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Dodge Dakota Engine and Underhood Questions

465 messages,  Last post on Mar 27, 2013 at 6:00 AM

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What is this discussion about? Dodge Dakota, Engine, Truck

Messages Page 21 of 48

#193 of 465 Dodge Dakota '91 - unable to idle, revs instead. by roadtraveller

Aug 17, 2007 (9:55 pm)

Help! I have a 91 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 4x4 w/ the 3.9 V-6 & automatic transmission. When I put it in park the engine revs to 2000 RPMs. I used to be able to get it to idle by tapping the gas a little. Now it just revs higher & higher. Shop checked it and can't figure out why. Local Dodge dealer doesn't work on "old" vehicles like this (they said this with a sneer). Need help from someone who knows older Dodge trucks. My shop guys are willing to listen to any help I can find - they're not super familiar with this vehicle, but they're honest and the best thing I have to work with right now. My truck has over 200,000 miles, so I guess I'm at a point where I have to decide to fix or get rid of it. I'd rather fix it, but I can't just keep pouring money in either. The shop guys disconnected something so it idles really low (almost won't when cold outside), cause I've gotta get to work somehow. They're searching for answers to - trying to find a mechanic that used to work at the Dodge dealer back when they still fixed these trucks. Anyone have ideas?

#194 of 465 Re: Dodge Dakota '91 - unable to idle, revs instead. [roadtraveller] by dustyk

Aug 18, 2007 (12:16 pm)

Replying to: roadtraveller (Aug 17, 2007 9:55 pm)
On a vehicle that old the first thing to check for is a vacuum leak. Rubber vacuum hoses get brittle and cracked after a while. You could have a bad throttle body base gasket. This can cause a high idle condition.
 
On that vintage your Idle Speed Motor could be binding and not returning back to the correct idle position. This was an occasional problem in those years. If you disconnect the Idle Speed Motor and the idle goes to rest, you could have a bad Coolant Temperature Sensor, a Fuel Temperature Sensor, or a faulty computer.
 
Make sure that the cables going to the throttle lever on the throttle body are not binding or sticking.
 
Regards,
Dusty

#195 of 465 Re: Dodge Dakota '91 - unable to idle, revs instead. [dustyk] by roadtraveller

Aug 19, 2007 (11:43 am)

Replying to: dustyk (Aug 18, 2007 12:16 pm)
Thanks for the help, Dusty. Before posting, I read some of the others questions. I wondered about vacuum hoses, especially since I've had to replace some coolant hoses with leaks already. If I have a bad throttle body gasket, would anything be leaking besides air? I'm not totally ignorant with vehicles, but I don't know very much either. I was looking at the engine yesterday, and I see that the shop disconnected what looks like a big (about 2"), maybe insulated?, air hose, which looks kind of beat up, to the throttle (I think that's what it's leading to). Does that have to do with the Idle Speed Motor? I'm guessing it does. I believe they also disconnected the Idle Speed Motor, if that is a separate action. It idles very low now, almost stalling when cold, but OK when the engine is warm. I know that my shop guys checked the cables, because that was their first thought, as we've had unrelated work done. This vehicle is my only transportation, and I don't have tons of money (obvious, since I drive a truck built when I was just starting high school!) My husband is away, and I'm really struggling here. Any additional help is very much appreciated. Any questions to help refine the issue, I'll answer, if I can, and find out if I don't know.
 
Thanks again,
Faith.

#196 of 465 Re: Dodge Dakota '91 - unable to idle, revs instead. [roadtraveller] by dustyk

Aug 21, 2007 (6:45 pm)

Replying to: roadtraveller (Aug 19, 2007 11:43 am)
If the Throttle Body gasket was leaking the engine would draw air through the opening, causing the engine to idle or run at higher RPM. I've seen this failure many times on Chevies and GMCs, but never on a Dodge. Still, there could be a first time.
 
I'm not sure what hose you could be refering to, but nothing should be disconnected!
 
If the connector has been disconnected from the Idle Speed Motor, then I suspect this is what's causing your problem, since you indicate that the high idle problem has not returned. As previously noted, the motors in that vintage sometimes had a tendency to bind and not allow a return to normal idle. Unfortunately, I have seen one that was caused by the computer sending a constant signal to the motor.
 
