Did your truck have electrical problems when you got it? [Archive]

Reed_46052

07-13-2007, 10:33 AM

Bought my 86 ramcharger new - electrical problems encountered: 1) corrosion at the bulk head connector with one wire - 5 hrs to find - 5 min. to fix. 2) fuel sending unit ground connector corrosion and failed connection - replaced sending unit. 3) corrosion at the fusible link connectors off the main power cable. this is the entire electrical problems in 20+ years of ownership and a quarter of a million miles.

Reed

NeDodgeguy

07-13-2007, 12:24 PM

The 72 has never had any problems since new.

bherder

07-13-2007, 11:21 PM

79' Powerwagon - Bought in 2001 (?) - Ammeter bypass was already done.. (I made it better though..) Needed a new voltage reg (Battery was charging at 18v, YIKES!!) .. Other than a minor repair to to the brake lights, not much else.....
(Of course I've been cleaning and modifying all the known trouble-spots, so who knows what may have happened... ;) )

Parson4

07-14-2007, 12:22 AM

79 PW......No serious problem unless you consider my son hooked the battery up backwards on the travel trailer, so the charging wire to the trailer got a LITTTTTLE WARM......Dumb kids who needs em ??? :huh:

I don't worry about electrical problems anyway, if I have any I will just take it to North East Washington and park it for a few months :D :D :D

dodged100

07-22-2007, 11:12 AM

76 d100 firewall connector problems PURE HELL If anyone can find these new please let me know

Blade Runner

07-25-2007, 05:07 AM

When I had mine, the wires to the taillights were grounding out on the (rusted out) bottom of the cab. A fusible link here, all the fuses blown there, and some smoked and melted wires in the steering column. All the day b4 my wedding.

old tired rebel

07-25-2007, 10:38 AM

I have several problems with mine so I'm thinking about buying a painless wiring kit.

Megunticook

07-25-2007, 11:42 AM

My '73 W100 was fine when I bought it, but in the ten years since it has developed several annoying problems. I'm replacing wiring as problems crop up (basically if there's an issue somewhere I try to just replace all the wiring, connectors, etc. in the circuit).

One thing that's become obvious is the previous owner's idea of fixing wiring was to simply twist ends together and slap a piece of electrical tape on. So there's a lot of b.s. stuff I'm coming across that needs to be cleaned out and replaced.

impulsenine

07-25-2007, 12:53 PM

YES.

75 D100... whole thread on my rewiring project, which I did finish but haven't finished the writeup.

ilikesnackpacks

07-29-2007, 04:13 PM

85 D 150 - old owner installed a wire harness for a trailer and disco'd the ground to a tail light...other than that, no probs!

Chump

07-30-2007, 02:31 AM

My 77 W200 had only one problem from the factory. When they plugged in the cruise control harness they partially pushed back a terminal in the bulkhead connector, this caused the cruise control to become intermittent. The local auto electric shop fried the engine harness when they installed a "rebuilt" alternator. This happened to my Dad while I was away and I didnt know about it for several years. I didnt like the way things were running so I pulled off all the tape on the harness and low and behold...melted wires! These were some more experts in automotive wiring that should pick cotton for a living! I built a new harness and it's been fine for 20+ years. I'm going to build another harness with the correct wire insulation and colors this fall just to be safe. I have no problems with my ammeter and have never bypassed it. All connections are in great shape..that's because we are the only owners of the truck and have some mechanical and preventative maintainance background. :):)

Speed Dragon

07-30-2007, 12:32 PM

I'm going to build another harness with the correct wire insulation and colors this fall just to be safe.

Let me know where you get the wire and how much, I can't find too much on factory colored wire.

440 WARWAGON

10-02-2007, 06:15 PM

My 74 RC&75D100 had crap for wiring ! My 84RC&90D250 are a ok!

yogibare143

10-04-2007, 12:41 PM

Had to do Amp bypass and replace most lamps

DiverDwnPowrRam

10-04-2007, 07:57 PM

Maybe someone should make bherder's post on this a sticky...it is one of the most touched on questions....

