Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) engine dies and then starts right back up???

[Bandit1]

i was driving home last night and my motor died, so i didnt panic and shifted to neutral and it fired right back up, well it happened today while i was crusing at 30mph, then again at a stop light, then again while i was backing into a parking spot. any help on this is appreciated. i did find out that after it dies out the fuel shutoff solenoid is down then when i pull it back up the truck fires back up, or if i turn the key off and then on it fires back up. could this be a bad fuel shutoff solenoid? any help is appreciated. thanks

 

[Dieselnerd]

A bad solenoid is possible but it sounds more like you are losing the "hold" circuit to it. Possible causes are bad connector or wires to the solenoid, the relay that provides the electrical path to the hold circuit may be going bad or you may have a worn ignition switch that drops the circuit. One of these is causing your problem.

 

[Joe G.]

The relay is only used for the pull on circuit. The hold circuit is from the run position of the ignition switch. The other stuff mentioned are all suspects. If nothing else is acting flaky the ignition switch is probably ok.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Joe, you're right as usual. The relay is only used with the ignition in the start position... not his problem since it fails driving down the road.

 

[Missouri Mule]

The symptoms almost sound like a engine speed sensor/connector problem.



But check the ignition switch connector. Put a test light to the connector turn key to run postion and shake it a little see if light goes on and off if it does bad switch.

 

[Bandit1]

well all the dash lights flicker and the radio also when the engine dies, so i am thinking it is the switch. i was farting around under the dash temporarly hooking up my driving lights (since the factory switch is a POS) and a few days later i smelled a burning smell so i unplugged the lights and then a day or two later this crap started happening, so i am thinking that i burned up a wire somewhere in the steering column. any more ideas are welcome, thanks

 

[Joe G.]

You should never hook up the driving lights directly to any circuit under the dash. Most of them barely have enuff capacity for the stuff already in the circuit. Use a relay to power the lights with the switch used to trigger the relay. The relay input only draws about 1/10 amp so it won't over load anything.

 

[Bandit1]

i have a painless wiring harness on order, i guess i jsut got impatient and now i am paying for it. it would be nice if dodge would build something that over kill instead of just enough to get by.

 

[Bandit1]

problem solved ( i think), i took everyones advise and looked at the ignition switch and found the large red wire leading into the switch was burnt off of the connector. so it is fixed and i am just glad that we have the tdr as a resource and everyone is so helpful here. so thanks everyone. that was the only problem that i saw but only driving it will tell if taht was the culprit. thanks again. everything is gettign rewired this week as soon as my painless wiring kit from genos is delivered.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Bandit1,

Your alias isn't Paul Harvey is it?



I like the full story the first time around not the rest of the story after a commercial break.





Glad you found the problem and got it fixed.