I got my pickup authorization Tuesday 6/18 at 9:50 AM, so things are moving along better than expected.
Timeline so far:
Monday 6/17: Won auction, sent payment, set up transport. Returned DMV docs to broker (all but 1 electronic, 1 snail mailed).
Tuesday 6/18: Payment receipt, release authorization received and sent to shipper.

 

The truck arrived today, the broker and transporter were really good. Here's what was wrong or went wrong:
1. The truck was sold as runs and drives. The driver said the battery was low, and that it was loaded via a forklift. I put a jump box on it and later tried to jump start it using my car (all via the jump terminals under the hood) and all it did was click. Fortunately, it does have one "key" (4 button remote). Fixed this by determining the battery cables were loose. Twisted them on as best I could & it started right up. BTW, saw it actually has 170K miles.
2. The right front tire was flat- fixed this with a portable air pump.
3. It has what sounds like straight pipes. Need to find out how expensive a stock type of exhaust is for these.
4. The wheels have locks and there is no key. Tentative fix is via YouTube- knock off the spinning outer piece, and drive a 7/8 socket to remove them.
5. There is no other alloy wheel, so I'll need to find one of those and it will need at least two tires.
6. Worst of all so far is a ticking lifter.
7. No matter what buttons I tried, the radio would not come on nor would the AC. That entire section seems dead.
8. The wife pointed out the paint on the rear seems faded more than the front, like it's been repainted.
9. The rear hatch won't open via the lever or the remote pressing the button 2x. The remote is good, as it locks and unlocks the doors.
10. The sunglass holder in the overhead console has a tab broken off. I hope I can find one used on eBay. There are various small rubber parts loose, such as the inserts for the cupholders.

I'm sure there will be more to follow as I spend more time on it.

Some good news-
I used scan tool and no codes active or stored.
The interior should clean up nicely.

I'll give this some thought but I may just sell it as-is once I get the wheel & tires. Prior to this, I passed on a $1500 220K mile 2013 Citadel with a blown motor and trashed interior. I spent more hoping to avoid having to do engine work, but these auctions are crapshoots.

There's a fellow in Tampa (about 3 hours away) that remans the motor if I take it out & take it to him with new cam & lifters for $2K, so that may be another option for me.

 

6. Worst of all so far is a ticking lifter.

The ticking is most likely a broken exhaust manifold bolt.
take an oil sample and send it to Blackstone
here are my results at 132K on a 2014

 

Ya spends yer money, ya takes yer chances.....

 

That's certainly true.

While I'm here, if I decide to go the repair route, what all years exhaust will fit this truck? I crawled under it and for sure the resonators are gone, and from what I can tell it just has an X-pipe where the muffler was. I see some stock systems FS in that section here for just a couple hundred bucks, but none are close to me.

 

While working on the truck yesterday, I noticed the tires were 265/60R18, not the 265/50R20 originally equipped. Given there are only 3 of the alloy wheels, the easiest way out here is to just buy another 18" wheel. It's going to need 4x tires as well. I looked into 20" options and like the same year GC SRT 20x10 +50 wheels, which can be had used for a decent price of under $150 shipped. I did some reading & used an online tire/wheel offset calculator and it looks like these would work with the 295/45R20 tires. This truck is not for me though, so I plan to stick with the 18" for now. Is there much of a market for the polished/painted 18" wheels? I could justify the new 20x10 if I could make back some $ selling them. Another factor is that if the engine tick is indeed a lifter, then the truck will be down a while til that repair can be done, so I could get the new wheels/tires incrementally. The wrong wheels may have been a theft & replacement or retained by a former owner, no way for me to tell.

Next, I checked all of the micro fuses in the TIPM and a couple of the j case ones. I found the cigar lighter circuit was blown.

My adapter cable for the Appcar DiagFCA software arrived so I scanned the modules with it. I got a lengthy list of fault codes from several modules. I'll attach the report as a PDF for reference and if I can the DTC report from the BCM as a text file. I don't have the adapter for the AlfaOBD yet, so I can't use it til next week.

I've done module reflashing on GM vehicles via their subscription service. I've read only dealers can do so as FCA doesn't offer short-term subscriptions like GM does. I saw that AlfaOBD can do something called a Proxy Alignment for modules- although my odometer is not flashing. I found a video here for doing this on a 2015 Dart (I saw that car like mine had a salvage auction sticker in the windshield):

I'm going to take time to learn about AlfaOBD before the adapter arrives.