77Utiline

10-16-2007, 04:56 AM

77 W150 Too much to list. I hate it when people THINK they know how to "wire" things.

Megunticook

10-16-2007, 06:08 AM

77 W150 Too much to list. I hate it when people THINK they know how to "wire" things.

I hear that...including some "professional" mechanics who hack things up as bad as anybody.

77Utiline

10-16-2007, 06:12 AM

:shocked: Yep some of the dumbest mechanics I've ever worked with have been AS$ oops I mean ASE certified :nutkick:

mikehopkinsjr

10-17-2007, 05:19 PM

78' W-150 Sidestep powerwagon

Old owner wired up a bunch of crap,

1# it has like 3 wire harness type deals on it..... (tearing out all of it now)
2# Steering column had a faulty emergency light plug thing
3# Dude wired in 5v resistors and ground the fuel tank sending unit so the fuel tank was ALWAYS FULL.....

just a bunch of redneck backwoods dumbfu*k crap

62savoywagon

12-27-2007, 07:03 AM

76 D-200 clubcab, 3rd owner. When I got the truck the battery was dead and after puttin new battery in dome light was on. Ended up pullin the bulb out. Other than that no problems yet.

stewart19777

12-28-2007, 09:56 PM

70 w200 wires missing in ignition , previse owner hacked it all up, fuse panel melted ahd to start it off the solined in engine, i cut out all the bad stuff and wired in a 1990 fuse panel along with power windows and mirrors. since then i switched a 84 body on to my frame and converted to the 79 ignition .

Ryan_340

12-31-2007, 09:26 PM

My 72 W100 had an electrical problem in the steering column, the wires got hot a melted.

67coronet

12-31-2007, 10:56 PM

My gas guage doesnt work.

Speed Dragon

01-01-2008, 09:59 AM

My gas guage doesnt work.That could be a bad ground.

1986w250

01-02-2008, 09:40 PM

86' w250. no ground to fuel guage, no illumination, no tailights, no running lights, no cargo light, no blower, no radio, and no power to coil in run position due to ballast resistor. i ended up making new harnesses! oops, still no reverse lights!

buck99

01-05-2008, 08:21 PM

sam03v

06-23-2008, 02:51 PM

1980 , d-150, just bought it. None of the instrument panel gauges work. Odometer is gone. Oh well, engine is good, body/suspension is excellent so for the price, I thought i'd just buy a "triple gauge set" off ebay or somewhere to monitor the engine vitals..

Delray Dude

06-23-2008, 03:47 PM

1987 D-150.

After further review: when purchased: fried ammeter, taillights out, a very hoakie charge wire to the battery from alt.

upon inspection - I discovered that the underdash wiring harness is basically fried - melted wires. I have scored a new harness out of a yard truck ($9.95) - will replce sometime soon - when I have that "urge" to pull the dash apart.

The gas guage was not working on my maiden voyage after I got the engine done / the trip to the gas station - filled the truck up - hit a bump in the raod and the guage then started working. If I leave it parked for a few weeks, the guage fails to float until it gets bumped right - most of the times as i cross the railroad tracks.

The Charging wires were fried under the hood - new alt, new voltage reg, new direct charge line to the battery, I use a relay to ground the field wire - it's switched off a removed emission vacuum amplifier (supplies switched voltage).

My amp guage still does not work - I may bypass it when I rewire the dash, but then again.....

Tailights needed a good cleaning (small rust from water collection) and work fine. Reverse lights work awesome - and I'll be installing an old school dash reverse light indicator soon (from an old '70 road runner) - I put one in my m*stang - I think they are cool...had to have some Mopar in the f*rd...

A/C and fan work fine.

Dash lights were weak (at best) - replaced with new ones.

Bad key switch in column - replaced that - works great -

Turn signal was sorta fine - but needed tightening on the lever bolt.

Horn didn't work - bad contactor on the wheel - replace with new one and works great.

ramitupurs84

06-23-2008, 07:37 PM

Yeah, mine did.

The hill billies used the RC for charging batteries. It blew up, they half assed that. The dash shorted out and lite the fuel gauge circuit board on fire at one point. I found a calculator in the dash. I am re-wiring it with a painless kit.

