1995 Dodge Ram maintenance required light

TCHARLT

MEMBER
1995 DODGE RAM

Computer problem
1995 Dodge Ram V8 Two Wheel Drive Manual

I have a 1995 Dodge Ram 3500 dump truck. I was told it has a 1998 motor (5.9 heavy duty). The maint. Req. Light is on and has always been on. My problem is that it will not start immediately when tried. I have not always had this problem, it began last winter and is now getting worse and has to be fixed. I turn the ignition key on and wait, the engine will turn over robustly but will not start. I thought the fuel pump was bad so I replaced it. (Expensive error) What happens is I turn the key to on and sit until I hear a faint and rapid clicking sound, (relays) the sound gradually gets louder and slower until it stops, towards the end of this clicking cycle the MR light blinks in sync with the clicking and goes out when it stops. The engine will now start but runs like crap and kills a number of times before it smooths out and runs good, the longer I wait before I attempt to start it after the clicking stops, the better it runs when I start it. After it starts the MR light comes back on and stays on. Early on in this deal I could start and drive the truck normally all day long but am now having problems even after short engine off periods. The clicking sequence and the initial wait time are now quite a bit longer than they were when this problem first began. Could be that the weather has an effect? I installed a new battery so codes have been cleared/fixed. I am sure the engine has been changed as all the hoses were new when I got the truck.

4 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

When the light was on, did you have the compter scanned to identify what code was stored in the computer?

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Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 AT 10:25 PM

TCHARLT

MEMBER
3 POSTS

This truck has OBD 1 so I used the check engine light to read the codes and repaired everything. As far as I know there are no stored codes. The MR light has been on since I have owned the truck (10 yrs.). This problem began last winter and it seems that the only relation the MR light has to the problem is that the light comes on toward the end of the clicking cycle and blinks in unison with the clicking relays until the clicking stops and then stays on for a few seconds and then goes out until I start the engine at which time it comes on and stays on. I separated all connectors to the computer and cleaned all terminals to make sure there were no bad connections. I'm not sure the MR light is related to the problem as the truck ran good for years with the light on, so I left it alone because I didn't want to pay the dealer a bunch of money just to turn the light off. To answer your question, I have not had the engine scanned with the light on because I repaired all the codes that were stored or that came up on the OBD 1 system.