I then pulled the exhaust, which after getting the truck on some jackstands I saw was indeed straight pipe welded onto a generic x-pipe. I had to cut off one of the front studs when it spun. This must have been some type of system as it uses nearly all of the OEM hangers and has what appears to be dampening devices on the rear pipes. Looks like I have 2.0" ID coming into the crossover where the muffler used to be, and 2.25" coming out. I think I can set this on the shop floor and mimic it via a dual in/out muffler via reducers to replaces the crossover and then a pair of universal mufflers and tailpipes. As it turns out, an OEM system would not be a bolt-in here based on the pictures I've seen.

 

I went ahead and tried to connect AlfaOBD using the Vlink interface. I found it wouldn't connect to all modules, so I'll wait til the other adapter gets here in a few days.

Using AppcarDiag, I cleared all fault codes and got down to three modules with active fault codes:
Body Control Module (main problems)

No.​	DTC code​	DTC status​	Description​
1​	U0011-00​	Active​	CAN Interior Bus Off Performance​
2​	U0147-00​	Active​	Lost Communication With Telematics Gateway​
3​	U0164-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with HVAC Control Module​
4​	U0199-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with Driver Door Module​
5​	U0200-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with Passenger Door Module​
6​	U0213-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with Interior Mirror Control Module​
7​	U0231-00​	Active​	Lost Communication With Rain Sensing Module​
8​	U0232-00​	Active​	Lost Communication With Blind Spot Detection Module​
9​	U113E-00​	Active​	Lost Communication With Intelligent Battery Sensor​
10​	U1215-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with Forward Facing Camera​

Seems like #1 could lead to the remainder.

Adaptive Cruise Control:

No.​	DTC code​	DTC status​	Description​
1​	U1215-00​	Active​	Lost Communication with Forward Facing Camera​

Tire Pressure Monitor:

No.​	DTC code​	DTC status​	Description​
1​	U0140-00​	Active​	Lost Communication With Body Control Module (BCM)​

That one was to be expected since the wheels had been changed, but it looks like it's also BCM related.

 

Some more diagnosis work, and it looks like you can find the faulty CAN bus item by unplugging modules from the CAN a/k/a star connector. I found the star CAN connector! Apparently the location for the 2015 is top secret/classified, so I could tell you where it is, but I'd have to... 💀

LOL, it's in the same place as the newer trucks. The genius-level folks that designed this made sure it was tech friendly (sarcasm) by burying it behind the headlight switch. I read a post here about people being able to easily steal these trucks by connecting into the CAN and making a key. They must have been using a different connector. I was able to get partial access to it by:

1. Removing the headlight switch (push knob in and turn til released)
2. Removing 7mm head screw that holds the switch panel in place
3. Prying that panel loose and unplugging both switches
4. Removing 6x 7mm head screws that hold the lower dash trim in place
5. Pulling the driver door weatherstrip loose and prying the dash side panel off
6. Using a 6" 1/4 drive extension and removing two more 7mm head screws that hold the connector in place, and then pulling it as far back as I could. Unplugging the connectors is kind of a 3 hand job. I was able to use a jeweler's screwdriver to slide up under the gap and press the tab vs trying to press it from the rear. PITB!

At that, it was all I could do to get access to just a few of the connectors. I got lucky and the third one I tried (first one on the bottom row) made the AC panel light up. I checked other features, and now both front windows go up & down, the hatch releases, and the outside mirrors work. In summary, the only thing that didn't work was the radio/display. My laptop ran out of battery before I could rescan, so I'll do so after it recharges. If it is the radio, I saw an aftermarket one I like that runs on Android, and replaces the entire panel. I also need to find some schematics for this to see where that connector goes.

Along the way, I found a component in the glovebox and identified it as the front camera. I pulled the trim around the mirror loose and saw the bracket & connector. I reconnected it, so maybe that will take care of lost communication with camera fault.

 

It appears only the front of the exhaust was replaced where the suitcase was along with the resonators. Those are factory vibration absorbers. The front pipes are a different color from the rest of them and the front hangars are missing. There's no reason a factory set of pipes won't fit unless one or more hangar locations under the car were cut off.

