Doubt there is much help. Those DEF sensors have been a source of frustration for many - NOT ALL - since the very first Ecodiesels were marketed. Actually the hare a source of those very same problems in most if not ALL diesels of any brand today.

For the Ram Ecodiesel the aftermarket solution is to use a GDE engine control module. Goodbye sensor failures and hello operational reliability for that and many other issues.

 

For the Ram Ecodiesel the aftermarket solution is to use a GDE engine control module. Goodbye sensor failures and hello operational reliability for that and many other issues.

It is unfortunate that the viable solution comes down to an after market tune on a rather expensive purchase that in and of itself is not inexpensive and if detected will void the warranty to get a truck that has "operational reliability" which it should have from the factory. Think about that. Got to love the government.

 

I had a wire chafe on my Jeep grand cherokee, wasn't a sensor at all. one of the wire's that comes from the back of the vehicle rubs against something metal back there on the passenger side and then it shorts out intermittently. If you're lucky, it'll break or permanently short and you can find it. Took me dealer all day to find the problematic wire.

 

View attachment Emergency start.pdf

..
..mbaessler , are you aware you can start the truck anyway , even after the 200 miles has expired .
could be handy if you are 400 miles from any dealer .
..
between 2 photos , there is a PDF file ....
.
=========
found a bit more text on the start after zero subject :

"" Pop the hood and look in the front left corner of the engine comparment for the power distribution box.
Open the lid and find the Starter Relay (I was standing in front of left headlight for pictures)

Next remove the Starter Relay. fat finger is pointing to the Starter Relay in picture
Next, I located PINS 30 & PINS 87 I used my jumper (avec fuse) to illustrate the positions
of both pins needed.

Next, Put the ignition in the "RUN" position. use a jumper wire to start the truck. Put one end firmly to either pin
terminal, the other end touch firmly to the other terminal. Once it starts, remove the jumper.

***NOTE: Very important to remove the jumper once it starts or the starter will keep turning as long as both
ends of the jumper wire is connected. I would reposition the Starter Relay after jumping and
engine is running, so you don't loose it. then go on to your destination.
---------------------------------------------------
pictured is the jumper used, it has a fuse in line and when touching the fuse to the connectors in the fuse holder,
once it started I removed the fuse. You don't need to get this,
This is just what I had handy. A wire or even a paper clip would
work in a pinch, What ever you got to make the connection will work.
Reset in case you get the "engine will not restart" message.

Not my idea, Thanks to DaveMD and GDE.

 

View attachment 72588 View attachment 72590 View attachment 72592
..
..mbaessler , are you aware you can start the truck anyway , even after the 200 miles has expired .
could be handy if you are 400 miles from any dealer .
..
between 2 photos , there is a PDF file ....
.
=========
found a bit more text on the start after zero subject :

"" Pop the hood and look in the front left corner of the engine comparment for the power distribution box.
Open the lid and find the Starter Relay (I was standing in front of left headlight for pictures)

Next remove the Starter Relay. fat finger is pointing to the Starter Relay in picture
Next, I located PINS 30 & PINS 87 I used my jumper (avec fuse) to illustrate the positions
of both pins needed.

Next, Put the ignition in the "RUN" position. use a jumper wire to start the truck. Put one end firmly to either pin
terminal, the other end touch firmly to the other terminal. Once it starts, remove the jumper.

***NOTE: Very important to remove the jumper once it starts or the starter will keep turning as long as both
ends of the jumper wire is connected. I would reposition the Starter Relay after jumping and
engine is running, so you don't loose it. then go on to your destination.
---------------------------------------------------
pictured is the jumper used, it has a fuse in line and when touching the fuse to the connectors in the fuse holder,
once it started I removed the fuse. You don't need to get this,
This is just what I had handy. A wire or even a paper clip would
work in a pinch, What ever you got to make the connection will work.
Reset in case you get the "engine will not restart" message.

Not my idea, Thanks to DaveMD and GDE.