Moparfreak1980

06-23-2008, 10:04 PM

I got my 85 and tore it down so I have no idea if everything would of worked but there have been lots of wires that are cut off that I have found in the process

mojavemark

07-01-2008, 09:01 PM

1985 D150 Got it five years ago. When I got it, starter dragging, would switch from no charge to over charge ever few seconds, erratic gauge operation. Replaced altonator, starter, voltage regulator, starter relay, and a couple other things, but left the battery in, it would take a charge and hold 12.4 volts, and it started the truck. Should be good right? After all that, same problem.

Took and had battery checked, shorted cell. New battery fixed everything. Dooooooooh! 5 years of no electric problems, till a month ago. Oh well, not bad for 1000 total investment.

bigblackd150

07-04-2008, 10:43 PM

My first 1980 (slant 6 3sp) darn near burned up, fuse box fried while driving down town. Thank God that you can access it easy enough. Fixed it and limped home, my current 1980 ( 360/727) had tail light problems due to bad grounding, no biggie. I don't remember if my 78 had any problems but I don't think so. Not electrical anyways. My 69 didn't have enough electrics to cause any issues.

Vic

dodged100

07-19-2008, 09:34 PM

THE AMP GUAGE SUCKS ON THIS TRUCK. But someone of these helpful guys sent me to an electrical website whick takes u thru step by step instruction on how to bypass it. Finally the truck is charging again thanks to these serious dodgetalk members. Thanks guys

swami2806

07-20-2008, 09:59 PM

The 'No': My 87 D100 was fine when I got it, but the original owner, a friend of mine, went nuts trying to get it running before I picked it up. tested what he could, couldn't find it, replaced the firewall computer (!), and it wound up being the stupid ground wire from the batt. to the top radiator mount/rail.

The 'Yes': The guy who owned it briefly before my friend got it back butchered the cab wiring and the rear lights wiring. The guy's kind of a a loser who's 30-something and still lives w/ his parents b/c he can't get his act together. He had a landscaping business that didn't last a year (how do you miss?) and apparently tried to wire a CB radio, an amp--something--in the cab.

Plus, he wired a harness for a trailer the lazy way---using those snap-on connectors that pierce the insulation. When he removed them, he wrapped electrical tape where the holes were, and there were areas mid-wire that were stripped off and wire wrapped around.:crazy: Caused some shorting with the brake/taillights.

Everything's squared away now.

Fastsquirrel

08-23-2008, 01:08 PM

When i bought my 78 the only thing that worked was the headlights. That was a fun drive home at night. I drove back roads the whole way. Turne out the lighting problem was some farmer trailer light setup. The dash lights were all burned out

js305

08-23-2008, 05:55 PM

I bought my 1984 D150 in June of 84. About a month later one of the sensors under the hood for the air conditioner had to be replaced under warranty. This was the only warranty visit. After about 100,000 miles the big connector on the engine side of the firewall started looking bad and the wires started losing insulation there. Don't laugh but I poured liquid tape over the whole mess, thinking it would keep me from having any shorts until I could do better. At about 250,000 miles I started blowing fuses for no apparent reason. I removed the fuse block under the dash and discovered the rivets inside were all loose. I soldered them all in place and put it back together. Both of these fixes are still holding and the truck has 380,000 miles on it. I replaced the engine at 135,000 miles (broken timing chain really messed things up). Transmission at 275,000 miles. I have had no other real issues that could be blamed on Dodge. 24 years and that many miles is a testimonial in it's own right. Last year I finally stopped driving it daily and got a newer one. Still have it though and drive it about once or twice a month to keep it running good.

Answer to the original question: No problems.

1976D100

09-30-2008, 09:21 PM

Just got a 1976 D100 from a lady I did some sheetrock work for. All I had to do was get it running. Easier said then done!
It's now home in my backyard. Just took a day to get it to fire up.
It's a shortbed auto with power brakes, power steering and A/C (doesn't work). The motor is a 318.
Looking over it I find the hazards don't work and the left turn signal doesn't work. Both front side markers are out, could be bulbs.
There's goo coming from the electric control box! Yummy. Don't know why it still runs.
This is my first Dodge. Wish me luck.

P.S. thanks in advance for all the wonderful help you all are going to be providing!!!;)

fins2fuselage

09-30-2008, 11:49 PM

What Mopar, truck of otherwise, doesn't have electrical problems when you buy it???