 

Thanks for the info. Now all I need to do is find one around here!

 

Where are you located. I'm probably going to be listing my exhaust. It's from a 2018 R/T.

 

Near Tallahassee FL, but will travel up to 200 miles.

 

Rescanned, and while I was hooking up the laptop, the radio came on! Now I'm down to 3x BCM codes and a new power liftgate code. I'll update as I make more progress.

 

Looking at other exhaust options, a good one appears to be the Magnaflow x-pipe muffler. I measured the centerline distance on what I have, and it's only like 4". That's the spacing on their 4x9 11385 muffler that has 2.25" inlets & outlets. They also make a similar but larger 5x11 muffler, but not sure about the spacing. It occurs to me I could also use some stainless flex pipes on each end if I used a muffler with wider spacing.

I saw some Vibrant resonators that are advertised as "ultra quiet". Doing the math on this setup, I get:
$150 Magnaflow
$220 2x Vibrant
$35 2x tips
$405 total

There'd be more expense via clamps/reducers etc. and I'd have to weld on some hanger rods to the rear clamps.

Alternatively:
$60 generic dual I/O muffler
$60 4x flex pipes
$80 generic resonators
$35 2x tips
$235 total

Finally, I saw an SRT OEM setup on eBay about 3 hours away. It has a coupon, but is still around $540. These seem to go for around $300 here.

 

I'm in Illinois. Was hoping you were closer.

 

No problem, geography is often a killer of great deals.

 

Here's my exhaust plan:
"Flomonster" 11386-FM dual in/out 2.5 muffler: $64 This is actually sold on Summit Racing for the same price as Amazon, and it was cheaper to buy clamps/reducers there and I bought enough for free shipping. The resonators I found were from a Ford and are 5" diameter x 10" long case, with a 17" OAL. They cost more than the aftermarket ones on Amazon, but should be better at reducing noise. The muffler case is 14x9x4, and AFAIK the inlet spacing is identical to what I have. It's clearly a Magnaflow knockoff (same part #) but has decent user reviews.
2x Walker 41960 2.5 > 2.0 reducers for inlet pipes: $5
2x Walker 41961 2.5 > 2.25 reducers for outlet pipes: $5
2x Walker 21765 resonators, 2.25" inlet, 10" x 5" x 17" OAL: $118
2x Muffler clamps with hanger, 2.25": $25 for both, these will mount at the resonator/tailpipe connection and use the stock rubber mount. No doubt I'll need to revise the support rod. I had to get these from Amazon as Summit didn't have anything similar I could use.
2x AP Exhaust Xlerator Exhaust Tips XRPT214 for 2.25 muffler, $22
4x 2.5" muffler clamps: $8; muffler to reducers
2x 2.25" muffler clamps: $6; resonators to pipes
2x 2.375" muffler clamps: $8; outlet reducers to rear pipes
2x 2.125" muffler clamps: $6; inlet reducers to front pipes
Total: $267

Probably need to buy a new sawzall blade also LOL.

I also picked up a 20A micro fuse for the one that was blown, and it didn't blow upon replacement, so that'a a good sign. I'm still trying to find CAN wiring diagram for the star connector so I can see what module is pulling down the others.

 

CAN wiring update- According to the online manual I used, the connector with the White and White/Dark Blue wire I disconnected goes to the passenger seat monitor for the DVD player. I can't scan all of the CANs until my other OBD adapter gets here. According to USPS, it and the oil test kit will be here in today's mail. I hope the adapter will allow me to pinpoint the fault better. Probably related, there was some type of aftermarket audio system control taped to the dash, so I need to inspect the factory subwoofer area and see what if any wiring mods were made. There is a large-gauge cable going back towards that area from the battery compartment. I suspect the root cause of the CAN issues involved work/mods the prior owner did.

More repair work, the left front HID bulb was out and with this truck being finicky about modules, I swapped the working passenger bulb in and found it worked, so the problem was the driver side bulb was out. I read a number of reviews and while I like HID, I've had great success with LEDs on my motorcycle. I decided to try the Sinoparcel D3S/D3R LED HID replacement bulbs on Amazon for $73/pair. My main concern was a CAN bus error, but I saw a review from a 2014 Citadel and another member answered my question these do not set an error code. If they do, they'll have some company.

