Ya it is called that. On Carbed engines they may. On FI they don't work. And Throttle body spacers that fall into this category too. They my work on carbs but not FI.

 

I was also told by someone that i might have to adjust the carb if i did use one but would i have to or not because id like to have more than one opinion

 

i resently found out the carb in the 87s are a problem from factory, find a 84, 85, 86 318 2 barrel carb and put it on the 3.9. ive rebuilt my carb and still have problems with mine.

 

A couple things you can do.

1) K&N drop in air filter.
2) Remove restriction to air filter. There is an air tube that goes off the air filter to the grill. There is a block off tube over this tube at the grill that restricts flow. Take this piece off and cover the hole with some screen.
3) Tune-up. Running good plugs, dist cap, wires, rotor and good fuel filter helps performance.
4) Check ignition timing. Sometimes timing can be off and affect performance.
5) Exhaust. I put a Magnaflow cat and Heartthrob cat back exhaust on my Dakota.
6) Headers. Edelbrock makes nice headers that bolt right on to the 3.9 V6 pre-magnum engine.
7) Intake/carb. I believe that Mopar Performance had a 4bbl intake available for these engines, but not sure how easy they are to find.

I've done mods 1-6 to my 90 Dakota Sport and the improvement was noticeable.

 

Around how much of an increase would you say ScottD in HP and Tourque if you could guess and around how much does it cost for a good #3, 5, 6, and 7 if itcan be found

 

need to find vacum diagram, and timing setting for 2987 dodge dakota

 

That is one futuristic truck! Check the FAQ for links to the Vacuum diagrams as well as service manuals that will have them in it.

 

I would like to chime in on this thread. The reason you want to get a new belt that skips (basically removes) the A/C is because no matter if the A/C itself works, the motor is still having to turn that pulley, and if the A/C clutch is frozen solid, then you will also be turning the A/C condenser/compressor. By skipping over this you may not gain horsepower per-say, but it will definitely ensure that your motor is not wasting power on turning either the bearing or the condenser/compressor. Furthermore, if you are going to put a new exhaust on the truck, I would personally recommend going with a true dual exhaust such as I have on my '87 Dakota 4WD long bed off-road/daily driver. I also went with Thrush glass-packs and resonators, and it gives the motor a nice deep throaty gurgle without being obnoxious. However, you could put straight pipes on your truck with a 4" pipe true dual exhaust, but never-the-less, you will not increase your power substantially. The reason being is that your engine is basically a gasoline powered air pump. So in order to be the most efficient and powerful as it can be, you must be able to get rid of the exhaust quickly. The big but is that you can only get rid of as much exhaust as you produce. So even if you have zero resistance on the exhaust side, you will still have to be able to take in more air. This is where the superchargers/blowers come into play. The idea of upgrading with supers or blowers is to increase the air intake of your motor. By increasing the intake of air, you now have more air that you can expend, thereby creating the necessity for having a less restrictive exhaust. The main concept here is that no matter how much upgrading you do to either the intake or exhaust, your performance will only be as good as the opposite side of the engine.

 

Ignition Timing



Spark Control Computer
4379190
4379192
4379196
4379198
4379243
4379247
Basic Timing
6 deg BTDC
6 deg BTDC
6 deg BTDC
6 deg BTDC
6 deg BTDC
6 deg BTDC












Basic ignition Timing Adjustment 3.9L Engine

Locate and ground out the carburetor switch idle stop contact with a suitable jumper wire.
Disconnect and plug the vacuum lines at vacuum transducer on the SCC and the air switching valve on the emissions air pump.
Set the gearshift selector in park or neutral and apply the parking brake.
Using a magnetic timing unit, insert the pickup probe into the open receptacle at the left of the engine between the power steering and the water pumps. If a magnetic timing unit is not available, use a conventional power timing light connected to the number one cylinder spark plug wire.
Bring the engine to a normal running temperature. This can be done by allowing the engine to idle for 5 to 10 minutes when the ambient temperature is around 21°C (70°F).
Adjust the engine idle rpm to the specifications on the VECI label in the engine compartment.
Check the basic timing when using a power timing light). If the basic timing is correct, remove the jumper wire, reconnect the vacuum lines and disconnect all test equipment. If the basic timing is NOT correct, proceed to step 8
.








Loosen the distributor hold-down bolt allowing the distributor to be turned with some resistance and adjust the basic ignition timing to the specifications on the VECI label. After adjusting the basic ignition timing, recheck the idle rpm and secure the distributor. Recheck the timing once again to verify that the timing is correct.
Remove the jumper wire, reconnect the vacuum lines and check the idle rpm (adjust if necessary), disconnect all test equipment.

 

Honestly as of now I didn't read any of that above but--Do you not realize this thread is over 5 years old!! Hell, I don't even drive my truck anymore and a lot of the ideas I had about it were stupid as hell back in '09. Hopefully i'll have it on the road next summer with the 318. Used as a work/fun truck.