Hey everyone, new to the forum. Ok, 95 Dakota, 3.9 2wd, 160k Miles. My brother was driving it and it all of sudden died after driving for a while. Looked at and looked at it, didn't think it was getting fuel, hard to hear if fuel pump was turning on because he was on the highway with constant cars. All of a sudden(about an hour), she starts up and runs great all the way home. So I took it for a 45 min. drive shutting it off once and then it died on me. Check engine light never game on. Anyway I changed the fuel pump(now my gas gauge works), still dies after a bit, so I got a new ECM, still dies, checked all wiring for bare wires, nothing, any ideas? Someone suggested the coil may be getting hot/old and then not working after being ran for a while. Thanks.

Here's some more info to help, it starts up fine when cold. Run's for a bit then starts shaking/cutting out til it finally dies and will not start until it cools back down. No previous issues what so ever.

 

Welcome to DodgeForum!

Sounds like a case of the notorious ASD relay and fuel pump relay power splice!

 

yes mine was the coil with those symptoms. two bolts and 5 minutes to change...

 

Alright, checked the wiring and it looks really good, just changed the coil and it still dies! No clue wtf is going on lol.

 

temp sensor maybe????

 

kahanabob has a good point. To expand on that though, these trucks have 2 engine coolant temp sensors. One of them has 2 wires and the other has 1 wire. The sensor with 1 wire is for the gauge, the sensor with 2 is for the computer. So basically, your gauge can be reading right but the computer be getting the wrong temp input. Try changing out the 2 wire sensor!

 

Changed the sensor, still dies...

 

Read the FAQ thread at the top of this forum page...it tells you how to pull your error codes through your check engine light. If one of the sensors is out of whack and causing your problem, you'll be able to pinpoint it and correct it.

 

Check engine light isn't on...

 

Sensors not reading right won't necessarily throw a code. The computer has an accepted range of input signals from all the sensors and as long as the sensor is within that range, the computer won't complain. So a sensor can be bad and not reading right, but still reading within that range... just enough to cause problems but not trip a CEL.

The check engine light does not have to be on for there to be codes to check. Not every code trips the light, just the emissions related ones.