Side note- once again, the designers failed to take into consideration people having to work on their design. The fender liners have access ports in them, but it is such a tight squeeze to get your hand in there I can see why so many people take the front end apart to remove the headlights just to change the bulbs. What I did to get better access was to pull the airbox on the driver side and unbolt the ECM on the passenger side. I disconnected the battery first since there is a ground wire on it. I had to use a 3/8 flex head ratchet and then an air ratchet on the bottom bolt. Once the 3 bolts were out, it can be swung to the side.

Other progress involved finding an 18x8 polished/painted wheel at a good price. I'm going to hold off on tires until the exhaust work is done since I'll need to drive it to the shop to get the tires mounted & balanced.

Here's my problem list with solutions to date (updated as of 7/22/24):

1. No locking lug nut key- Solved: Chiseled off spinning part and drove 7/8 socket onto remainder. Purchased aftermarket OEM style lugnuts.
2. No start on trailer- Solved: Battery terminal was loose.
3. Ticking lifter- Pending oil analysis. Pulled cam, one lobe worn. Pending solution: Replaced cam with Summit non-MDS OEM equivalent, new Elgin non-MDS lifters and Melling HV/HP oil pump 10452HV. Waiting on $93 new/reman heads... Also sent off PCM to be unlocked & MDS deleted at same time (eBay AutoTechGuru $180 total).
4. Oil leak at pan- Solved: Replaced gasket w/ Fel-Pro as part of engine work.
5. Radio doesn’t work- CAN bus error, confirmed as passenger side monitor melted wiring likely due to ghetto aftermarket system by prior owner. Replaced seat harness & used monitor. Can't test til motor work completed & all wiring in place. Decided to install Phoenix Android 13 aftermarket radio in dash.
6. Front windows don’t work- Solved: Same canbus error as radio above.
7. Liftgate won’t open- Solved: Same canbus error as radio above.
8. 18" wheels installed vs OEM 20"- Solved: Found a good deal on what I thought was 20x10 2012+ GC SRT style. Turned out 2 were 20x9 replicas, so kept all 4 and going with staggered setup. Pending TPMS replacement and tire install/balance. 3D printed custom center caps with "R/T" logo.
9. Spare tire on LF- Solved: See #7 above, will solve via new tires. Spare changed out to used 2023 date coded 265/60R18 tire. Setting the beads was an explosive experience!
10. RF tire flat, rear tires worn- Solved: Will order new tires.
11. LF wheel opening trim missing- Solved: Obtained replacement, painted to match.
12. Hood won’t stay up- Solved: New lift support.
13. No muffler or resonators- Solved: Laid out plan for new front I(center) muffler and dual resonators to reuse existing pipe & hangers. Total cost shipped around $280.
14. LF headlight out- Solved: Tested known good bulb in socket, old bulb was out. Installed new LED HID replacement bulbs.
15. Only 1 "key"- Solved: Ordered new pair based upon internal number from existing remote. Will use Chrysler PIN puller app (EDIT: didn't need this!) & AlfaOBD to program them. Programmed both on 6/29 and not only do they work straight from AlfaOBD, but the one I got with the truck still works.
16. Sunglasses holder in overhead console had 1 tab broken- Solved: 3D printed a new tab & used JB Weld to attach it. Tested & functioning OK.
17. Brakes worn out- Solved: Ordered new Akebono performance ceramic pads & "Bison" coated rotors. Painted calipers red w/ ceramic paint.
18. Broken exhaust manifold bolt on passenger side- Solved: Ordered new bolt & nut.
19. AC didn't work when I had it running- Pending: Shop diagnosis, the R1234 stuff is like $5/OUNCE, so I'm letting a pro handle that part of the job.
20. Missing jack and related parts- Solved: Ordered OEM type tools on Amazon, new jack bracket, new cover, and replacement jack. Also got new fuel funnel for solution in search of a problem capless fuel system.

The main remaining issue is of course the engine noise. If it's a broken manifold bolt, then that will be a relatively easy fix. If it is a lifter (and from the sound I think it is, it sounded more like a clank than a tick), then I'm going to have to figure out if I want to keep the MDS when I do a cam & lifter job.

Updated 7/22/24

 

If you need new tires AND the wheel size is wrong then now is the time to get the correct wheels and tires. You're throwing good money after bad anyway, so you might as well get part of it right.

