Purchased a '95 Dodge Dakota V8 automatic Club Cab two weeks ago, was a blast to drive through the 7-inch storm we had last weekend, handled great. Had a mechanic look at it, they said looked good, front-end was tight, serpentine belt is a littel glazed so it sqeaks, but didnt' have any cracks to worry about, I shoudl change in the spring.
Guessing the 4-wheel drive wasn't used much previously, as I've read in the forum can happen when not used, it acted a little weird sometimes when slowing to a stop or starting, like the clutch wasn't quite right, but a blast for the most part.

Went on a buisness trip this week, left the truck at the airport during the 4 day journey, on the way up it seemed to be 'feeling the road' a bit more then before.

FYI it was very cold, 20 F or so, over that time.

On the trip back home ( 50-minute drive normally ), for the first little while it was what felt like bumping, but I figured out it tied into acceleration, and more like the engine was hesitating for an instant all the time, leading to a shaking feeling like it was the road when under power. But when I let off the gas and coasted for a bit it stopped.

Then after about 10 minutes of driving, it really started losing power. Same amount of gas just didnt' seem to keep it going, and stomping on the gas didnt' do much. ( occasionally it would rev, more often it was like I was flooding it, and that woudl actually make it do worse, let off the gas, feather it back up, and it would seem to do better for a second or two ).

So I pulled off and found a gas station, cheched what I could in the freezing temp( 23 F I think ), noticed the auto fluid was low ( 1/4th inch on the stick ).

Purchased a quart of mecron ( I know, FAQ says no to that, it was either that, or some no-name that didn't even bother mentioning what it really was, or type-f, and the transmission stick said mecron II, I'll get the auto flushed after I figure this out, if its really that bad ).

Anyway, after that, and about 20 minutes of checking it out, chatting with the attendent ( this was 1:30 am ), started it back up, drove off, around local streets, everythign seemed good. ( worked normally, no hesetation, plenty of power, though I didn't hit it too hard, cops like the area I was in ).

But not 3 highway minutes later, slowing down again. Pulled over, opened the hood, pulled off the air top, noticed if I pushed the manifold ( manifold? metal flaps that control air intake ), it rev'ed jsut fine, somewhat rough idle though, never died, got back in, in park rev'ed the engine, always took off without an issue, left, a minute later, back to the behavior. Ended up getting it towed home, didnt' want to drive 10mph the rest of the way.

Looking for thoughts/idea's on where to start. No idea if its O2 sensor ( no idea what that really does, but seems to be a popular failing item ).

I've already found the service ignition code topic, will try those in the morning.

One very odd thing that might be a good starting point, when trying to drive and its slowing down, if I give it gas, sometimes it woudl start reving up, then I woudl hear what sounded like an impact from the engine compartmnt, not loud, but hearable, and it woudl immedeatly lose more power, loss of power was directly tied to teh noise. The impact didnt' sound at all like metal on metal, then I thought it was more like wood ( more nosie of the impact itcelf then the object doing it ), but after a few I decided it was like an air impact, nothing hitting, more like a large volume of air suddenly releasing or some such. ( Hard to describe, like a metal bat hitting something, but without the metal part of the interaction , like hearing jsut force, not the hit that caused it ).

Any suggestion appreceated. I don't even know if it will still happen or ws related to the very cold, haven't driven it since.

I do plan on over the holidays giving it a good tune-up, plugs, wires, distributer, the list in the faq item pretty much. I haven't done much with vehicles recently ( good reliable elantras for the last 7 years ), but its like riding a bike, right? .

Thanks for any help.

Seth

 

And a question, unrelated to the issue, but related to the truck, first fill-up I put in 16.5 gallens, do I likely have a 22 gallon tank, or was I very empty and there is some extra room in the tube up to fill it?

( Said I had an eighth of a tank left, so it doesnt' really fit either side, unless of course it already has issue with registering amount of available gas ).

 

Sounds like your tranny may be shot or just needs the tune up. The guage is not true to the full size of the tank. yes you do have a 22 gal. I can run on empty for 3 days. when it says empty you probly got 3to 4gal or more.

 

you said the belt was glazed over, i belive when you drivie it gets cold (being at the front of the motor) when it gets cold it slips causing it to not spin the alt. so it will rev to gain power when it thinks the battery is low (loose of power) so you pull over the belt warms back up starts to spin the alt and every thing is happy jolly till it gets cold again. i say replace the belt and the tenstioner spring.

 

replace the belt and give it a major tune up. Sounds like a bad ignition coil.

 

How do you tell if you have 22 Gal? Cause I think every once a while I would fill up before the light came on and it would be 15Gal sometimes 16 Gal but I just figured it was a 1 Gal reserve so I thought I had the 15 Gal tank am I wrong?

 

Thanks everyone for the responses so far.

Crazy4x4RT: I sure hope not transmission, but willing to deal with it if it is. I've had transmission issues before though, this didn't seem at all similiar.

I wil definently get the belt changed first, and a tune-up.

Nicegy525: Would you recomment anything beyond the coil and the tune-up suggested in the FAQ?

From the FAQ:
Tune-Up, What to do?- Spark plugs (some good old copper plugs are good, avoid "multiple-electrode" plugs [such as Bosch+2,+4]), air filter, PCV valve (located on passenger side valve cover), crankcase breather filter (located on driver-side valve cover), spark plug wires, distributor cap, and distributor rotor (located under the cap) are all things to change or at least inspect.

Quick autozone price list if anyone else is interested, and so I can keep it straight:
Ignition coil: $30
Wire kit: $30
Plugs: $? Varied, $4-12 per, I'll research that more first.
Distrib cap+ rotor kit: $22
Air filter: $7
PCV Valve: $2-3
Breather: $6

The serpentine belt is 30-odd dollars, so total of around $130 + plugs, $178 if using $6 plugs ( the more expensive ones are the multi-pronged anyway ).



Also, thanks for the info on the larger tank, I guess that they increase the tank size, without accounting for it in the fuel gage? Haven't done this for a long time, put a full 5-gallon gas can in the back, and jsut drive it till it dies . ( keep of fthe freeway though for this, can be dangerous ).

 

gas tanks are measured when 95% full. this allows for expansion of the gas due to heat and movement. you are not suppost to fill them all the way up the fill tube. there are vent hoses in the fill tube that lead to emission crap and continusouly filling up the fill tube puts raw fuel into the emission equipment, therefore causing premature failure. the best way to fill a tank is to fill until it clicks off the first time then stop. (it wont hurt to go to the next even dollar if you are one of those people.)

I have a 22 gal tank in my truck and when on empty-1/8th it takes about 15-18 gals to fill it up.

Crazy- you are right. it is like a "reserve" so to speak.

Fox- i would put my money on you having a 22 gal tank.

 

Fox you probably have the 22gal. if you fill up before the light on a 15 gal you probly only fit 13 gal or less. So i bet you got the 22gal. I love having the 22gal my self. keeps me away from the gas station for a while. the only bad thing is if you empty it out it hurts your wallet filling up 19 or 20 gal or so.

 

Tried the ignition engine code, 55 ( no errors ).

This weekend I shoudl be able to get to the tune-up, and I will let everyone know the results.