no bus and breaking down in '99 Durango

[pgb52]

Many thanks to all of you for posting your symptoms and fixes. I have just experienced a similar No Bus, Cant Start problem with my 1999 Durango and from the information above, I have a very good idea where to look. I also have many years of electrical design experience in Automotive and Marine electronics to I am well aware of the possible problems and hopefully can offer some additonal input here.

Fortunately, I have never experienced the shutdown while driving condition. For me the problem is most times I can start the vehicle, sometimes I cannot. When I cannot start the vehicle, the gauges are all inoperative and if I leave the ignition switch on for about 2 minutes, I get the No Bus message in the odometer. Last week, I had the gauges drop and the No Bus message appear while driving but the vehicle kept running. It was very hot that day and as we drove into the cooler evening, the gauges came back on. Definately matches the reported conditions.

There are clearly 3 possible causes for this problem and any one, two or three of these may exist on any single vehicle. Do not be discouraged if you fix one of them and the problem re-appears, your vehicle may have failures in 2 or 3 of these areas. To sumarrize, the possible causes are:
1. An intermittently shorted camshaft or crankshaft sensor. Probably unlikely.
2. A fretted connection between the harness and the middle PCM module connector. Highly likely to be a cause or contributor.
3. A cracked solder joint on the PCB connection to the pins of the PCB module connector. Most likely cause and contributor. This failure will be affected by temperature and will come and go with changes in physical motion of the mating connector and vehicle vibration.

Please also be aware that just because you recently installed a new or rebuilt PCM module that you should not see this failure again in a few months. There is obviously a high probability for this connection to fail and the time to failure is random.

Intermittent problems are very diffucult to pin down with blind component replacement. Be patient, be dilligent, keep good records. Now I am going to go wiggle my PCM connectors and see if I can get my Durango started. I'll let you all know what I find.

[Twiloguy]

I was having this problem with my Durango and finally figured it out.. By placing my right foot firmly on the gas pedal and driving the POS off a cliff and into the river I was finally able to have my sanity back!

[muddaubere]

Just an update to let everyone else searching this thread know. I replaced the PCM and the issue with the no bus went away and my cruise control was working again.

[GoRickSager]

Had "No Bus" code problems. Changes PCM one year ago - problem solved until this summer when stall would occur (but did not have "no bus" code showing). Replaced PCM again and now vehicle will die (the "No Bus" codes does NOT appear) but fuel gauge shows no fuel until I wiggle middle harness on PCM.

Anyone have experience fixing/replacing wiring on PCM connectors?

[ninesevenvert]

As an fyi I had with my 99 Voyager (I also own a 97 Sebring convert-also similar issues)...take out your instrument cluster and check for issues on the circuit board- you will likely find issues as cold solder joints and cracks around joints. My 99 was having an issue with starting and then dieing within two seconds...no display where odo is nor prndl displayed. I would wiggle the pcm connector and it would "fix" it...wrong (it did get me home but did not "fix" the issue)---it would come back and repeat itself. I found in one forum that someone pointed to the instrument cluster. I do have an Associates in electronics so I dig until I find a fix....and after resoldering 7-8 soldered contact points on the dispaly circuit board---I have had no issues since then...and it's been a year since the issue. (I would have issues within the month of just wiggling, unplugging, and removing the battery connection ((this resets the computers))...so, af far as I can tell the "no bus" is as the signal is sent to the dispaly--it can't either send or recieve the signal that it is supposed to get. My 97 was also in the cluster and is a well known issue with intermittent tach..also soldered connections on the instrument cluster. Dodge seems to have issues with the instrument cluster--- this would be the "FIRST" place I would look, most of what I have seen is a cluster issue due to heat load on the circuit board. I hope anyone with this isse gets theirs fixed...I do at times love intermittent electical issues, albeit a bit a pain in the (you know where).
Good luck guys and gals.

[robinhood2525]

ok is there anyone out there at that could help dodge dealerships are not mechanics just real exspencive parts replacers i have a 98 durango i have replaced the crank and cam cesors cap rotor got two used pcmspluse got all three reflashed that includes my orrengenal one i have been chasing the eletric gremlin around my car for two months now it really dose serprize me how the dealership act so dumb wen you ask about it they know what your talking about they just want you to spend loads of money with no resalts this is now what my durango is doing i start it up two seconds go it shut off please is there anyone who can give me some help i have replaced crank cam and pcm is there a chance at all it could be bcm ( body control mudale my email is robinhood-25@hotmail.com phone number 1-250-315-2815 i understand about lond distance if you call me say who you are what about il call you back so it not on your dime i need help

[ginopio]

Sooo tired in this heat and seeing that annoying 'No Bus' error...then waiting and it starts and runs for a bit then dies again. For some reason this just started happening as the weather got hotter. When I get the money I will swap out the PCM...thanks guys for all your help!!!

[sgt_brown]

I just replaced mine about two and half months ago. It was definately the PCM. You can go to DodgeDurangoPCM.com and buy one, or you can go to a parts store and get one. This was definately the problem. WARNING!!! You go to a dealership and they will try and charge you like $700 for the same part. It is definately the PCM to fix your issue. Now I have an issue and that is now my durango just started like a jerking thing while driving like something is wrong with the engine or something. I know that it needs a tune up, but that wouldn't be causing this or would it?

[mdykstra79]

Hello all, after playing with this no bus BS and looking at this site mostly, I decided to join!
so hello!

I replaced the PCM first over a year ago. Ran great for two weeks, same thing.
replaced crank sens same
winter came RAN AWESOME... until spring
The air was nice, the birds were chirpin, as I was stuck waiting for NO BUS to go away.
tore out the heat shield/noise dampener blanket. sometimes moving the connectors on the pcm will make the fuel pump engange, some times that works... still totally random and the fix is as easy as that, or waiting up to half an hour for it to stop saying NO BUS .
made openings above the air intake and cut up trapper keeper plastic to make an "air dam" on the PCM.
I moved the pcm around to get away from heat, tried to cover it in an old plastic tackle box cover with a 3 inch air intake to it...seemed to work.... NOPE. None of it works.
Thank the gods I am used to it, having no power brakes and steering ... yikes.
SO
on a site I found a dude who loves this issue. He claims he flips em. Ignition coil gets hot and weak. I just ordered one, I am hoping for the best.
Ill update you all.
Dodge should have recalled.... I already talked with them. Useless. They pretend they never heard of it.
My cuz is a bigwig at Dodge and he said " I KNOW NUSHING! I WAS NEVER HERE! I DIDNT EVEN GET UP THIS MORNING ! ha ha
Thanks to all who posted. I tried all ideas and am trying another. Hey at $$$ in parts, whats another 30 bucks , right?
its gotta be a heat issue.... so more parts thrown
If you want a list of all the fixes I have tried in 2 years, plz contact me ......here... I would give an email address but Im not trying to upset the admins, not sure of the posting rules, so better safe than locked out of an awesome forum. I will post my whole list after I install the ig coil. Thanks !

p.s. I have a cuz who is a master mopar tech, and 4 bad ass mech friends. I build and maintain computers. I assure that all wires were tested, the no bus inst a short or a sensor.
Really hoping its the ig coil bc if 4 bad ass mechs ,a mopar tech, and a computer tech cant find the issue..... then its something SO STUPID that no one will find it. BOO to Dodge for making such an awesome suv and giving NO support .