95 dakota 3.9L automatic 2wd
i just purchased my 2nd 95 dakota, first one has transmission issues & other problems & is now to be used for parts....this truck has been owned by family since it was bought new, was was a daily driver for several years....the recently purchased dakota was allegedly needing a fuel pump as every 8 or 10 miles the truck would die, but if you waited for a short period & the truck would start & run fine....i took the known good fuel pump from my parts truck, had my daughter drive me ninety miles to buy the truck & drove to my daughter's house, 20 miles from my home, with no issues....it wasn't till i was driving the rest of the way home i hit a bump a little hard & the truck died, i coasted to a stop, wouldn't start while coasting, pulled over & waited a min or two & truck started....i avoided a many bumps in the road as i could, that same scenerio played out numerous times on the rest of the trip home
and it now appears i have two issues....the truck is now running out of gas while driving or sitting even though it has at least a quarter of a tank of gas....it has done this twice & i suspect this is the problem the seller was talking about

while replacing the fuel pump, I noticed the fuel pump on the purchased truck had been replaced already recently, but i went ahead & put the known good pump from the parts truck in, but it did not resolve the issue

here is what parts appear to have been by the seller:
fuel pump
crankshaft position sensor
camshaft position sensor
asd relay
coil
battery

thanks to this site i was able to find & fix the known issue in the wiring harness under the fuse box, but that did not resolve either issue

 

I'd also check all the other ends of the battery cable - make DARN sure there's no "green funk" in any of them.

I'd also double check the connection points.

Next thing, not that I've heard of it on Dakotas, is possibly the ignition switch (not the lock cylinder, the ignition switch.)

RwP

 

thanks for that advice....i was planning on replacing the ignition switch, as the one on the parts truck gave up the ghost shortly before the transmission did....i also replaced the fuel pump relay with the known good one from the parts truck....as soon as i replace the ignition switch i'll update the status of the issues

while browsing the forum, i found a tbd pertaining to fuel pump wiring harness issues on 92 dakotas....does this tbd apply to my 95, since they are both gen 1's? if so, what wiring harness is it?

 

not sure if ignition switch replacement resolved the dieing when hitting a bump, but it did not resolve the issue with the truck dieing while idling or going down the road

besides replacing the ignition switch, i took the known good pcm, the trottle body with it's three sensors & air temp sensor from the parts truck & put them on the truck i just bought that has the issues.....so, the pcm & all it's sensors are either new or know good & the only thing not replaced is the wiring

after swapping all the parts i started the truck & just let it idle....all good for about 10 minutes, then the truck started running rough & would almost die when the a/c compressor kicked in....pushing the accelerator pedal in did not increase rpm & truck died....basically the truck ran out of gas even though there is gas in the tank

i plan on putting the newer fuel pump back in, to fix the gas guage that quit working when i installed the pump from the parts truck....after that.....i may move the wiring harness from the parts truck to the newer truck.....only issue with doing that is the rats did some damage to the wiring harness by chewing on it

thoughts, advice at this point would be greatly appreciated

 

The 1995 should have a Schrader Valve on the fuel rail. I'd connect a fuel pressure gauge and see what the fuel pressure's doing when it chokes down and dies.

Also, that may be where it goes closed loop from being warm enough - it's a shame it's not a 1996, where you could plug in a OBDII scanner and see what the ECU's doing when it roughens up.

But he, if wishes all came true, frogs wouldn't bump their butts when they jumped *grins*

RwP

 

update....running out gas issue solved....turns out it actually was out of gas, gas gauge now works

truck stills dies when you hit a bump, but will start right back up after a minute or two

 

update....when the truck dies after hitting a bump the key must be switched to the off position before the truck will start back up

 

update.....when the temperature outside is cooler, in the 60's rather then the 80's or 90's, the truck does not die when hitting a bump

 

I bought a 94 Sport to replace the 95 Sport that my granddaughter needed "sooo baaad". It's doing exactly what you described - but only when the air conditioner is on. Got it off ebay in June '15 and shortly discovered why it was up for auction; looked at the FAQs on DF; fixed every splice I could find; then Kody ran great all winter. Now its A/C season again, and Kody is up to his old tricks. But now he's is giving me a warning by erratic movements of the speedometer needle before he goes to sleep. If you get a solution to this problem, please let me know cuz I'm missing having the A/C on!

 

Forgot to mention that both Sports are 5.2L V8s with automatics.