So today I got in my truck to run errands and noticed my blower motor wasn't working. Not a big deal, but I didn't want to not have air when I was driving so I went to my wife's salon and swapped out vehicles. I got a call from her after she was off work saying that the truck started but the dash lights were really dim and the truck wouldn't shift out of park. I loaded up the kids and we drove over to see what was going on. I started it up and was having the same issue, so I pulled out my OBD2 scanner and plugged it in. As soon as it was plugged in, the dash lights came back on and I could shift it out of Park. It acts normal again, but if I unplug the scanner the dash lights go back out and I can't shift out of Park. Anyone have any ideas what might be happening?

 

When strange electrical gremlins present themselves, first thing I’d do is check battery, battery connections, and then grounds.

 

Sounds like a good place to start. I'll look into it this weekend. Thanks.

 

Especially this ground behind the passenger kick panel

Here's the ground location in my truck.

It only takes a few minutes to inspect. Pull up on the door sill to remove it then pull the fuse panel cover and then pull the kick panel back.
If you find a crusty connection you just need to clean up the end and attach to a clean piece of sheet metal in the area and your be back in business.

 

Great call on the fuse box ground. It had rusted through and one hit with the impact ripped it right out. I took my grinder to the paint, tapped a new hole in good metal, crimped on some forks and we are good to go. Everything is working the way it should now. Thank you guys so much. Are there any more grounds down low like that that could potentially rust through again?

 

Yes, 17 total locations. But at least check out the drivers side same spot (because of how bad your pass side was). Here is list:


Firewall 2, rt fender 2, left fender, starter, and behind rt headlight/radiator.


Left pillar 2, right pillar 2, left rear/wall 2, under dash near brake controller, and under console.

Frame rail (left rear near back end) 2


17 locations

 

Damn that's a lot of places. This is the one behind the driver's kick panel. No problems yet, but I'm going to move it now while I have an the tools out. I'll check the other places later.

 

Yes, but other than the under console and back wall of cab spots (which are most likely not a problem), it doesn’t take that long to check/clean them all up. You’ve already hit the “usual suspects” but like you said, you have the tools out!