Right now the throttle stop located on the front of the throttle body and contacts the linkage at rest is acting as the idle position. The Idle Speed Motor needs to be working correctly in order for the engine to operate properly.
 
I think on '91 throttle bodies the stop was adjustable, but it is not recommended if you ever repair the idle speed motor issue.
 
Regards,
Dusty

#197 of 465 Re: 2001 Dodge Dakota motor/Transmission problems [budgurl07] by DodgeTruck

Oct 12, 2007 (11:34 pm)

Replying to: budgurl07 (Jul 30, 2007 9:38 am)
i had a similar problem with my 97 dakota basically your saying the rpms are moving spiratically at times well you can check your distributer cap it may have moisture inside that may fix it well it worked for me

#198 of 465 Firing order of Spark plug wires by psigler

Oct 15, 2007 (6:36 pm)

It was running ruff so I thought that i would do a tune up and I don't know if I have the wires in the right order.

#199 of 465 Re: Firing order of Spark plug wires [psigler] by bpeebles

Oct 17, 2007 (7:13 pm)

Replying to: psigler (Oct 15, 2007 6:36 pm)
There is a reason why the instructions on the spark-plug-wire box says to replace ONE AT A TIME. (Often says to start with longest and work you way down to shortest)
 
Before we can help you get the ignition-wires hooked up right... we needs to know what engine you have? (The Dakota is availabe with 4 different engines)

#200 of 465 loss of power at high RPM’s by johnmeeks

Oct 19, 2007 (6:30 pm)

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota R/T engine 5.9 360
My problem is loss of power at high RPM’s at 60 mph if I floor it, it will down shift and no increase in speed. If I just give it a little gas so it will not down shift I can get as fast as I want. Well maybe not as fast as I want but fast enough.
The auto parts store ran a code check and it is misfiring cylinders 1&3
So far I have changes plugs, wires, cap, and ran two tank of fuel injector cleaner also my fuel presser in 48 lbs.
 
I was thinking about changing the fuel injectors in 1 and 3. What would you say my next step be?

#201 of 465 fault code by fpackard

Nov 06, 2007 (7:49 am)

I have a 2001 Dakota 4.7 engine 230,000 mi automatic trans,4X4. Starting last year when it got below 35 degrees I get a engine fault code P0202. I know it's for the no. 2 injector control circuit but I am not sure if it is a problem. I get the same mileage after the code as before (17.3) so am wondering if this is more of a cold start problem? It starts easy when warm or cold any help is appreciated. Thanks, Frank

#202 of 465 the 95 satan dakota by cjwills

Nov 18, 2007 (12:33 pm)

i have a 95 dakota with the 318, first off my truck was stalling going down the road and at red lights then it finally died and would not start just roll over ihad no spark and no fuel so i changed fuel pump and new plugs,wires,ect.. still nothing so tried a reman computer and changed all the relays,cam pos sensor, crank sensor still nothing,started tracing wires and found the red wire from auto shutdown relay to the computer was corroded fixed and the truck fired right up.
 now the truck has alittle miss at idle and going down the road if u give it alitttle gas and let i level off at a certain rpm the truck will backfire and start jerking also the truck would stall sometimes it will start and sometimes it wont. found out the plastic piece that hold the wire on the bottom of the coil was broke replaced the coil and the wires were loose so i filled the plug with dielectric grease. that seemed to fix the stalling problem but the backfire and jerking is still there and seems to be getting worse. yesterday i took the fuel rail and the injectors out inspected everything and cleaned everything. injectors seem to be electrically sound. also changed tps,torqued intake down, checked for vaccuum leaks none were found the only code i could retvive was code 12 (1 flash pause 2 flashes) and by the chiltons book is memory standby power lost. the book doesnt say what that is.
the only thing that i can think of that hasnt been looked might be the catconverter or o2 sensor which the sensor was replaced 20,0000 miles ago
is there any suggestions out there or any answer on the code im getting . by the way i have 107,000 miles on the truck

Messages Page 21 of 48

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