'98 Dodge Ram won't start.

So it was blistering cold out a couple weeks back and I had returned home and turned my automatic start to keep the truck running and warm while I ran inside to change. Once inside I heard my keys beeping as if it were trying to start my truck again and once I got back outside it was no longer running. Got in and tried to start it but my battery was dying so I tried jumping it, no good.

Changed the battery because it was 8 years old thinking that'd be the problem, no fix. Tried a cheap fix of the ignition coil, no fix. Pulled a spark plug wire off of a plug and put one back in the wire and tried starting to see if it would fire and noticed I'm not getting any power from the distributor. I had recently changed my distributor cap and check it out again and nothing looked to be wrong.

Anybody have any other suggestions on what I should try or look for?

Try the distributer again. It's cheap and easy to replace. It's unlikely that it's all the spark plugs (6 or 8), the wires (6 or 8).

Could be the fuel injector or the fuel pump (if the engine is turning over and the car simply won't start, I'd check these).

If the car's not turning over to begin with then it's an electrical problem. If it is turning over but won't start it's a fuel problem.

So simply trace the parts. If it's electrical go from the battery to the engine (check the grounds too - an ungrounded engine won't start).

If the problem is on the fuel side of the house, check everything from the gas tank to the engine. You've gotten most of the big stuff already, so I'd check the pump and the injector.

no fire from dist. is either points(if you have them)or I have bought new coils that were bad when I bought them so you might try that again, or look for hair line crack in dist. cap it could be anywhere like around plug wire connectors

Thread stealer.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bangledesh

Thread stealer.

Indeed, sorry Bangles. I noticed you getting help and figured I'd try my luck, no hard feelings <3

As far as a fuel problem I sprayed starter fluid into housing to try and see if it was a fuel problem and just wasn't getting to the engine but that didn't seem to help either so I'm thinking it's not fuel.

Oh and not to mention that all wires/plugs were changed at the same time as distributor cap(bout 2 months ago max)

I suppose I will try taking a better look at the distributor cap tomorrow and see if I can notice anything defective or just try replacing it anyway.

Greatly appreciate your guy's suggestions.

Edit: Oh and for the fuel problem, I was previously having complications with my truck starting the first time I turned the keys over. What'd I'd usually do is give it a second or so turn and stop and then pause a second and turn the keys over a second time and then the truck would start. But like I stated I sprayed starter fluid to see if it'd do anything differently if it were a fuel problem.

No spark = No start

if that is the case with that truck you need a scanner to get an idea of what's wrong.

the distributor (if it even has one)is only to relay spark to the individual sparkplugs!!!

(no points, no spark makers at all) Only cam and crank sensors to tell the ecm what to do.

Best option is to buy a code reader for your computer. Had a '89 that had same problem 2 months and $500 later repair shop told me it was a oil pan sensor. Could have saved lot time and money if i had just bought one myself.

Aren't those code readers expensive though? $100+?

That's why you pay someone like me 60-80 bucks to read them....

Get a mechanic you cheap bastard!

Quote:

Originally posted by cooper8

Get a mechanic you cheap bastard!

You call me cheap, I call you lazy

and Cooper for $60-80 for someone like you to scan I'd rather just pay the lil extra to have a my own new toy :P

Quote:

Originally posted by cooper8

Get a mechanic you cheap bastard!

You call me cheap, I call you lazy

and Cooper for $60-80 for someone like you to scan I'd rather just pay the lil extra to have a my own new toy :P

check the wire the self starter hooks toat the coil for rotted and broken at the splice

Quote:

Originally posted by zhobby

check the wire the self starter hooks toat the coil for rotted and broken at the splice

There you go, problem solved


btw, if you look around ebay or whatever, you can get a code reader for less than $50 which might be a good idea since you'll probably only use it once.. only to find out that the problem lies elsewhere. Also, when you replaced the distributor cap did that include a new rotor button?.. if not you could possibly have a gap problem there.

Yeah the rotor button was also replaced at the same time.

I was told to try replacing my crank sensor.

If you've got a multimeter you can test it first.