Crash Dummy
Junior Member
This is for anyone who may be having a similar problem. My 2012 RAM 1500 started acting funny. Randomly, about 25% of the time, I would turn the key and the starter would crank for 1/2 a second then silence. A local shop said it was the starter, the new one changed nothing. My neighbor said it was the TIPM, I cleaned it (no corrosion or broken parts) still no change. I went to a dealer, they did a diagnosis and found nothing. They told me they load tested the battery and it was good. They charged me $200 for nothing, but offered to sell me a new battery for $300, which they just said I didn’t need. Another local garage had a tech who had worked at a dealership. He said he had seen this several times before and found an error code which confirmed it was the Wireless Ignition Node (WIN). However, to replace it would require programming a pair of keys and I would have to go to a dealership for that (why didn’t the other dealership find that). I called a different dealership and they said $169 for a diagnostic and if it was the WIN then $397 for the WIN, $160 for new keys, $400 labor. I checked U-tube to see how to replace the WIN. The man in the video demonstrated my exact problem and said you can buy a WIN with preprogrammed keys and showed how in install it in less than 10 minutes. On eBay I found the new WIN with two keys for $412. I’m waiting for it to arrive.