Kazimodo: Really Thanks for the information! I will have to look at the fuse box in my Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel to see if it looks somewhat the same as yours.I have some questions. I see where your finger is and that is the starter relay. Sounds like you pull it out. So next you just build a wire with a clamp on each end. Put the ignition in "run" position. Connect the clamp to the (north side near the blue and green relays) and then just touch the south end firm with the clip and it will start(will it spark? and will it burn our any other fuses?). After starting, pull the wire and put relay back in. Do I need to worry about sparking with the engine running, placing that relay back in position? Is that yellow wire just a loop. Can't see the whole picture. Also do I need a certain gauge wire to do this? If you could answer my questions as well as validate the procedure I wrote down it would be very much appreciated. Also once I stop somewhere and turn off the engine. Do I need to do the whole process again? Or does the problem go away. Mike

 

mbaessler , Inside the cover of your fuse box you should see where the starter relay is positioned if different.
and that is not my finger in the picture , all this info is something I have found on the site a couple years ago.
I have a piece of wire in my glove box ever since then , a terminal at one end and just a twisted wire at the other end ,
if I ever need to jump start it , just remove relay , key at RUN , put the wire firmly on one of the 2 terminals , and touch the other just long enough
to start engine .
..
I have worked with relays on my motorcycle , and I know about the 4 prongs and how they work .
the 2 prongs you jump have small current running thru them , and Inside the relay that make the 2 other prongs
do contact , you are jumping the terminals that finally send request to starter with the extra jumper .
that is where little more juice flows thru , so make sure you pick the right terminals to jump , small current in those 2 ,
the current needed to make starter turn does not flow thru the relay , it would melt the relay , it just triggers for a much bigger
reaction at the starter itself .
..
once the relay is pulled out , you don't NEED to put it back in . If you think you will have to jump it a few more times before getting it
looked at at the garage , just leave it out , the guy who made the tutorial said to put it back in to be sure not to lose it .
the wire not viewed completely in the picture was a wire with 2 terminals , AND , in the middle of the wire the maker of
the tutorial had a Fuse housing , he pushed in the fuse to start , then pulled the fuse out , and left the wire there ,
I also saw a thread where another member put a momentary switch on the wire , a button if you see what I mean ,
something he left on for the few times he knew he needed it , he opened the Hood , opened the fuse box , push button start , leave wire on because there
was not contact unless he pressed the button .
you can build any one of those wires ahead of time when you are in no rush with the 200 miles message already on display.
I would not mess with that in a pouring rain situation .... but knowing that you will not be stranded out in the boonies because of the technology
on your truck gives peace of mind.

can't be wrong , the relay has 3 legs in same direction and one is different , you want to jump the different one the other
apptopriate terminal , looking at the relay itself , the positions are marked , just transfert what you see on the relay to get the
proper 2 prongs to jump . then juice will flow to starter between pin 85 and 86 . I understand being afraid of the sparks when not knowing want it will
look like if you ever do it , that is why I only have one terminal on my 10 inches long wire , no spark when plugging the one terminal
on 30 or 87 , then hold wire with a pair of pliers if you are afraid and touch other pin , once you see the itsy bitsy spark if any , you
will think it is no big deal.
.
if you turn off engine after the zero miles , you will have to start it with the jumper again , until the dash stops displaying
the " will not start message ". the truck's computer will not send message to the relay to start engine , you do it manually
with the jumper . that is why the guys made different devices they left on with switch or fuse in
the place of the relay to make it simpler until truck was fixed . you could run 2 long wires all the way Inside the cab
if you were stuck on Gilligan's Island , with no possibility to get truck fixed and jump it from Inside the cab whenever needed .
just get a wire ready , then you will probably not need it , you know how Karma goes ...
-Mike .

 

mbaessler , Inside the cover of your fuse box you should see where the starter relay is positioned if different.
and that is not my finger in the picture , all this info is something I have found on the site a couple years ago.
I have a piece of wire in my glove box ever since then , a terminal at one end and just a twisted wire at the other end ,
if I ever need to jump start it , just remove relay , key at RUN , put the wire firmly on one of the 2 terminals , and touch the other just long enough
to start engine .
..
I have worked with relays on my motorcycle , and I know about the 4 prongs and how they work .
the 2 prongs you jump have small current running thru them , and Inside the relay that make the 2 other prongs
do contact , you are jumping the terminals that finally send request to starter with the extra jumper .
that is where little more juice flows thru , so make sure you pick the right terminals to jump , small current in those 2 ,
the current needed to make starter turn does not flow thru the relay , it would melt the relay , it just triggers for a much bigger
reaction at the starter itself .
..
once the relay is pulled out , you don't NEED to put it back in . If you think you will have to jump it a few more times before getting it
looked at at the garage , just leave it out , the guy who made the tutorial said to put it back in to be sure not to lose it .
the wire not viewed completely in the picture was a wire with 2 terminals , AND , in the middle of the wire the maker of
the tutorial had a Fuse housing , he pushed in the fuse to start , then pulled the fuse out , and left the wire there ,
I also saw a thread where another member put a momentary switch on the wire , a button if you see what I mean ,
something he left on for the few times he knew he needed it , he opened the Hood , opened the fuse box , push button start , leave wire on because there
was not contact unless he pressed the button .
you can build any one of those wires ahead of time when you are in no rush with the 200 miles message already on display.
I would not mess with that in a pouring rain situation .... but knowing that you will not be stranded out in the boonies because of the technology
on your truck gives peace of mind.