 

The wheels were for the base model of the truck for the same year. They are an identical design, appearance, and width to the OEM wheels that came on it, which is why I didn't notice the discrepancy until I read the tire size. The diameter for 265/50R20 is 30.4", while the 265/60R18 is 30.5". Both tires are 10.4" wide, so the only real difference is a slightly shorter sidewall on the 50 series 20" tire. When I bought a 2009 Challenger new, I wanted the 18" tires, but the only orange 6 speed I could find had the 20" ones.

If it was my truck with no engine noise, I'd go ahead and put the 20x10 GC wheels on with 295/45 tires. It's for the wife, and she's OK with the 18" setup. Once what I buy wears out and we sell her old truck she may be amenable to a 20" tire/wheel setup.

I'm trying to save some good money here since there's a good possibility it's going to need almost $2K of engine parts. I priced out MDS compatible cam, lifters, high volume oil pump, 4x solenoids and a few other parts such as water pump, motor mounts, & timing set and I'm around $1,800 in parts alone.

 

I subscribed to AlldataDIY for the truck, and this has helped with the CAN issue. The linked YT video deals with a 2016 Ram truck with a similar problem, and he traced it to a similar connector (White/Dark Blue and White wire), and then found a prior owner had modified the seat wiring, which resulted in one of the harness wires backing out at the connector. Those connectors were far easier to access. He said it goes to the heated seat module. I see now on the Durango there are two sets of CAN wires that use this color scheme, one is for heated seats and the other for the DVD screen.

With that in mind, I looked under the passenger seat and saw an LED strip zip tied to the front bar of the seat. It had no wires attached. I couldn't see a smoking gun like in that video, and all of the wiring looked intact, so I'll have to try and access the connectors to check them.

 

More diagnostic work today. I unbolted the passenger seat for access to the connectors. No wiring looked modded or amiss. I found the white and white/blue wires on the main connector and both appeared tight & OK. To eliminate this as a cause, I disconnected the connector and re-ran the scan. No change, so my CAN issue is not from the passenger seat.

I learned I had another disconnected item, the rain sensor. I also found the inside rear view mirror was disconnected. After reconnecting those, I got rid of their communication issues. The only communication issue (with the under dash CAN plug disconnected) was the intelligent battery sensor or U113. Since I had the seat loose, I looked at this item. I found what looked like an aftermarket fuse holder connected to adjacent wiring near the battery. The fuse tested as good. I watched a video on the U113 code for a 2012 Journey, and that turned out to be a bad sensor. I duplicated the diagnostic steps used. My 5A underhood fuse is good, and I have battery power at the connector, and 10.8V on the orange wire with the key on. This indicates a defective sensor. I also noticed it has some corrosion:

Is this supposed to be here?

Moving to the rear area, I removed the tray and found this:

This is a halfass wiring job to tie into the OEM sound system. No soldering, just stripped wires and electrical tape. I don't think this is the cause of any CAN problems though. I plan to go through these and cut/solder and then use some high quality heat shrink. At least access here is better than the star connector behind the dash :

When you buy used, you never know what you'll find. This is a 9mm hollow point round. I think I've recaptured over a dollar in coins as well:

Other pics since I uploaded this morning:
This is what I think caused the cigar lighter fuse to blow. It appears to be the harness for the LED light strips and the control box that was stuck to the dash.

Sunglasses holder repair. I started with a hole, and by measuring the other side I 3D printed a piece and used JB Weld to hold it in place. Seems to work OK:

 

That is one effed up car.

 

Well hopefully it will one day soon become a good truck.

 

Today's update- I found the U0147 Telematic code was due to the amp being unplugged when I looked at its wiring. It went away after I plugged the connector back in. I verified the White and White/Lt Green CAN wires there were OK and in their proper spots. I was hoping for a smoking gun here for CAN, as these errors seem to usually be caused by wiring mods.

One other thing I found while looking at the blind spot sensors was that one of the other (parking while in reverse?) sensors attached to the inside of the bumper had been replaced. It had 3x violet wires and glue splices, which indicated it was an actual Mopar part replacement. I don't think I have a CAN error from here, so it's probably OK.

