My sons 1993 Dakota had the flex plate come apart. The truck was running when we started changing the flex plate just very noisy clanking. I took the transmission off and the flex plate fell out. I replaced it put everything back together and now have no spark. Can the flex plate be oriented wrong? It had come apart so I had no reference on how to reinstall it. The bolt holes lined up and it fit right in. It is a 318 v8. Thanks Charles

 

I think it only bolts on one way, but I'm not 100%. Did you hook up the crank sensor back up, did you pinch the wires or brake the sensor?

Where did you get the flex plate from? Are you sure it is for a 5.2 Magnum? Nothing else will work.

 

Got the flex plate from Autozone. I figured it only bolted on one way also. I have a Haynes manual but it's no help with this. I am out of town working until Friday, but I will pull the crank sensor and check it out. I noticed that there were some slots cut in to the ring of the flex plate I assume that is what the crank sensor is looking for. Does anyone know what the relationship is with the slots and TDC? If I can figure that out maybe I can tell if it is installed correctly. Thank you for your help. Charles

 

second checking the crank sensor wires. and yeah the flew plate will only bolt up one way. you can't start more than 3 possibly 4 bolts if you put it on wrong.

 

I went through the troubleshooting guide in the shop manual and everything checked out. The coil and the crank sensor ohmed out correctly according to the manual. So I decided to go high tech and get the oscilloscope out. I traced the input to the pcm from the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position sensor. The camshaft sensor would send a pulse out every rotation, but the crankshaft sensor had no output that I could see. So replaced the crankshaft sensor today and we are in business. What really threw me off was the truck was running before the change, so I figured I must have done something wrong. Just a coincidence that the crank sensor died in the process. Thank everyone for the help. Charles