can't be wrong , the relay has 3 legs in same direction and one is different , you want to jump the different one with the one across it ,
then juice will flow to starter between pin 85 and 86 . I understand being afraiud of the sparks when not knowing want it will
look like if you ever do it , that is why I only have one terminal on my 10 inches long wire , not spark when plugging the one terminal
on 30 or 87 , then hold wire with a pair of pliers if you are afraid and touch other pin , once you see the itsy bitsy spark you
will think it is no big deal.
.
if you turn off engine after the zero miles , you will have to start it with the jumper again , until the dash stops displaying
the " will not start message ". the truck's computer will not send message to the relay to start engine , you do it manually
with the jumper . that is why the guys made different devices they left on with switch or fuse in
the place of the relay to make it simpler until truck was fixed . you could run 2 long wires all the way Inside the cab
if you were stuck on Gilligan's Island , with no possibility to get truck fixed and jump it from Inside the cab whenever needed .
just get a wire ready , then you will probably not need it , you know how Karma goes ...
-Mike .

Thanks again Kazimodo. Another couple question I have, if I may. I would assume the only reason you don't hook the wire to both sides and go inside and push the start button is to be able to just touch the wire to start and just disconnect right away so you don't spin the starter too much. Also does someone have to be in the cab to have there foot on the brake. Normal start procedure has us put our foot on the brake. I think I will read your response a few times. Thanks for being so thorough and willing to teach here. I need to build a wire before I leave on my camping trip in about a week and a half. Oh I wanted to mentioned that relay looks the same. It has the same blue and green smaller relays just above it like the RAM. Identical.

 

I have the push button start and the problem I see is that if you don't have your foot on the brake when you push the start button, the electronics will go to accessories and not start. With the push button start, this sounds like a two person job. I just thought that maybe the start button on the remote will work but not with the doors or hood open.

 

Nope about the brake. I thought that also. I have push button. Put it in run then jumped it. It worked. My connection is not as great as I would like it so I'm going to try to modify my wire a bit.

 

I'm going to print this out, epic.

 

..
I felt the same way when I found that here on the site , that is why I copy/pasted the info in my " Pick-Up " file
and post it whenever it can help someone else ,
again , not from me , from DaveMD and GDE

 

playing golf yesterday I looked at my ball divot tool ....and the light came on ...
just make the legs the exact distance to jump , and voila ,
good grip and no fear of shock .

 

Did you try it?

 

like in the 70's -90's we all had coat hangers for our 78' monte carlos when we locked our keys in it... just saying.

 

Back then, a coat hanger worked for opening the doors on most vehicles. At a friend's wedding, the best man locked the groom's keys into his full sized late 70s blazer. The keys to my 77 nova opened the door and started the engine. Supposedly, GM only had a few dozen (exaggeration) different key configurations.

 

I noticed on the Cummins Forum that simply unhooking the battery and letting it rest for 20 minutes will reset it. Is that not true for the Ecodiesel?

 

That does not work on my 2014 Outdoorsman. I had he negative side of my battery disconnected during the who 14 hour procedure.

The will not start message is still as bright as ever. Only now it tells me I have 30 miles left.

 

Hey guys, very informative thread! I bought a 2014 ram EcoDiesel a few years ago up here in Canada and am having the same issues with the no restart which at this point is in 150km (pretty sure it's the level sensor). Does anyone know whether the truck will still Regen if started using the emergency start procedures? Asking because with inflation the way it is, I can't afford to sink much money into the truck right now. Thanks!