Now with the White and White/Dark Blue wire on the dash Star connector unplugged, the only code I'm seeing is U113 for the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS). I saw the old one (which is the negative battery terminal) had some green corrosion, so I drilled out the rivet and removed it. I used a wire wheel to get rid of the corrosion and used a 6mm socket head bolt & flange hut to reattach it. I ground down the head of the bolt so it would fit flush. This ultimately made no difference. I have a new part on the way after confirming all voltages were correct on the harness. When I plug the connector at the star connector back in, I get the codes as I posted earlier. I'm thinking the IBS may have been damaged when the delivery driver tried to start the engine and the battery terminals were loose, plus we tried to jump start it.

My plan for the CAN errors at this point is to replace the IBS and see if that clears the U113. I can then reconnect the W & WT/DB wires at the star connector and see what if any codes I get and proceed with diagnostics from there.

Last night I let an ozone generator run inside the truck for a couple of hours. This helps get rid of odors. Fortunately it was not a smoker's truck, but the ozone helps give it a fresh smell. It's going to need vacuuming and I plan to treat the leather with conditioner.

I'm also looking at the next likely hurdle here- the engine noise. I got the oil sample mailed yesterday. I want to get the new exhaust on so it's quieter and I can hear engine noise better. Should have all parts here by tomorrow. I looked at various parts and have a plan in place for repairs if they are called for. I had a question about MDS delete and computer programming, but apparently it can be done for around $155 at AMS Racing via mail. I have HP Tuners for the Chevy motors I use, but the Durango would need a costly ($500 with credits) interface, and expensive ($250) unlocking. I plan no other mods, so a mail-in PCM mod seems best to me if I go that route. I've found the AppcarDiag and AlfaOBD programs work good for diagnostic work and hopefully for programming new keys.

I've been spoiled by the cost of LS parts. I think I paid around $200 new for a Summit truck cam when I rebuilt the 2004 5.3L engine that's in the 1998 Durango. I see they're now around $270. It blows me away when I see the cost of the Hemi cams, even stock grinds. One thing I can't figure out is why the 6.4 non-MDS one is so cheap- like $200 less than the one for the 5.7. I read about a site that was active around 10 years ago called Hemitronix. The page is still active, but it looks like the guy doing it retired. He had an interesting idea, to use the LS computer in a Mopar. Apparently it required changing crank and cam reluctors, which is major work.

 

Major breakthrough on the CAN problem today. It didn't occur to me that the passenger seat has 2x multi-pin connectors. It also has 2x sets of White and White/Dark Blue wires for CAN, with 1 set per connector. I had unplugged the white connector in initial testing & the faults remained. Today I looked at the black connector and sure enough it also has a White and White/Dark Blue wire set. I unplugged it and the only code remaining was the IBM U113. I left the white connector plugged in and no difference.

Apparently the white connector has the seat heater CAN wiring, while the black one has the rear seat DVD CAN wiring. I looked at the underseat wiring and didn't see any problems, so the fault is further downstream at the player itself. I'll do some more reading as to how to diagnose those. Worst case, since we never use these, I can just leave that connector unplugged for now.

 

I took the passenger seat back off and disconnected the monitor. Here's your problem:

The wiring is fused some way back. I'll have to pick at it to see if I can splice and extend it, and hopefully find a matching connector and terminals. I'm surprised there wasn't a fire here. Another thing is I can't see where this wiring had been tampered with, unlike the amp connectors.

Alldata gives the below info on it. Fortunately the 1318917-1 connector itself is a TE Connectivity brand that sells for a whopping 94 cents on Digikey. Since it's current, I should be able to get terminals as well. Then it's just a matter of getting some automotive grade TXL wiring in the right colors/stripes for the splice. Since I have made up custom harnesses before, I have some oil-based markers for putting stripes on wires, so I should be able to duplicate these fairly close. A parts yard fairly close to me has an entire seat for $160, so I may buy that to cannibalize it if I can't find a used monitor. I presume the fault was the monitor, so I don't want to repair the harness just to have it melt again. The problem with replacing the seat is these have the red RT stitching in them and they are ventilated.

