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1990 dodge ramcharger wont start

14K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  shaman8801 
#1 ·
:) I have a 1990 dodge ramcharger with a 318 2 wd.  Several months back (5)  a friend flew into town and borrowed it,one evening it stopped running. I towed it home and tried to start it the following morning. No luck. that evening it started right up,ran for 20 minutes then killed. It would not restart. The following morning no start, that evening started right up. I live in new orleans and it gets hot, it would start in the morning with starting fluid. I checked the filter, it was clear. Changed fuel pump relay. no luck.Decided to put it off for a few months. A few months later I pulled the tank. Sure enough one one the two wires to the fuel pump in the tank had degraded. bought a new pump and strainer and repaired wire.  put it all back together. Ran a little rough for a few hours lots of smoke through the tail pipe, but it was running.Decided to drive it to work for a few days to run through the old gas. Few day to work it was a little smoky. Going up the gno bridge their was a loss of power and acceleration. But she made it over and once she was level ran fine once again. Same thing coming home. The following day I added some octaine boost and fuel injection cleaner to tank of gas. Left for work same issue that morning and going home that evening.......but she never made it home. 1 1/2 miles from home she killed. Tried several times to restart her, but no go. had her towed home.  The following day I changed the  fuel filter again (under the driver side chassis...just in case their is another) I alsodecideda major tuneup could not hurt. (Plugs, wires, distibutor cap rotor and coil) Still wont start. Now she is getting spark, shes is getting gas.    I need help....lol. any ideas fellas ????????
 
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#2 ·
Hello and Welcome to RamChargerCentral

Ok so lets start wit what we know,

1. it has spark
2. it was fuel

so judging by this there is a problem in starter circuit possible problems to this could be,

1. Bad Connection (somewhere in the starter circuit)
2. Possibly Bad Starter Relay
3. Possibly a Bad Ignition Switch, or Bad Lock Cylinder

but lets start with the basics is the battery full charged? (12.6 volts)

what you are going to have to do is get wiring diagrams and follow the wires as they flow throughout the starter circuit, and check voltage at certain points of the starter circuit

this post that Joe. S has is a great example of this,
(http://ramchargercentral.com/vehicle-help/where-my-electricity-went/)
 
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#3 ·
Are you sure about that spark? I too have a '90 like yours. If you didn't replace the Hall effect sensor in the distributor, you should, and how old is that ignition coil? What color was the smoke? Chances are you need several sensors replaced. If the smoke was black I'd start with the MAP sensor and go from there. Remember to disconnect the battery for a few minutes so the computer will reset and see the new sensors.
 
#4 ·
Ignore this post...you don't seem to have any issues with the engine cranking over.

Kenneth Turcotte said:
Hello and Welcome to RamChargerCentral

Ok so lets start wit what we know,

1. it has spark
2. it was fuel

so judging by this there is a problem in starter circuit possible problems to this could be,

1. Bad Connection (somewhere in the starter circuit)
2. Possibly Bad Starter Relay
3. Possibly a Bad Ignition Switch, or Bad Lock Cylinder

but lets start with the basics is the battery full charged? (12.6 volts)

what you are going to have to do is get wiring diagrams and follow the wires as they flow throughout the starter circuit, and check voltage at certain points of the starter circuit

this post that Joe. S has is a great example of this,
(http://ramchargercentral.com/vehicle-help/where-my-electricity-went/)
 
#13 ·
Kenneth Turcotte said:
Well Quite Frankly THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "NO CRANK" and "NO START"
The following post, "Re: 1990 dodge ramcharger wont start" by Kenneth Turcotte has been reported by sls001 on a board you moderate:

The reporter has made the following comment:
this is getting ridiculous his posting when he has no clue what he is talking about especially to new users that might think he knows what he is talking about!
And quite frankly you have been told enough that if you dont have a clue what you are talking about to not post anything at all.

so far the only relevant thing I saw you post in this topic was "welcome to ramcharger central"

quite frankly, I am getting a bit annoyed by the number of "report to mod" and PM/IM's I receive from people about you giving out just plain wrong advice.

I have read a good portion of your replies on certain things, and up until now I have been willing to just let it go as someone trying to help out. It has gotten beyond that point and to the point that you should probably set back a while and let the people who may actually be able to help give the answers.

OP, sorry for the brief tirade, listen to Gen1Dak. He can at times come across a bit rough but he knows his way around mopars and engines in general.

With what has been asked and answered so far, I would opt with what 1gatordodger is referring to in his question to Gen1, and say a head gasket may potentially need replaced.

What does your oil look like?

Eric
 
#14 ·
One last thing, IMO, the next person that reports our young Mr. Turcotte to a mod and says he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about, yet does not in return offer the correct answer or an attempt at it, should receive a brief vacation from the site.

If all of you people reporting him to the mods actually know he is wrong the very least you can do is post the right damn answer instead of just ripping him apart or running to the mods and "tattling" on him.

I also think it is only fair that, like in my previous post, we post up the info of the person thinking young Mr. Turcotte is wrong.

So, Mr. sls001, since you seem to think Mr. Turcotte is wrong, what is, in your ever so humble opinion, the correct answer for our new member to fix his ride?

 
#15 ·
I may not be seeing it (it is late now), but have you checked for error codes?  Have you checked fuel pressure?
 
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#16 ·
IntenseImages said:
And quite frankly you have been told enough that if you dont have a clue what you are talking about to not post anything at all.

so far the only relevant thing I saw you post in this topic was "welcome to ramcharger central"

quite frankly, I am getting a bit annoyed by the number of "report to mod" and PM/IM's I receive from people about you giving out just plain wrong advice.

I have read a good portion of your replies on certain things, and up until now I have been willing to just let it go as someone trying to help out. It has gotten beyond that point and to the point that you should probably set back a while and let the people who may actually be able to help give the answers.

Eric
He did not tell us if it was a NO CRANK or NO START
 
#17 ·
While he did not specify, based on what he posted, it sounded like no-start instead of no-crank to me. One key point, he said he had spark..., he wouldn't have spark if the engine wasn't turning over.
 
#19 ·
Oil is very clean, current oil change has about 650 miles on it....no water or coolant in oil.....about 3/4 of the way to the full line on dipstick. pulled the hall effect sensor this morning should have the replacement part by 4 pm. carquest has to get it from baton rouge warehouse. After I put it on I will update ya'll.  Thanks The Cajun.
 
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#20 ·
Wow, I missed the whole cat fight. Now, back to bidness. On the head gasket, to me that's a separate issue. In my experience, a 318 will shrug off a blown head gasket and keep running on the unaffected cylinders. in reading the OP, my thinking is a fuel issue. On followup, the OP says the starter is spinning fast, how fast? Faster than usual? That also indicates no fuel in the cylinders. Just compressing air is easier so the starter spins the engine faster. Solve this question first. Its likely the Hall effect sensor is toast. Its in the distributor. This sensor tells the computer to send fuel, basically. When it croaks, you get no gas.
 
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#23 ·
I had a fuel pump failure a while back, replaced it with an OEM that failed within 36 hrs of time it went in the tank. My guess is an OEM unit isn't up to the task of dealing with today's gas. I then replaced it with an upgraded Bosch turbine-style pump. No problems now. That's not to say a new OEM would fail, just a vintage OEM (which is what I used the first time) made with less tolerant materials. I'd rule out that new pump first. Could just be a case of bad luck with a faulty pump. Certainly could be something else, but thats where I'd look first.
 
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