My '97 Dakota won't start. There is no power to the coil.
Checked crank and cam sensors. Checked wiring all seems fine.
Replaced them anyway, bought new computer. No change.
Took it to the dealer, they wanted to start changing parts again, because they broke the cam position sensor. The truck is a 2.5 5-speed.

 

:edit: i need to learn to read.

 

check automatic shutdown relay
check safety switch on clutch pedal
battery can't crank AND spark

invest $20 in a Haynes manual goto 5-5 step5 or look at the sticky

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-download.html

and use the


https://elibrary.mel.org/validate?ur...ch%3Fdb%3DCHLL

link has the login in the sticky

hope this helps

KillerKilgore

 

I have a haynes manual. Went though all the checks it says to do.
The only code I get is loss of power to the pcm. Power and ground on PCM are ok.
I change cap, rotor, plugs, wires, also. Still nothing. I'll let you know on the safety switch.

 

was thinking about this today when I started my toyota work trk (standard)

the safety switch on it will not even engage the starter. so if your trk cranks but no fire from coil. it might not be the clutch safety switch.

it has to do with the signal telling the coil to send the spark to the plugs.

so

the haynes manual said to connect a ohmmeter to the positive and negative wire connectors (not where the coil wire connects) this is the primary resistance and should be between .95 to 1.20 ohms at 70 to 80 degrees F. different resistance for different coils but this is general specs.

then connect 1 side of the ohmmeter to the positive side of the coil connector wires and the other side of the ohmmeter to the high-tension terminal (where the coil wire goes to the distributor) this is the secondary resistance and should be 11,300 to 15,300 ohms. different resistance for different coils but this is general specs.


you said you checked the wires. did you check the wires going to the coil (giving the coil power, telling it when to fire). Or the spark plug wires (sure the coil wire is good?).

to check the wires giving battery voltage disconnect the coil electrical connector check for battery voltage on the dark green/orange terminal wire with the key on. if no battery voltage then it is the automatic shutdown relay.

to check to see if the coil is getting signal to fire. take a test light and back probe the coil driver terminal (black/gray wire). make sure test light has a good ground.
have a fried you trust crank the engine (make sure trans in neutral, clutch is pressed in, and park brake is on, hair, clothing, ect is out the way of moving parts ), and the test light should light every time the coil is told to fire. if not its not getting signal from PCM and the camshaft position sensor and crankshaft sensor needs to be checked.

remember to take all precautions to be safe.

you said you replaced the sensors and computer so that leaves the timing.

easy way to check is to take out no.1 plug. place thumb over NOT IN plug hole. slowly turn engine by hand until the piston is coming up on compression stroke. when TDC. take off distributor and see where rotor button is. should be near where no.1 plug wire goes.

if that doesn't work let me know. We can use it for target practice. might not fix it but will make you feel better.

you said dealer broke the cam sensor. did they fix it?

BTW what happened to begin with?

hope this helps

KillerKilgore

 

Weird things happen. Took tape off of the harness beneath the underhood fuse box.
Was told to check the splice there. Splice was fine. Had a buddy come help me w/ a few circuit checks that require an extra set of hands. Hadn't changed anything more as of yet.
The truck started. Let it run for a while. Still starts. The only thing we noticed was the fuel relay and the auto shutdown relays were getting really hot. These checked out fine with the ohms meter. Only the relays were hot, wires to them were fine. I'll replace these w/ dealer parts tomorrow.
I'll keep you updated if it happens again or not.

It all started, I came out of the grocery store and the truck wouldn't start. Towed it home, it started once but ran rough. Wouldn't start again. Been down over a month.

 

basically same thing happened to me at Dr. office.

cranked over 15 minutes (30 sec at a time) I didn't even pop the hood.

finally started but had SES light and had no trouble since.

key from off position turned on/off/on/off/on, 3 times within 5 seconds left in on position and had a code of 12 on digital odometer. saying that the battery had been disconnected withing the last 50 starts. but i know better than that. after doing the code thing 4 times the SES light went out.

did a lot of short trips within a few hrs that day.

Will wait and see myself.

glad your back up and running.

KillerKilgore