i've got an 88 4x4 3.9 dakota. burning about a quart of oil a week (150 miles or so) . don't notice any excessive smoke out the exhaust, but the fence i park next to is covered with oil from my morning start ups . read some info on belly pan gasket leaks causing excessive oil consumption . also know piston rings and valve seals when worn can burn some oil . any other dakota owners had this problem? the motor leaks a little, but nowhere near a quart a week.
thanks
bobby

 

On the Magnums the Intake Plenum is a common problem. But you have a LA engine. I don't believe you have an Intake Plenum. Most likely you have a blown head gasket or bad valves or piston rings. Have you checked your coolant to see if it is leaking in there. You will see milky stuff or oil.

 

thanks for the reply . the coolant looks good . do you know is there any way
to tell if the problem is in the piston rings or valve seals ? wouldn't mind getting a valve job done, but not really looking for a rebuild . too busy myself to do the work any time soon . also looking to do the 318 swap next year or getting another gen 1 dakota with a 318, so not looking to dump much money in the 3.9.
oil's just not cheap like it used to be
bobby

 

You have to pull the intake and look into the heads to check the valve seals. As far as rings go, look at the smoke coming out of the exhaust, white=water, black=carbon, blue=oil/water (roughly). I would check your pcv lines for fouling, as you may be sucking extra oil through your intake. The vacuum routing makes it difficult to diagnose, but if you get your hands greasy you will find it. If your burning a quart a week = $3 x 40 weeks (guesstimate) = $120 til you swap. Or just get greasy and figure it out.