Hey to all,
I'm at a loss with my first born & am looking for some advice. A little background...90 Dakota Sport 4x4 with 3.9 auto purchased used in 91. The V-6 was getting tired & body was in great shape, so made the dumb mistake of thinking a mild build 318 would be fun. That and complete drivetrain rebuild was performed over several months in 2000. Have not had a lick of trouble until October this year. Ran out for a quick drive & didn't make it 20 feet. After extensive troubleshooting, replaced dist. cap/rotor, one injector, & O2 sensor. I now fires and idles (poorly) but only on 4,6,1, & 7. Checked for spark again at dead cylinders & nothing. Plug wires are good & plugs are cleaned/gapped. Any ideas???? Please tell me I overlooked the obvious simple fix?! BTW - she did not fire at all before these repairs were made.

 

Welcome to DodgeForum!

Can we get a little more background on the engine swap? What year is the engine out of? Are you running a computer or carb?

My first thought after reading this was the computer could be gone if it is EFI.

 

My bad - A little more detail would have been good. Engine is from a 90 RC - .030 over with mild RV cam & hyper flat-top pistons, throttle body & intake from 91 Shelby Dakota, combination of both for electronics (main ECM from RC). Trans remains electronic overdrive with shift-kit and light stall converter - t-case custom (3/4 ton guts basically). Auburn lockers front and rear (3.45). And, yes its alot of fun when its running. Anything I missed - holler.

Thanx - JLB

 

Have you checked the flex plate and crankshaft position sensor? Have you checked all the ground wires? It's really hard to diagnose electrical problems over the internet, but if all the basic ignition components are good and installed correctly, and the ASD relay is good, that just leaves the signal to fire, which is the computer and crankshaft position sensor's job.

BTW, that thing does sound fun! Do you have any pictures?

 

Cool! But I haven't found one for the front. Did you do an axle swap or something?

 

Dang Crazy... thats a really good point!! I didn't even catch that!

Yeah, what kind of axle do you have up front?

 

Front Axle was custom built using Auburn locker ring, pinion and clutch pack with stock axles and housing. Highly modified to make it work ($$$!) by Total Gear in Hastings, Minnesota and several hours via telephone to Auburn. They also did the t-case. The rear was a drop-in (minus a housing modification). Trust me, I don't wish to ever do this kind of project ever again!

 

What kind of work was needed to the housing? What type of axle was the locker/ gears you used for? Got any pics of the modifaction?

 

Lol, hopefully you won't ever have to!! If... God forbid... anything ever happened to that truck, I bet there are a lot of people out there who would be fighting over dibs on that custom front axle. Thats awesome. Any chance you have pictures of it?

**EDIT** You beat me to it again Crazy!