2006 Dodge diesel 3500 - grid heater light stays on‏
 

Hi, I'm new to the forum so I hope I'm posting in the right place. I'm pretty certain by trying to be thorough, I'll end up providing information not relevant to my issue and perhaps get off topic for a thought or two...so my apologies in advance. :w2: :humm:

Here's a little background on my issue: I have a 2006 Dodge diesel 3500 dually - and my grid heater light came on while I was driving. It was a slightly warm day without any rain...I live in Alaska but I'm on the coastline, so it's never very warm here and it rains most of the time.

Back to the issue...the warning chime squawked about 3 times and the grid heater light has stayed on ever since. The warning chimes sound about 3 times every time I start my rig, when the light fails to go out after the heater cycles. The grid heater appears to still be cycling normally. I seem to have less power if you punch it on takeoff, and possibly a little rougher idle, but other than that it seems to be running normally. I feel like my slightly rough idle is related to my number 5 injector.

This issue started a couple days after I had a stereo/GPS system custom installed, I'm not saying this could be related but thought I'd mention it...just in case.

On March 18th, 2013 I had to replace the ECM - so that critter is basically brand new and up to-date.

I have a weak fuel pump, and my number 5 injector is functioning at 94%, but the rest are functioning at 100%. I've read some posts on forums mentioning injector issues causing the grid heater icon to stay on...I don't think the injector is causing my issue, but it's worth asking if anyone thinks so.

A little more info on my fuel system and injectors, because I think they should be holding their own and not deteriorating...(?) (Or is that just wishful thinking?) When I had my ECM replaced, the dealership tested my fuel system and injectors. They said my fuel looked awesome, very clean and no water. Every fuel up, I use Howes fuel conditioner and no-ash synthetic Royal Purple 2-cycle oil, along with making sure a tanker hasn't filled up the station within a few days....so the main tanks are calm and settled. I always try to fuel up first thing in the morning, and I add fuel slowly to maximize my fuel intake. (I drive by the gas station twice everyday on my way to and from work, so I keep an eye out for when the tankers are there.)

I've had my truck into a very reputable local shop, and it's not throwing any codes, but they can't figure out what's wrong...unfortunately they specialize in Fords, not Dodge! They wanted me to take it to the Dodge dealership and have them try find it...and aside from being very pricy....sadly this dealership seems to have very questionable expertise when working on diesels. I can't stand the thought of spending obscene amounts of hard earned money just so they can hunt for my problem...unless I have no other choice, so I've opted to just continue monitoring it and continue to drive it for now.

I bought my rig from used car dealership, so there's no warranty. My commute is only about 35 miles round trip per day....so it's light driving without any hauling or hills. This truck is my daily commuter and my pride and joy, so it's babied and gently used, but I also really enjoy waking up that big purring cummins too! I just love these rigs...big grin! :yeah: This is my second dodge diesel, I had an 2002 basically identical to this one and totally loved it too. I believe in a well maintained and well cared for rig....and unfortunately it's taking time to work out the kinks from the previous owner.

In case it's relevant, my rig has roughly about 106,073 miles on it.

Does anyone have any ideas on what's wrong? Could it be a faulty sensor or something else that might be a simple fix? Wait, do diesel engines and simple fixes go together in the same line of thought? Sorry, a little humor there! Lol.. :argh:

I would greatly appreciate any input and thoughts. Thanks!

i know dodge had a bad ecm flash that would cause this. you might talk to a dodge dealership about this.

Okay thanks for the heads up, guess maybe I have no choice but take it to the Dealership then.

A little update.....this morning my gridheater light went out on start up like it should and no chimes......only, I have just been monitoring it and driving it everyday....and never had anything done yet. Any thoughts why the light went off finally and it suddenly fixed itself?

2006 Dodge Ram
 

My truck is doing almost the same, but without the lights on the dash. Wednesday I take it in to the dealership to see if they can help out. I'll keep you posted. Did you find any answers from your dealership?

The light went out on my rig for about three weeks, then came back on. I haven't been to the dealership yet, been avoiding the expense. It seems to have less power when the light is on, but the grid heater keeps working normally...I can hear it come on and shut off and see the drawdown on the lights/battery when it cycles. Otherwise I don't notice any difference in my rigs performance while the light is on.

