I am a recent owner of a Dakota with the 3.9. I had it about a week and it just started eating oil. I turned a corner one day and my pressure dropped right down to nothing and triggered the oil light. I have read a lot on here and seen the issue with the plenum gasket. I did this fix with all new intake and plenum gasket. And new spark plugs. All of the plugs looked fine except for the front passenger side spark plug. It was CAKED with oil build up. SO obviously this is where the oil is being burned. Any clue? And now after doing this I was pulling into a road coming home turning right and the pressure dropped off again and when I checked the oil when I parked it showed I had plenty of oil. Little help please...

 

Welcome to DodgeForum!

Take a look at the oil pressure sending unit. Its at the back of the engine, behind the intake manifold next to the distributor. Its not unheard of for them to spring a leak and need replacing.

And for future reference, you'll get more responses if you post in the 1st Generation Dakota subforum rather than here in the general dakota subforum!

 

actually the sending unit is brand new. I broke it off when I was taking off the intake manifold. So that is brand new.

 

Also...any idea on the one cylinder burning the oil? Possibly the rings went? I have just never heard of just one cylinder going all of the sudden.

 

Yes it can be bad rings, yes it can happen on just one piston. It could be bad valve seals. A blown head gasket.

How do you know it is just one cly?

 

I guess I shouldn't say just one cylinder. But when I changed all the plugs they looked normal. With no build up. Except for the front passenger plug. And it wasn't using any oil. Then just all of the sudden the oil was gone. Then a few days later it was running rough. Like I had a cylinder not firing. That's why I changed the plugs and noticed the one spark plug completely caked with burnt oil.

 

Time to do a compression test........