I have a 93 Dakota that last year about this same time we chased an issue where we landed on a bad Cat Converter. The problem seemed to go away. This was a situation where the truck would run fine for a bit then start spitting and sputtering and die at stop signs and around corners.

The problem went a way with the new Cat. Well low and behold, we are hving the same type of symptons again this year. We are now at a point where it won't even start. Just turns over and doesn't even try to fire.

Is it possible that a cat can go bad that quick? We don't drive it much. Also, what is the process to obtain codes on this era of truck.

Any thoughts or trouble shooting points?

Thanks everyone.

 

Doubtful that its the cat again. This sounds like a typical case of the ASD/Fuel Pump relay power splice gone bad. There is a detailed write up of this problem in faq.

 

I agree. +1

 

Another posiblity is the fuel injectors themselves could be crapped up. When I had mine cleaned they were down on volume by 23 percent the tech was wonder if they had come out of a running truck.

 

Would tihs all be year round or would the cold weather bring this on. We were running real good until the temp got below about 30. Other wise it was not a problem.

Thanks for all of you help!!

 

Now this thing won't start at all. Turns over and occasionally tries but for the most part doesn't even think about firing.

I tried some ether today and no change. Does that confirm that we are looking at an ignition issue?

If we were looking at an ignition issue, where would you start?

Thanks again.

 

I pulled what I think is the coil wire off of what I think is the coil and held it close to the frame. There was no spark. The reason I'm not sure I know what I am looking at is this...it comes off the distributor right where a normal coil wire would come from but the coil looks more like a coil that would sit in the middle of an HMI distributor. Is this a valid test? If it is, where might I go next?

Thanks.

 

Did you check the splice under the pdc? Still sounds like it could very possibly be your problem.

 

Your ignition coil get's power via the Automatic Shutdown (ASD) relay.
If the infamous splice is bad, quite a good possibility, than you will not get spark, and no electrical feed to the injectors, and probably no fuel pump output.

Start by looking for the splice, and making sure it's good, and than protect it REAL good. If there is even a little corrosion or "not clean" looking copper, re-splice the connection.

 

Thanks much for the information. Its probably user issues but I am struggling to find this in the FAQ section.

Can you give me a general idea where this is in the truck? My Haynes manual is not much help on this one either.

Thanks again for everyone's input.