The trick I have found is this: try to find one on which the wiring harness hasn't already been burnt or butchered. That way, you can have the fun of putting out the first fire and/or cutting it up for yourself!

But seriously: you can usually upgrade a harness which hasn't been fried or cut, but you can never be sure of a system which has meltdown damage or pre-existing sabotage unless you replace it completely ($$$!). Even when you think you have all of the bugs worked out of it -- surprise! -- more pop up.

When I first bought my '72 D-100 (the one I am now trying to sell), the windshield wiper fuse would blow every time I turned on the radio. Upon further investigation, I found that an aftermarket radio speaker had been wired into the wiper system with a piece of lamp cord! Thankfully that was the worst of it, and its electrical system is now quite sound.

My '78 has the typical ammeter-tries-to-melt-its-housing problem. See the "'Convert' Seek Volt Meter Conversion" thread to learn what can be done about it.

Jeff

1972-D100

10-02-2008, 09:57 AM

I'm basking! :cool: Never had an electrical problem on my 72 D-100.

I had other electrical issues with a 99 Durango and 96 Neon (wifes). The Durango issue was a previous owner wired up the trailer light plug with those cheep in-line splicers, well just to say the least I was burning up flashers every time I used it, only took an hour or so to fix it though. The neon was a little more of an issue, someone had wired in an aftermarket stereo and amp in it, that one actually caught fire after only having it for three days. I had to rewire about half the wires behind the deck. It could of been a lot worse, at least it didn't total the car out, I had the fire out within seconds of it starting. The person wired the hot wire to the deck directly from the battery (no fuse)and then just twisted it together at the deck, no tape on it or nothing. I went to tighten up the deck because it would bounce around a little when you drove the car and I guess the hot wire shorted out on something starting the fire. In both cases I fixed the issues and sold the vehicles....

TKG9876

10-15-2008, 01:20 AM

Oh after 2 months i replaced an alternator on my 79 d100 and it fried my whole harness and charging system (and no i didnt hook up the alternator wrong)

buck99

11-28-2008, 01:29 PM

My Dad fried several wires out of the harness on his 76 D100 Club Cab...
and yes he put the new battery he just bought in backwards. :crazy:

JPG8402

11-28-2008, 03:02 PM

84 W150, wipers do not work(most likely a fuse) and the heater switch is acting up I think. Also all the lights inside and out flicker when its cold and I just start it. After its good and warmed up it goes away.

volaredon

11-29-2008, 09:57 AM

JPG; try running an extra ground from the wiper motor to somewhere on the firewall. just touch the bare ends of a jumper from the wiper motor body to a ground and theres a good chance itll start working. those rubber "donuts" they mount them with don't transmit a very good ground. If this works take (only) 1 of the 5/16" head bolts out of the end of the wiper motor and put that wire under the head with a "ring" or "spade" connector, tighten er down and find a good ground spot to hook the other end to. Had to do that on my 83 like 2 weeks ago.

JPG8402

11-29-2008, 07:43 PM

Cool thanks for the tip! I'll give her a shot.

beatersdigest

12-02-2008, 04:16 PM

My truck has not given me ANY electrical problems. :D:D Maybe it is because I've only had it two months, or that it only has 57K on the odometer. I hope it stays that way.

I do keep a close eye on what's going on under the hood and I plan to keep the factory wiring in place. Eventually I'll either swap in a built 440, or build a full-roller 318. At that point I hope the wiring is still in good shape.

KenD

12-02-2008, 05:08 PM

My 87 D150 arrived last year with the power windows/locks not working (fried switches, actuators and motors) and radio on the fritz. Numerous interior/exterior bulbs out (ashtray, glovebox, signals, backup).

As of now I have fixed the windows & locks (junkyard parts) and have all interior/exterior lights working. I installed a new iPod ready Sony radio (no fancy amp or speakers!).

We're to the point now that my wife and all 4 kids actually want to ride in the truck. :cool:

Next step is to start doing preventative electrical work (see my post: http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229485)

russellkuhoops@

12-12-2008, 06:11 PM

1978 0ld owner really rig things to say. have not found to many wires good need digrams any one have any?

fins2fuselage

12-14-2008, 10:29 PM

1978 0ld owner really rig things to say. have not found to many wires good need digrams any one have any?

