backward from there.

If you've got power at the yellow wire on the relay in the start position, it's almost got to be the relay or the starter. Double-check your NSS wiring, since that's how the relay grounds.
 
If it's the starter would it work when I use the jumper button at the relay, it did start with that & stay running.
How's duralast parts, that's the relay I got, no made in anywhere stamped on it?
I did recheck the column plug in connector that was loose last time, it was tight & the terminals looked ok.
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
If it's the starter would it work when I use the jumper button at the relay, it did start with that & stay running.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I completely forgot that bit. Starter's OK.

RUSTY Cuda said:
How's duralast parts, that's the relay I got, no made in anywhere stamped on it?
Click to expand...
Again, if you've got voltage at the relay in the start position, it's either the relay itself or its ground wiring. I can't speak to Duralast quality as I've no idea who makes it or where. However, by federal law the country of origin must appear either on the box or the part itself.
I know this: my co-worker had a brand-new starter solenoid (it's technically a relay in her application--it's on the inner fender, not the starter) that was bad out of the box. Sure, the car started but it wouldn't shut off due to an internal short. We ended up reinstalling the original 1968 part and the problem was solved. That part was the Chinese-made "T-series" by Standard Motor Products; we never bothered to order their premium version. She took it as her personal introduction to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim. The starter was the problem and we knew that prior to her replacing the relay. She just figured while she was working on starter stuff...
I'd love to tell you I've got a USA (or at least North American) made solution, but I'm getting conflcting information about country of origin for the SMP Chrysler starter relays. I know this: If the SMP part number ends in "T", it's pure Chinesium.

Check output at the point I suggested ("S" terminal, should have a 12-gauge brown wire on it). If there's nothing there, it's either the relay or the ground side of its wiring. Unplug the brown wire with the yellow tracer at the relay. Now run a jumper wire from that terminal on the starter relay--it should be marked "G"--to battery (-). That bypasses the NSS entirely. If the car doesn't start, you've got a bad relay. If it does start, the problem is in the NSS wiring.

RUSTY Cuda said:
I did recheck the column plug in connector that was loose last time, it was tight & the terminals looked ok.
Click to expand...
If you've got power at the relay with the key in start, the wiring from the switch is A-OK. The key switch only provides 12V+ to the relay, which it's apparently doing. It has no effect on the ground side a'tall. Don't waste time looking for a problem where none exists.
 
OK, first I'll pull the yellow off the relay & make certain it has power with key in start.
Then if so I'll put it on & pull the NSS brown w/yellow tracer & ground the terminal on the relay, Marks meter has a ground probe hanging from the meter to test stuff out of the car, that came in handy doing the sending unit!
I have to wait for His help, dang parts are too far from the Key!

& yes I do know all too well about new stuff not working!
 
Last edited:
b-body-bob said:
Teflon tape on the NSS threads could cause ground problems too.
Click to expand...
That's a major no-no.

Pipe sealant/tape should never be used on any inverted flare (brake, threaded fuel line) or gasketed fitting (flat gasket, O-ring boss, etc). It accomplishes nothing unless the threads themselves are how the connection seals (NPT, BNPT, etc.). In this case, in addition to serving no purpose it actually impedes the switch from grounding.

If the NSS isn't grounding through the transmission case, the reverse lights will still work but the car won't start. In reverse, the NSS simply connects the black wire to the black wire with the white tracer, completing a 12V+ connection to the reverse lamps--no ground necessary. In neutral or park, the switch grounds the brown wire with yellow tracer to the transmission case, which in turn grounds the starter relay.
 
Generally speaking, the Taiwanese make better parts than the Chinese. Such a sad state of affairs these days.
 
Found it, can't believe what it was but at least we pin pointed it.
So we grounded the NSS terminal & it started from the key. So we started checking the harness, right off the bat no continuity from the single wire at the relay to the plug at the firewall, tore apart the clip at the started relay where I had done a repair, put a new clip on, still nothing.
so we sliced into the wire a few inches from the firewall connector, continuity back to the starter relay end, nothing to the firewall connector, so I pulled out the other NSS harness & tested ALL the wires on that, all good, so we yanked out the brown double wire out of the connector, pretty corroded, even when I touched a little bit of exposed wire sticking out NOTHIG, took a wire brush to it & wa la we had continuity!
Of course the locking pin broke off so I have to replace the whole thing, this one had a second connection up top so I didn't have to pull it off the tranny, the other is one piece.
So it's jack it up AGAIN to crawl under & get that in.

On another note, the PU drain down might be fixed, let it sit 3 days & it started, will try a week now.
My just 2 year old battery that was just put in under the last few months of the first warrantee kept testing bad, after he replaced the wiper motor (it wasn't parking right) & going on every time I hooked up the battery.
That stopped but the battery was still draining, to my pleasant surprise He warranted it again, this has been going on for a couple of years now, I hope it's finally over!

The bad clip after cleaning I did get continuity! 20240706_133139.jpg
So my license plate retainers & screws came, now no where in the ad did it say 4, it showed one screw & one clip. I have all the other clips, wasn't gonna pay 7 bucks each for the screws I needed.
Well it came today & it's a set of 4.
This isn't the first incomplete ad I've delt with (fuel sender locking ring & gasket come to mind)
they are slightly different then the old clips, hoping the new screws go in the old clips, or I'll just do all 4 in the rear.
So I cleaned up my plates & noticed my buddy RUST marks on the rear plate, so I clear coated the new screws! 20240706_133419.jpg
 
I actually keep those terminals on hand simply because at their age, it's pretty common for them to break when being removed.

Should you want to fix it, the OE numbers are 1842026 (Chrysler) and 2971962 or 2962987 (GM), both for 14-16 gauge wiring, but neither company services those anymore. The GM number for 10-12 gauge terminals--handy for two 14-16 gauge wires in a single connector--is 12015878. GM discontinued it, but Mouser Electronics will sell you one for $1.03... plus $8 shipping. Oy.

> The AuVeCo number is 15956 (14-16 gauge) or 17002 (10-12 gauge), both in a pack of 25. Either would be overkill.
> The Standard Motor Products "Handypack" number is HP7120 (14-16 gauge) for a pack of 5).
> According to their slow, overbearing website, NAPA's number is NW 725145. Sadly, neither NAPA near you stocks it... and they'd have to order 50.
> Grote Lighting number is 84-2011, 14-16 gauge, in a 10-pack... for about the same price as AuVeCo's 25 packs.

Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone can do nothing with any of these numbers. O'Reilly can, but it seems the nearest one to you is about an hour away. I can't speak to CarQuest since those are essentially independently-owned Advance stores now; what old stock they might have lying around is anyone's guess.

All the above information is really for someone reading this who needs to find said terminals. In your specific case, I'll try like hell to remember to find one (I'm pretty sure their sitting on Agnes' front seat) and send it with that check!
 
I'm trying to think of where my spare came from, you sent one to replace the bad one on the car, this "extra" popped out at me during my last few sweeps of all my boxes when I was in clean out mode.
But after this, I very well may want to fix it & have a spare laying around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

SiteLock

SiteLock
Back
Top