I'm interested in hearing your results from the dealership, and also more details on what your rig is doing.

Thanks for your input and for posting a reply.

Jenn

Have you put a smarty on recently? SOmetimes they conflict with the new ecm flash and cause code P1222 to come on. It is a injector return flow sensor i think. Your injectors may be fine but it sets the parameters so close that they are impossible to keep within the limits with the newflash and smarty tuning. This happened on my 04.5. When it lights up cycle the key on off 3 times it will show the code. Don't hold me by the exacts on the code running off of memory here. Does it come on after decelerating and chime ten times?

I wish, but no smarty yet.....my rigs basically stock, and it's not throwing any codes....that's what's so weird. Chimes 5 times. It's crazy, my grid heater light stays on ALL THE TIME. Sorry for the caps...but added for emphasis....it never goes out. Other than like I mentioned when it randomly went out while I was driving and ran normally for a few weeks, then randomly came back on again and has stayed on since. I can't put a pattern to what it's doing or why.

The grid heater cycles normally, battery draw down, lights dim etc.

I have less power while the light's on...but other than that it runs normally. Well, seems like I have some black smoke now when I step on it, but could be I'm just letting her idle along too much trying to conserve fuel though, and maybe she's just getting a little carboned up.

I did have my ECM replaced March 18th....so perhaps the program could be faulty or something? I've heard it could need reflashing, but I just don't feel good about having a dealership "search" for why it's doing this....been reading some horror stories where folks end up without any answers.....and a huge bill....while the dealership throws a lot of parts at it, trying to solve the problem without success.

Sounding like it's a Chrysler mystery maybe, eh? :humm: Frustrating..... :argh:

No mystery, you have injector problems. The WTS, chimes, and derate are all part of a diagnostic that is in the latest flashes from Dodge. It is telling you the calculated return rate for the injectors is exceeding the maximum. In other words you have a fuel system issue that could cause a catastrophic failure.

You need to quit guessing and get some diagnostics done. First get it scanned to see what DTC's are present so you can quit guessing. Likely you will see P1222 and\or P1223. Next get an injector return flow test done to validate the issue.

More than likely, the one injector at 94% is the good one and you have 1-3 that are exceeding flow rates in the firing sequence. Get a competent shop to run the cylinder contribution along with a return flow test.

Excessive return flow is either excessive wear in the injector return circuit or you have 1 or more injector pintles that are not seating correctly and are dribbling fuel all the time. You MIGHT get lucky and just have sticky pintles but usually that is not the case. You could try filling the filter housing with SeaFoam or CRC Injector cleaner and idling the truck for a minute then let it sit for 12-24 hours, then dose a fresh full tank of fuel with a quart of Power Service and a quart of 2 stroke oil then drive the snot out if.

You do run the risk of melting a piston or breaking rings driving it if you have over fueling stuck injectors. The safest way is just replace the injectors with known good ones but that is $$.

Thanks for the feedback. I did have a competent shop do my injector test, the dodge dealership. They were the folks that said all my injectors are all 100% except the number 5, which is functioning at 94 %. They did a complete test. My rig is not throwing any codes, as I mentioned, and I also had a reputable shop run the test. I really appreciate your feedback and ideas though.....thanks!

Hmmmm....I must not be explaining this clearly.

Your truck is throwing codes. You described them. You have the audio, visual, and performance proof of that.

A competent shop reading the ECU with the correct scanner WILL find the stored DTC's and should be able to reference the correct diagnostice procedure that explains all your symptoms and the root cause.

The cylinder contribution test clearly indicates an issue with the injector circuit. You have 1 or more over fueling causing one to drop out to control idle speed, or, one is not fueling adequtely for some reason. This indicates a couple things, worn injectors or the cross over tubes have loosened. Given the rest of your sypmtoms any competent diesel tech would have already had this fixed if they had the test results, your description of the problems, and a good scan of the ECU at the same time.

Since you said you just had the ECU replaced and did not indicate when the injector test was, and did not indicate if the dealer knew about the symptoms at that time it is hard to tell whether the dealer is competent or not. Only you can sort that out as to the timelines.

If the diesel tech is aware of the cylinder contribution results, the WTS light, the chimes, and the derate and still is not telling you the problem and the fix, run don't walk away from that shop. If not, you need to take it back and put it all together for them so they can get it right before you have a catastrophic failure.