Russell,

Do yourself a favor and buy a set of repro service manuals from Faxon Auto Literature in California. You will need the 1977 Vols. 1 & 2 plus the '78 Supplement. They will supply all of the wiring diagrams you will need -- and a whole lot more that you may not know that you need yet!

Printed set is around $100; set on CD is somewhat cheaper as I recall.

Jeff

W150snowman

12-21-2008, 05:47 PM

I got my 85 W150 from my mom. She thought it was junk but I loved it. Only prob happened this week while my son was home on shore leave. Either the battery tender I had on the truck cooked the battery dry or it was the voltage regulator. He came home from a drive anad the truck smelled like rotten eggs. At first I thought it was the Cat but soon found the battery was on fire. I got it out and it smoked in the yard for two hours. Got a new battery and installed it. Truck was then charging at 17 volts. Replaced the voltage regulator and now it is fine and charges at 15 volts. 7 degrees outside today and windy so I am NOT working outside anymore.

jkdodge

03-30-2009, 06:15 PM

87 dodge w150 le i bought last week and the driver window motor didnt work and the power locks work when they feel like it lol but other then that and the water pump and the fuel pump no other problems

86_custom

03-30-2009, 07:28 PM

my 86 was hacked to al hell, damn ignorance. My 77 was an old mans truck, only thing he did was PROPERLY splice in a trailer brake control, and then it's been owned by a couple mopar freaks and then me. Absolutely no problems, the ammeter works and the wires arent burnt or nothing.

thejudges69

03-30-2009, 09:15 PM

i bought mine as the 3rd owner and it was a disaster. There were wires running through the firewall for all kinds of shit. The coil was hotwires. the power wire for the A/C comp. was tapes to an a/c line. the ket switch didn't work it had a starter button on it. the ballast resistor was jimmy'd Mine was s fire waiting to happen. why do you think i stripped it and am putting a new harness in it. I could go on for hours. i had melted connectors. i had wires everywhere that were cracking and splitting. what a mess to say the least. The only unmolested part of my truck was the lighting system. There were 4 extra wires on the hot side of the battery running god knows what. When i got my truck it ran then after some time with the wire dykes it.....well......no go to say the least. It don't run at all now til i finish the harness.

85_d250

04-15-2009, 10:27 AM

1985 D250...been nothing but problems so far...and im still not getting a spark....

volaredon

04-15-2009, 10:40 AM

1985 D250...been nothing but problems so far...and im still not getting a spark.... :IDEA: wanna part with it? ;)

85_d250

04-15-2009, 11:00 AM

im thinking about it lol...but ive just put way to much time into it so far to give up on it lol..i just cant figure out the spark issue

brandenberger

05-03-2009, 09:52 PM

the previous owner of my 78 must have thought he new what he was doing. the ignition is all audio wire that is merley twisted together and doesn't even have electrical tape around it so i drive down the road and occasionally a wire touches the block and my truck loses spark. also i have to touch to pieces of audio wire together in order to work the starter, flip a switch to get spark and stick a set of wire cutters into the steering column and turn in order to get my gauges to work which by the way is only the amp meter because the rest of the wires have been cut. Last but not least occasionally when i hit a bump my dash smokes a little from all the wires that are cut back there hitting things and grounding out.

volaredon

05-04-2009, 09:20 AM

Fixed 1 of the problems mine had when I bought it yesterday; kinda found the problem by accident; I pulled the rubber mat out both on account of the padding being SOAKED and also so I could add speakers in the back of the cab and run the wires under the mat; found a busted wire for my dome light.

Another seems to have "fixed itself" (has not acted up in quite a while--like probably 3 months) but I expect it to show up again at the worst of times; an occasional "no crank" where I gotta wiggle the neutral start sub harness to get the starter to spin.
Problems that go away or "fix themselves" scare me.

Wanna see some REALLY scary "home electrical fixes" on a bunch of trucks like ours??It seems like every one of the 80s Dodges in the local yard (last time I was there was about 10-ish of them) all but maybe 1 or 2 are a home brewed mess under the hood; bad enough that I'm surprised that none of them got to the yard, "crispy"