My 02 dmax will not start. does not click or do anything. Has power running everywhere including to the starter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe the starter is junk.

If you really have battery positive power via the battery cable, and a positive start signal when the key is turned , your starter is junky.
Load test the battery, if battery test good replace starter.

thats what Ill do then. The starter was new a year ago with the new motor,thats why I thought it might be something else.

does anyone know where the starter relay is at? I guess I will check it also while Im at it. I did have my brother jump the starter wires and he got the truck to start for me a few minutes ago. I dont know what he did since Im at work and he's at the shop. But he called and said the starter worked when he"jumped" the wires and bypassed the relay. I have two brand new optima batteries in the truck and they are both fully charged and have been load tested twice. It almost seems like something is not letting the starter engage. On my old 6.2 the starter would still click when it went bad this truck does nothing. I checked the fuses, under the hood also and none of them are blown.

Sounds like an interlock thing.

Maybe it's not seeing "Park"??





Just thinking out loud.........

Yea thats what someone else had me try. That doesnt seem to be it either. I found the relay,well in my chilton manual anyways, so Ill grab one at the auto parts store in the morning and try that.its right in the fuse box and looks easy to change so for 10 bucks its worth a shot.

If you've got power to the small wire at the starter in the crank position your starter is bad. Trying tendorizing the solenoid with a hammer while someone holds it in the crank position.

If you can jump the solenoid out and it starts then its not receiving a 12v signal from relay or ignition switch. They could be bad or it could be a loose connection or bad wire. You can test the relay with a meter, it should have a small diagram on it. If the relay dosent fix it then start looking at the ignition switch. You also need to check your fuses.

fuses are all good. everything is hooked up at the neutral safety switch. Ill have to wait till monday to get a new one from the dealership.

You may have 12v to the starter but that can be carried by only one strand of wire. If there is a break or corrosion you will not be getting the amperage needed for starting. You can test this buy checking voltage or amperage at the starter with a multimeter while you have someone try and start the truck. But it is best to start at the batteries and move step by step from there, dont jump around hoping to find the problem because you may over look something and be left:confuzeld

mine did this and it was the starter relay. Theres about 3 other relays in the fuse box that run headlights and stuff and theyre the exact same relay. Just switch one of them out and see what happens.

Try to jump the start circuit, pull the relay and jump across. Use the key .If this works then you have a wiring or ECM problem .Yes the ECM controles power and ground to the starter relay

To jump the circuit, you want me to pull the relay and put a jumper wire in there? I was thinking my brother just had an 05 tranny put in this truck and the truck is an 02. It hasnt been able to start since he had it installed. Other than jumping the wires and running power right to the starter. Great knowing my luck they fried the ecm. Thats what my brother gets for letting dodge mechanics work on a dmax. The batteries have enough juice in them. Ive had them load tested, and they are brand new optimas. Ill run a circuit tester to the starter cable and see if i have 12 volts when you turn the key in the am. Its almost got to be something electrical,it doesnt click or anything.

Check your trans shift cable it might need adjusted so it is acually in park the truck will not start with the key if it's not in park, the shifter and trans or it will also start in nutural. something to check since the trans was just changed

just my 2 cent: try a relay swap with another one there first. if that doesn't work, try it in neutral. don't beat on the starter because when you jumped it, it started, that means it works and if you hit it, you break the magnetic feilds and you have to replace it anyway and it's not cheap as you know. if neutral doesn't start it make sure of power to the starter on the small wire, if no power is there have someone old the key and check for power at the relay. if it's dead there, stop messing around and take it to an auto electric shop and don't burn your truck down. but thats just my 2cents.

also, i wouldn't think it is the security system because this truck should have passlok 2, when it is activated it will fire for about a second and die if it doesn't like the signal. there is no chip in the key, it works off of magnets in the ignition switch and how they turn past there sensors. again, when they are activated the truck will fire and die so that shouldn't be the problem.

another thought, when they put the new tranny in, did they use the 05 or the old range switch (the sensor that tells the pcm what gear it's in) if they used the new one it might not be talking right and just need the old one put back on or a reprogram the new one. just throw'n it out there.

Thanks , Bald for the help. I still couldnt get it going this morning. I am checking with my brother on the 05 switch issue. Im not sure if they swapped them out or not. The guy that did the swap told me it might be a "brindle switch" whatever that is. Its at my dads dealership now and out of my hair for the time being. Ive tried the neutral thing also,that didnt do anything either. Im not willing to burn the truck and my shop down pissing with electrical stuff, I just took it to Gm instead. Thanks for all the help.

good luck man, i just looked on alldata and they don't mention a brindle switch on this truck at all. hopefully the dealer will at least use some lube on ya. let us know what turns out.

My dads the dealer. This damn truck seems to have a running tab in his shop lateley. Its actually my brothers truck. Im just stuck (I guess I volunteered) to try and help him out while he's away on the pipeline working. Of course he is driving his brand new 08. This truck has given me a headache for the last month. It was going into limp mode when the speedometer would jump all over the place a few weeks ago. They fixed that. Put a new ecm in also, dont know what that was all about. My buddy is also the tech at the dealer that works on it. They dont get paid flat rate at the shop so if he can sneak a peek in the parking lot in his downtime he does for us.he is ready to set it on fire. this thing was at the SEMA show in 2003 and has all kinds of extra wiring in it. TV's cd palyers cameras and a bunch of shit you dont need. I guess they also used it for a test truck for a programmer company(wont mention any names) and reflashed the computer till its fired, I was told. It looks cool but that doesnt get you to work and back.