point me in the right direction please.
1992 dakota 3.9 hard to start cold. spits and sputters dies if gas pedal is touched. strong fuel smell. rough idle. after warm up no fuel smell idle better but still rough. no check engine lamp ( and it works) no vacuum leaks. any ideas?

 

carb or FI? i donno the 3.9's i have the 5.2 but if its a carb you might start looking there.

 

if it quacks like a duck, acts like like a duck, and smells like a duck its probley something to due with ur fuel system. So first thing id do is check ur fuel pressure and urs is FI 88-89 was carb 90-91 was TBI and then 92-96 is FI

 

I know you said no leaks but it sounds like a vaccuum problem. Specifically, it sounds like a vaccuum advance issue. Either that, the air sensor, or the computer. Betting on the advance, though.

 

Had a similar prob with my 88 3.9 TBI. thought it was O2 sensor. found out that it was coolant temp sensor, even though my temp guage was working... Apparantly, this sensor was not working, and supplies the pcm with temp info. since the pcm "thought" the engine was cold, it supplied an overly rich mixture at all times. my truck too, was hard to start, and smelled "gassey" when cold, better when warm, but not right. Oh, and if I nailed the gas, it would die out, then recover. hope this helps. Larry