'97 Ram Van 3500 - no spark

[red_dog]

Hey all-

I've been searching for some help on this topic, to no avail. My van has no spark. I'm hoping that someone who's got some experience with these may be able to point me in the right direction with some common problems with these. I'm hoping it's something simple and would like to take a crack at it before sending it to my mechanic.

Anyone got any advice of simple / cheap things to check / replace?

Thanks in advance.

[Mopar_Stev]

Did you get any codes? if you do the key dance 3X off/on and keep it to on without starting the engine, the check engine light will flash a sequence of codes. 12 and 55 are normal. The number of flashes between them are the important ones. Report back what it shows you.

As for items to look at, ignition coil, ignition cap-n-rotor (make sure you get a copper/brass replacement type not aluminum), a bad ground for the engine ...

[red_dog]

Mopar- thanks, man. that's some good info. exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for.

One question on the codes... when you say 12 & 55, does that mean the light will blink that many times? Or say, does a long flash mean '10' and a short flash mean '1', for example? i.e. one long flash plus 2 short flashes means 12, or 5 long and 5 short will be 55. Or will the light blink 55 times?

Sorry for the dumb question. I suppose buying a service book would be a good investment.

Checked the cap and rotor, both look good. Didn't know if this van had a coil, in the conventional sense, or if it's some kind of ignition box or module?

Thanks again-

[red_dog]

Oh, shoot... one more question for Mopar...

Engine ground? That would just be like a strap or cable bolted to one of the heads or something, right, connected to the frame?

Thanks, again.

[red_dog]

Hope you're still on this thread, Mopar.

Sorry for the long break. Was out of town.

Checked the codes. 12, then 55, just like you said.

So I'm guessing this doesn't help me, right? As opposed to a specific code that tells me what's wrong...

Thanks-

[red_dog]

So after much procrastination and getting nowhere, I finally broke down and took the van to my mechanic. Turns out it was the crank position sensor. Guess it could have been something worse, but I could have done without spending the$600.

But now I have a new problem. The thing's been running good for a couple of weeks now, but there's a check engine light on, and the computer's giving a code sequence of 12, 54, 55.

After i got it back from the mechanic, i checked and the sequence was 12 55, just like mopar_steve said. So my question is what is then 54?

Van still seems to be running good, though?

You still on this thread, mopar_steve?

Thanks in advance...

[Mopar_Stev]

Code 54 No Cam signal at PCM

Sorry that I have been out for awhile. Surprised that Alloro or any of the others hadn't jumped in here to help.

[alloro]

Originally Posted by Mopar_Stev

Surprised that Alloro or any of the others hadn't jumped in here to help.

Sometimes I have to share!