96 dodge dakota sport 3.9 HELP!!!!!!!!
#21
07-26-2010, 10:30 PM
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i found this post and it had every symptom that i did and this is what he said....
"Success at last !!!
About a month ago I finally figured out what to do and now the car is running and I've since done a bunch of other work on it.
I couldn't figure out the intermittent nature of the problem. Sometimes it would start and run fine till it died and other times nothing.
Turned out to be the ignition module (behind the key switch) It has three sets of points (six points in all) which are opened and closed by the small plastic cam shaft that makes or breaks the contact points depending on what position you turn the key to. On inspection of the old part the points that bring up the fuel pump weren't making their connection properly. The solution was a new module purchased at AutoZone for about $33 dollars. It required taking the plastic shrouding off the steering column just under the wheel....and of course removing the instrument cover etc to get into the tight area. Small female torks sockets were necessary to remove the screws that secured it in place so the new module could be snapped in after the old one was removed. It's operated perfectly since.
After looking at the wiring schematic with an electrical engineer I met we came up with a jumper wire to trouble shoot the problem. What we did was check for a 12v signal at the fuel pump in the trunk of the car. So there WAS power to the pump.(just no signal to make the pump run) The jumper wire ran from the + side of the battery with an inline fuse (from the fuel pump position on the fuse panel. The end of jumper wire used a crimp on male connector that plugged into the upper side of the 10 AMP fuel pump fuse position. When the key was turned the engine cranked and started. None of the instruments etc where working while this was done however. But the car ran every time it was started and could be driven up and down the street in front of my home.
Since I got it running I've put new brushes in the alternator, replaced the battery (it was 5 years old) replaced the tie rod ends, and will be replacing the electric window motor in the right rear door. (besides washing it and cleaning it up to look like new again) So replacing the valve cover gaskets should finish up the maintenance it has been needing.
It now rides and feels like a new car again after sitting for so long.
If anyone ever need to build that jumper wire remember to use an inline fuse in the wire for safety as that fuel pump is in the tank and plug into the upper slot of the fuel pump fuse socket. I placed a on/off switch I had from an old string trimmer in my jump wire so when I shut the engine down I could turn off that connection between the pump and the battery. I've hot wired a few ignitions when I was younger but this was the first electric fuel pump I've hot wired.
It's been fairly nice weather where I live this fall so I've been working on all my vehicles lately getting everything working dependably again.
"
any thoughts?
"Success at last !!!
About a month ago I finally figured out what to do and now the car is running and I've since done a bunch of other work on it.
I couldn't figure out the intermittent nature of the problem. Sometimes it would start and run fine till it died and other times nothing.
Turned out to be the ignition module (behind the key switch) It has three sets of points (six points in all) which are opened and closed by the small plastic cam shaft that makes or breaks the contact points depending on what position you turn the key to. On inspection of the old part the points that bring up the fuel pump weren't making their connection properly. The solution was a new module purchased at AutoZone for about $33 dollars. It required taking the plastic shrouding off the steering column just under the wheel....and of course removing the instrument cover etc to get into the tight area. Small female torks sockets were necessary to remove the screws that secured it in place so the new module could be snapped in after the old one was removed. It's operated perfectly since.
After looking at the wiring schematic with an electrical engineer I met we came up with a jumper wire to trouble shoot the problem. What we did was check for a 12v signal at the fuel pump in the trunk of the car. So there WAS power to the pump.(just no signal to make the pump run) The jumper wire ran from the + side of the battery with an inline fuse (from the fuel pump position on the fuse panel. The end of jumper wire used a crimp on male connector that plugged into the upper side of the 10 AMP fuel pump fuse position. When the key was turned the engine cranked and started. None of the instruments etc where working while this was done however. But the car ran every time it was started and could be driven up and down the street in front of my home.
Since I got it running I've put new brushes in the alternator, replaced the battery (it was 5 years old) replaced the tie rod ends, and will be replacing the electric window motor in the right rear door. (besides washing it and cleaning it up to look like new again) So replacing the valve cover gaskets should finish up the maintenance it has been needing.
It now rides and feels like a new car again after sitting for so long.
If anyone ever need to build that jumper wire remember to use an inline fuse in the wire for safety as that fuel pump is in the tank and plug into the upper slot of the fuel pump fuse socket. I placed a on/off switch I had from an old string trimmer in my jump wire so when I shut the engine down I could turn off that connection between the pump and the battery. I've hot wired a few ignitions when I was younger but this was the first electric fuel pump I've hot wired.
It's been fairly nice weather where I live this fall so I've been working on all my vehicles lately getting everything working dependably again.
"any thoughts?
#22
07-28-2010, 02:30 PM
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ok no one has responded to my last entry...please dont give up on me....
I changed the cam positioning sensor with a brand new one and it is still doing the same thing. It will start for 10 minutes idle fine and then quit. She will start back up again but with no idle and once she dies its over for an hour or so she wont start back up? WTH could be wrong? crank sensor? i wanna set her on fire please help me
I changed the cam positioning sensor with a brand new one and it is still doing the same thing. It will start for 10 minutes idle fine and then quit. She will start back up again but with no idle and once she dies its over for an hour or so she wont start back up? WTH could be wrong? crank sensor? i wanna set her on fire please help me
#23
07-30-2010, 12:05 AM
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Well no one has responded so I guess they all gave up but its all ok cause I finally got it going...It was the crank sensor not the cam sensor that was bad...it runs now but backfires and doesnt seem to have as much power hoping just driving it will work, let the computer relearn everything I put in new...so thanks to all who helped
