Bought the new truck

[boatelectronicguy]

Ok, I bought the new truck. '06 2500 QC SB, Laramie, Cummins, 48RE, 3.73AS. I love the truck except for one issue. The friggin horn blows when I open the door to look back while backing a small trailer. Sounds like I'm nit picking, but I really would not have bought the truck if I had been aware of this feature. I have to back this trailer thru some tight spots and sometimes I have to open the door and look back as I'm manuevering. It's extremely distracting and embarrassing to have the thing honking to high heaven while I'm trying to back up.

The dealer says he can't (I think won't) do it. Does anyone know how to program this out? Dealer says his other customers with this complaint have disconnected the horn entirely. I don't want to be without a horn, but I'm not willing to put up with this foolishness. Help please.

 

[Mike]

Congrats on the new truck and sorry, I dont have any suggestions other than reading the owners manual, sometimes they can be helpful in telling you how to unprogram things like the auto door lock feature or the seat belt chime. This might be similar.

 

[Whit]

Congrats on the new truck.

Here is a TSB explaining the issue, the 06 model comes from the factory with this already programmed in, I dont know but maybe you could put a swithch inline for the horn hot wire???

(2003 - 2004) (DR) Dodge Ram Pickup Truck
(2005) (DH) Dodge Ram Pickup Truck

Note this recall applied only to the above vehciles with a 5.9 diesel engine ("6" or "C" in the 8th VIN Position and an automatic transmission (sales code DGP or DG8)

Subject:
in certain circumstances when a driver has not placed the shifter lever fully into the "Park" position and leaves the engine running, the vehcile may unexpectedly move rearward after seeming to be stable. Un intended rearward movement of a vehcile could injure those in and or neer the vehcile.

Repair:
an Out-of-Park alrm system must be installed on the vehicle. The alarm system will beep the horn and flash the headlights and shift indicator if a driver tries to exit a running vehcile without fully placing the shifter into the "Park" position.

The low down:
This is basically a program flash and should not take long to do.

The owners of the applicable vehicles will be issues the letter in the mail March 20th 2006. If you go in for Dealership service it will be noted on your VIN summary that the Service Advisor will look at and advise you your vehcile is applicable.

 

[boatelectronicguy]

Appears to me that anything that can be programed in ought to be able to be programed out.

A switch on the horn power wire might be a workable solution. Maybe I could figure a way to have it automatic by connecting a normally closed switching relay to the backup lights that opens the horn circuit when energized.

Anybody know if maybe I can do something with the door switch without killing the entry lights? I'm still open to any suggestions, I don't want one flaw to ruin an otherwise great truck.

Any recommedations on a spray in liner (over the bed rail as I'm constantly dragging equipment over the bed rails). Is it more subject to the skill of the installer or is one brand consistantly better regardless of the installer?

BTW It is patriot blue w/silver accent and slate grey interior. And I had the dealer install the Jake brake. I named it midnight.

 

[sle2115]

Appears to me that anything that can be programed in ought to be able to be programed out.

A switch on the horn power wire might be a workable solution. Maybe I could figure a way to have it automatic by connecting a normally closed switching relay to the backup lights that opens the horn circuit when energized.

Anybody know if maybe I can do something with the door switch without killing the entry lights? I'm still open to any suggestions, I don't want one flaw to ruin an otherwise great truck.

Any recommedations on a spray in liner (over the bed rail as I'm constantly dragging equipment over the bed rails). Is it more subject to the skill of the installer or is one brand consistantly better regardless of the installer?

BTW It is patriot blue w/silver accent and slate grey interior. And I had the dealer install the Jake brake. I named it midnight.

I would locate the source of the switch. Open the door and get the thing talking, then push door closure buttons etc. to see what toggles it. I would then pull the switch and chase the wires down. I would bet there is a relay in there somewhere that could be unplugged without effecting anything. That truly would be a pain in the rear.