MODULE-VIDEO SCREEN-SEATBACK RIGHT C3

Harness Family: Video_Screen_Jumper
Cavities: 24
Color: NATURAL
Gender: FEMALE
Part Description: 1318917-1
Engineering Name: Mod_Video_Screen_2_VES_LHD_RH
Connector No: D2374C
Option: Standard

Pin Circuit Wire Color Gauge/Size Function
1 A936 RD 20 FUSED B(+)
2 X540 GY/VT 22 AUDIO RETURN 1
3 X536 DG/TN 22 VIDEO SHIELD 1
4 X535 GY/YL 22 VIDEO COMMON 1
5 X547 GY/WT 22 VIDEO SIGNAL 3
6 X545 DG/LB 22 AUDIO LEFT 2
7 X544 DG/DB 22 AUDIO RIGHT 2
8 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
9 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
10 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
11 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
12 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
13 X539 DG/TN 22 AUDIO LEFT 1
14 X538 DG/WT 22 AUDIO RIGHT 1
15 X534 GY/BR 22 VIDEO SIGNAL 1
16 X549 DG/TN 22 VIDEO SHIELD 3
17 X548 GY/YL 22 VIDEO COMMON 3
18 X546 GY/OR 22 AUDIO RETURN 2
19 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
20 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
21 N0 NA NA NO CONNECT
22 D299 WT/DB 20 CAN IHS (+)
23 D298 WT 20 CAN IHS (-)
24 Z912 BK 20 GROUND

 

Upon further inspection, this harness is too damaged to easily repair. Looks like the huge failure was at the ground pin. The wires are for the most part melted together far back into it, and there is a coax cable I damaged trying to pull them apart. I checked for used seats and found a same-option Durango a couple of hours away, but the JY wants $1,600 for all of the seats, no sale. I was able to get the seat out of the truck so I can look at the harness routing better.

I then found Mopar still makes this harness as PN 68230484AB. There is an -AA and -AB version, so I wonder if mine was the AA? Anyhow, it's about a $230 part, so I'll have to get one ordered before they discontinue it. I also found a guaranteed working used monitor for just under $100. Those sell new for around $1K.

 

Seat harness is out, quite a task even with the seat out of the truck. I was surprised at how stiff the wires were, and the fact I could not easily separate them even some distance from the shorted connector.

Muffler & related parts due to arrive today. I removed the broken off bolt where the front pipes attached and was able to recycle the nut and spring. I found this is a 3/8-16 thread, and I have a grade 8 bolt the proper length for this. I had to heat up the flange to knock out the remainder of the bolt. I test aligned the Walker resonators and hope they are not too long. The clamps with hanger rods are poorly designed, the nuts run over top of each other. I'm returning them and will measure what I need once the exhaust is in place and weld some rod to a regular 2.25" clamp.

New hood support is in and works well.

"Sinoparcel" LED replacement for HID bulbs are installed and work. I'll be able to look at the beam pattern after I get the exhaust on and can move the truck. I left the rear dust covers off since these have fans and need air to flow. Getting the wiring connector on is a one handed job on the passenger side even with the PCM moved to the side.

Most of the interior I removed to chase the CAN error can now be put back together. I still need to repair the speaker wiring to the amp.

I plan to replace the splash shield under the radiator since part of it is missing.

 

The exhaust parts are in. I had to use my pipe expander to enlarge the 2.5>2.25 reducers so they would slip over the outlets. In the process of doing that I hurt my leg when a tool vibrated off the workbench and hit me, so things will be a bit slower for the time being.

Here's the planned layout:

I expect I'll have to trim the tips depending on how long the resonator part ends up being.

While working in the rear storage area, I found more OEM parts are missing, namely the jack, jack cover, lug wrench, and bag for the jack tools. I think most of this can be made up via the junkyard and eBay. I decided against using heat shrink to repair the audio wires, as I don't have a pick small enough to de-pin the connectors. I read about using some amalgamated tape for this purpose and will give that a try.

 

So after I cut off the front part I was feeling pretty good in that it looked like both pipes would fit in as-is... until the support rod weld on one side gave way, leaving about a .25" hole! I used my stick welder to try & patch it, not the best job as I still had a slight leak when I filled it with water. I ground that down & layered some JB Weld on top of it so it could flow into whatever is leaking. JBW is good to 500 degrees, so I'll see how well it does.

I had to use my heavy duty pipe expander tool on several fittings as they were either out of round or just needed to be expanded. I now have the system complete except for cutting for the resonators and measuring/cutting the tailpipes. I plan to use a transmission jack under the muffler to align everything, and then tighten the clamps. This should give me a near-OEM look based on the pencil tip tailpipes.

I'll upload some pics once everything is in place.