obdII port on a 98 dodge ram

Soundguy · Oct 17, 2011

I got a 98 dodge ram that has sat unused for a couple months now, and previous to that only started a couple times to move it out of the way of something. I have it setting for sale beside the road..e tc. as luck would have it, and my fault.. battery flattened out.. It wanted to start, but not enough juice.. so i jumpe dit with my tractor.. it started, stalled, then I restarted it and it set a code I guess.. check engine lamp came on. otherwise ran good like it did before.. idled ok, little hesitant at first.. but then it hasn't run in a while.. revved ok.. oil pressure ok.. volt meter said ok.. etc.

anyway.. about the check engine code. I'd like to fix that before selling it, if it is either just a code that set somehow due to the hard start attempts, or if some easy bolt on thing like an 02 sensor.. I'll change it out before selling it. truck is cosmetically rough, but engine has been ok.. i'm selling cheap, so don't want to put a ton of money in it.. but if a 25$ sensor or something.. sure..

I have a cen-tech HF obdII meter I got off a buddy earlier this year for in exchange for some work on his property... still new.. he hadn't even put a battery in it.. he bought it to use, and never ended up using it.. etc. so I got the scanner and it's manual and case etc. anyone know wher ehte port on a dodge ram is.. should be unde rthe dash within a foot of the cluster or so.. right?

otherwise.. any tips or ideas on the code? could the hard start have caused it?

I have the battery out now on a fast charge and will go out and check it in a bit.

tips appreciated.

soundguy

Car Doc · Oct 17, 2011

Soundguy they are mandated to be left of center in/under dash.

I imagine it should be under the steering wheel or in the fuse panel area but I dont work on Dodges so cant give any more info.

Once you get the code I can tell you something about it then if interested I have seen odd codes on some cars that are OEM specific not OBD2 spec so it could be just a low batt volts code for all I know at this point?

Soundguy · Oct 17, 2011

ok.. found the port, it's right over the gas pedal on the lower housing. I'm gonna go re-attach the bat and plug in and see what I get.

will post back

Soundguy · Oct 17, 2011

ok.. so took bat off charge.. had it charging over lunch.. big high dollar console smart charger / booster charger ( 10-20-60-80-250a ) says battery charged and load tested ok.

so put bat back in, truck starts like a champ.. and no CE lamp.

did the code test for stored codes and pending. nada.

i know the bat disconnect may have cleared something.. but 2 subsequent starts and some driving around the property failed to set any more permanent or pending codes.

guess it was low voltage then? didn't even know that was a code option..

soundguy

Car Doc · Oct 17, 2011

Soundguy said:
guess it was low voltage then? didn't even know that was a code option..

soundguy

Well thats good it hasn't come back on and yes if the battery was off after the fact it cleared the code for now.

Yes any circuit could set a low volts code in theory. I just took a quick look at their codes and there is one for generator field and battery temp circuit low volts for instance so anything is possible.

Dmace · Oct 17, 2011

For future reference, any Chrysler with a digital odometer will read out the codes for you with no special tools. With the vehicle off, turn the key ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON and leaved it in the ON position but without starting it. The code(s) will display in the odometer display, you can scroll through them with the trip reset button and clear them by holding the reset button.

deepNdirt · Oct 17, 2011

Dmace said:
For future reference, any Chrysler with a digital odometer will read out the codes for you with no special tools. With the vehicle off, turn the key ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON and leaved it in the ON position but without starting it. The code(s) will display in the odometer display, you can scroll through them with the trip reset button and clear them by holding the reset button.

yes I do this with the MIL '99 mini-van and with use of the WWW can find the code fault right away,

LD1 · Oct 17, 2011

My guess is that it could have either been a misfire or o2 rich code.

Sometimes with hard starts (weak battery) you will get these.

Soundguy · Oct 18, 2011

thanks for the info guys.

I drove it around the property and did other starts with it afterwards ( and let it run to recharge from those starts ).. and it never did set a permanent or pending code after that.

looks like I 'dodged' a bullet.

thanks for the info on the key on/off/on/off/on thing.

sounduguy

JB4310 · Oct 19, 2011

Probably no real problems, But I just got a scanner cause I was getting a code on my Subaru. Reading the manual it mentions how some codes wont clear until X number of drive cycles and I THINK some code wont register until so many drive cycles.

So it's possibly the light may come back on, but I suspect it was probably just a code telling you there was low voltage in one of the systems. Especially if there were no problems before it sat.

JB