 

[holtzer1]

the problem here is, once its programmed in, that particular program cannot be removed until it is programmed with an updated version. herein lies the biggest problem, all updated flashes will include this "feature". so no, it cant be unprogrammed. also, because it is a program issue, their will be no relay to conrol this "alarm". so tracing the wires will lead you to the instrument cluster..where all the interior functions run through/ aka, mic/bcm///whatever you would like to call it. because the electrical portions of body controls work on CAN BUS youll have a hard time removing one item and not have it affect other electrical programs.

it sounds crazy but the electrical systems in the new chryslers are so damned complex, one little glitch can make the wierdest things happen. such as. a customer brought his truck back to our dealer for an electrical issue. i ran the computer check..no codes in any system. his problem was...ANYTHING you touched in the interior that caused a .01 volt draw would cause the radio to slowly drop in volume until it muted itself. brakes, windows, mirror, heater, wipers..you name it, the radio muted itself. i chased this problem for 2 days. finally found that the passenger side power window switch was shorted out. back fed voltage to the body module and told the radio to turn down. sounds crazy..but 100% true.

with that said....if it were my truck, i would follow the wires from the drivers door switch(dome lamp switch) in the door pillar, follow them back as close to the dash as possible and install a toggle switch, so you can keep the circuit open while you back up, then flip the switch and everything works again. one thing to remember, chryslers use a switched ground...not a switched power. there is always voltage at the switch, the ground is what switches the light/horn on and off.

 

[sle2115]

holtzer1 has a very valid point. Been awile since I worked on a Dodge product, but I do remember about a week trying to fix a problem on a Dynasty that we could not get to show itself. It was actually the owners keys had so much bulk is was internally damaging the ignition switch causing a small voltage drop and all kinds of weird things to happen! At any rate, one could prolly install a toggle on the horn wires as well as that should be the most downstream function and as far as I know, the system doesn't sense rather the horns are actually working. Toggle them off in your backup situation then back on for normal driving. This is the exact reason I don't own a Dodge, this weird kind of stuff. But when looking at a new truck, they are looking pretty good, at least great powertrain, not sure about everything wrapped around it, but this 87 F250 is about the same, great power train wrapped in a ****!

 

[holtzer1]

actually, the bcm senses whether the horn electronics are interupted also. lol. it sucks, but, thats technology for ya.

 

[sle2115]

actually, the bcm senses whether the horn electronics are interupted also. lol. it sucks, but, thats technology for ya.

Well, a GM new truck it will be, back to where I came from if/when I ever get to that point! Don't want to deal with Dodge kind of non-sense and just don't think much of the blue oval, especially the newer junk. My uncle just forced (legally) the ford dealership to buy back his ford truck. Wasn't a real problem, they had it more than he did in the 5 months he was paying for it. On it's third trans with less than 5,000 on the clock (gasser), the one it was delivered with had a rebuild tag on it with 8 miles on the truck. Not too comforting but something I have come to expect from ferd.

 

[boatelectronicguy]

actually, the bcm senses whether the horn electronics are interupted also. lol. it sucks, but, thats technology for ya.

Dang.

 

[Mikes91]

This is why I'm hating new trucks... This kind of designing-in of electronics, that WILL fail and WILL result in extremely expensive repairs for us when trucks get more than a few years old, should be illegal.

No excuse for a $35k to NOT last 10-15 years without costing the owner an arm and a leg...

Glad I have my website... Will be back in an old Ford body in another 5 years if this Dodge truck doesn't last. Of course, the Cummins will be going into the old truck...

 

[holtzer1]

i actually dont mind chryslers electronics...once you get an understanding of how they work...theyre not all that bad. GM has their problems too, ****, they all do.

 

[sle2115]

i actually dont mind chryslers electronics...once you get an understanding of how they work...theyre not all that bad. GM has their problems too, ****, they all do.

True, True!!! Just much more familiar with how to fix the GM Quirks!

 

[boatelectronicguy]

Ok, tested today and found that only the drivers door sets it off, not the passenger doors. So I guess that gives me something to go on. This week-end I guess I'll pull the door switches and see what wires go where. If worse comes to worse I'll cross wire the passenger and drivers door switchs so it goes off if my wife tries to escape. Thanks for all the suggestions and info.

 

[sle2115]