The only mystery here is why this has not been fixed in the 2 months you started posting about this problem????

FYI, by all accounts there is no competent Dodge Diesel dealer in Alaska. Your choice to keep dealing with them if they cannot fix a simple thing like this.

Same issue on 05
 

My problems started a few weeks ago when I had the dealer do recalls and updates on my truck. It HAD 306,000 trouble free miles. After updating, I drove about 30 miles before the first occurrence of the P1222 - it happen on deceleration, etc.

I had an independant shop test the injectors today, and they all tested well. The fuel flow was good, but they didn't test it under a load. The shop cleared the codes and told me to keep an eye on it. I hit the freeway and everything was fine until I let off the throttle to take the off-ramp. On deceleration, the light went off, chimed 10 times, and has stayed on since.

I picked up a new fuel filter (it looked pretty dirty), and tonight I will clear the codes and try again. This seems to be a Dodge software update more than it is a mechanical issue. I am seeing reports online that it goes away after changing injectors only to reappear within a few hundred miles. The truck does seem to lose power when the light is on - I suspect that it puts the truck into some kind of "safe mode". I'm really looking forward to a permanent fix.

Yeah It's a very frustrating issue. Everyone keeps trying to blame it on the injectors, but like you.... I've read so many countless posts of poor saps replacing them all only to have the issue return.....so I don't believe that's the cause at all. Plus I had mine tested too. Nope, I think like you, it's a computer gremlin.

Good luck to you, I hope you solve it. Mine never had it until dodge updated my computer, all because I was having a cold starting issue. Then bingo. Suddenly I inherited the gremlin. I got so frustrated, I finally sold the truck and gave up. Took my lumps selling it. Glad to move on.

My new rig....a gorgeous 03 Laramie stick shift with exhaust jake, yup, another 3500 dually.....has recently developed a rumble strip vibration on slowdown. In gear out of gear....doesn't matter. No brakes, or brakes engaged, no change. More Fun. Tranny is tight, cluch was recently swapped out to heavy duty one by previous owner. It drives tight just like a new rig. ...and it only has about 70 thousand miles on it! So I've now changed out all the tires, and have 6 new Hankook beauties on it (yup, they were balanced)....but the vibration is still here. Seems to be getting worse too. So, next step will be to replace all the u-joints and hope that's it. The wheel bearings and wheel u joints are good and recently redone. More mysteries....how fun.

I love these rigs, but these mysteries are getting frustrating. I've know this rig since it was bought brand new from the dealer in 03, and I know everything about it. It was very well cared for mechanically, the only glitch was the elderly fella couldn't drive a stick very well pulling his travel trailer.....so he took out the clutch, but mostly this rig has sat parked more than its been driven! It's a gem. I just need to solve the vibration.... and keep dodge from updating the darn computer! :)

What were the parameters of the test? Did they test per the revised method? Are they Bosch certified and Dodge trained? You are pinning a lot of hope on a independent shop that likely does not have access to factory information, that might have been fine at one time but not anymore.

It is a software update advising you of a mechanical problem that can and will destroy your engine. Ignore it at your own peril, but, from the symptoms you have a issue somewhere. Have you gone thru the process of eliminating the sources for a false positive?

Injectors are the likely source because they are a known issue. You have read countless posts of poor saps not paying attention when they were told not to buy remans or huge nozzles and ignoring the advice. There are countless posts out there of the grid lights with dings, injectors testing bad, being replaced with good new injectors and the problem disappearing for good.

It is a mechanical issue somewhere, guaranteed. Like the previous poster your independent testing is highly suspect without factory support, no more is that a viable option all the time.

The leak detection codes and results are well documented and founded on solid experience, has been for quite some time. Ignoring it won't make it go away.

Although you don't like the answer from ceberus he is right. I thought the same thing when I had this issue. My truck would ding and pigtails would come on only on about a 1/2 mile stretch to work that was a slight incline.

My fix was retorquing the the jumper tubes as I had recently replaced all 6 injectors with brand new Bosch sticks. Tube #6 was noticeably looser than the rest. Once retotqued then all has been well.

I had best case scenario with a $0 fix- that chiming/warning is the indicator there are injector issues. When testing you need to duplicate the symptoms. Like I mentioned my truck only did it on one stretch of road which was the perfect storm I guess