Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Let me start out by saying this is not a post looking for help with a problem, but instead, sharing how I fixed a problem.
I recently purchased a nice 2012 Ram 3500 Cummins with the automatic and long bed. I absolutely love it! First Cummins Ram I've ever owned even though I have been after one for almost as long as I've been driving.
Anyway, in the couple days after buying it, I noticed that it sometimes wouldn't start when I would turn the key. The lights would come on on the dash, but the starter would not respond at all. Finally I figured out that if I held the key just right, it would start every time. But then it started randomly dying on me as I was driving. That could be deadly depending on what situation you are in when it decides to die. I couldn't believe this was not a safety recall by Dodge. Back before the Ford Powerstoke camshaft position sensor recall, there actually were people seriously injured and killed when their vehicle died randomly when attempting to pull out across a highway.
Anyway.....the other day it finally got so bad, that I could not keep the truck running. I went to leave home one morning, and the truck would start, and keep running as long as I held pressure on the key in just the right direction, but as soon as I would let go of the key, it would die. So right then and there, I took the panel under the steering wheel off, and removed the ignition switch, and discovered that I could press little tabs and pop off the back side of it. Doing so exposed some little metal tabs inside that make contact with the circuit board. (I wish I would have taken pictures.) But those little tabs, are spring loaded in a way as to make contact with the respective necessary contacts on the circuit board, to power things like the ignition, accessories, and the starter. Those contacts were very dirty, and making very poor contact. So I first sprayed a little contact cleaner in there, and worked the ignition switch back and forth a bunch of times with the key, to allow the contact cleaner to clean residue off the contacts. Then I took some oil (would have been better to use dielectric grease but I didn't know where mine was since I recently moved) and I put just a little on the contacts, and put the ignition switch back together, and re-installed it, and voila! It works great now, and starts every time without having to hold pressure in any direction on the key, and it does not randomly die on me anymore, and I was able to put my other keys back on the key ring since the swinging keys don't cause it to die now either.
I'm sure others have fixed theirs in the same way, or just replaced the ignition switch, but it's always nice to save money when you can, and this is a very easy fix that should last a very long time. Hope it helps someone out there!
I recently purchased a nice 2012 Ram 3500 Cummins with the automatic and long bed. I absolutely love it! First Cummins Ram I've ever owned even though I have been after one for almost as long as I've been driving.
Anyway, in the couple days after buying it, I noticed that it sometimes wouldn't start when I would turn the key. The lights would come on on the dash, but the starter would not respond at all. Finally I figured out that if I held the key just right, it would start every time. But then it started randomly dying on me as I was driving. That could be deadly depending on what situation you are in when it decides to die. I couldn't believe this was not a safety recall by Dodge. Back before the Ford Powerstoke camshaft position sensor recall, there actually were people seriously injured and killed when their vehicle died randomly when attempting to pull out across a highway.
Anyway.....the other day it finally got so bad, that I could not keep the truck running. I went to leave home one morning, and the truck would start, and keep running as long as I held pressure on the key in just the right direction, but as soon as I would let go of the key, it would die. So right then and there, I took the panel under the steering wheel off, and removed the ignition switch, and discovered that I could press little tabs and pop off the back side of it. Doing so exposed some little metal tabs inside that make contact with the circuit board. (I wish I would have taken pictures.) But those little tabs, are spring loaded in a way as to make contact with the respective necessary contacts on the circuit board, to power things like the ignition, accessories, and the starter. Those contacts were very dirty, and making very poor contact. So I first sprayed a little contact cleaner in there, and worked the ignition switch back and forth a bunch of times with the key, to allow the contact cleaner to clean residue off the contacts. Then I took some oil (would have been better to use dielectric grease but I didn't know where mine was since I recently moved) and I put just a little on the contacts, and put the ignition switch back together, and re-installed it, and voila! It works great now, and starts every time without having to hold pressure in any direction on the key, and it does not randomly die on me anymore, and I was able to put my other keys back on the key ring since the swinging keys don't cause it to die now either.
I'm sure others have fixed theirs in the same way, or just replaced the ignition switch, but it's always nice to save money when you can, and this is a very easy fix that should last a very long time. Hope it helps someone out there!
