Okay guys, so ive got a 93' Dakota Sport. Its an Extended cab with the 3.9L V6 Magnum engine, Manual transmission and 4WD


Im making this thread to show where this truck came from, what ive done to it and plan to do, and some of the questions that i have.


Here i will tell the story:
It was bought new in 93 by my uncle who drove it until 2003 with 183k miles until it quit on him.
It sat at my house until 2009. It was then given to me for HS Graduation and i was tasked with fixing it up.
It turned out that before it quit, my uncle had not changed the oil in quite a while, and my dad said it would cost more to rebuild it then find a used working one.
He ended up finding another motor (presumably from a newer gen1 dakota, 94-96, since it had smaller exhaust manifolds and a different fuel rail/tb config) for about $600
Apart from a bit of rust on the belt wheels it was in good order.
We had to re-solder the problematic Fuel pump/ignition relay junction as it had completely corroded away causing the truck to not run.
I finally got it licensed and got newer tires on it in august of 2010 and have put ~17k miles on it since then.
the replacement motor's miles are not known, but i have continued to change the oil regularly and have had no issues, other than a slight coolant leak (i have no clue where, i replaced all the hoses and it still leaks)
the mileage currently sits at 199,559 miles.

I will post current/future Mods and questions up in an edit tomorrow. Happy new year for now everyone

Mods:
The first thing i did was replace the still stock stereo system. I installed A JVC Deck with CD/Radio/Auxiliary/USB inputs and a set of Sony Speakers.
i know even the FAQ on here says the front speakers should be 5.25" but im wondering, were there any models that came with larger speakers? these are almost too small to even screw in.

The next thing i did was replace the Stock taillight bulbs with some red LED ones i found on ebay. The stock flasher does not work with these so i bought a 552 flasher to use and it works great.

I then added some fog lights on the front and modded my right lightbulb to a 9007 bulb to help visibility while driving at night.

The most recent mod (actually done last night) was swapping the main Dash lights with some premade 168/194 size blue LEDs from ebay:
before:


and after:


Future mods/things i want to do.

As you can see from the picture above, I have the clear-coat deterioration issue that seems persistent in dodge paint, so eventually i will get this thing repainted. i was thinking black with darker red accents. the only thing im worried about is replacing the vinyls on the sides.

Projector Retrofit. I found these from a link on customdakotas http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=3181 . even with the small size of the headlight enclosures it should be relatively easy to put those in the extra set i have.

Front LED turn signals & reverse LED light. eventually i will swap out my front light housings with the clear ones and get some LEDs in there. I wish they made aftermarket taillights for these.....

Just doing a repaint will not bring this truck all the way back. the chairs are falling apart and the floor needs replaced. i was thinking about swapping in some chairs from a newer dodge, like this:




And now the Questions

1. My primary concern is Gas Mileage. Over the summer i was getting almost 17MPg highway even though i drove it hard. Now even if i drive conservatively on the highway i barely get 16. this is even after i changed the oil, replaced the plugs and the air filter. I had read on another forum that using E3 Spark-plugs could increase mileage to 20mpg, and while the ideas behind them definitely seem like they could help, my dad (who runs an auto shop) said that its impossible for a plug to affect mileage. Its getting really hard for me to keep driving this thing because its costing me 1/4 of my monthly pay just driving to work and back. any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

2. Spark plugs. I noticed the Troubleshooting FAQ says to stay away from multi-electrode spark plugs, such as Bosch 2/4s. I currently have Bosch Iridium 2s installed, so i would like to know why they are to be avoided. i have not noticed any difference in operation or performance since installing them. this kind of goes in hand with the above question, does anyone have experience with E3 Plugs?

3. Wiper Fluid Nozzles and blade movement. Even after swapping my nozzles with some i got at a junk lot, the spray is very loose and weak, and i end up with half of the fluid on the hood instead of the windshield if I'm driving at all. how can i make these work better? also how can i re-tighten the Wiper blade motion. half the time i use them the left blade goes off the side of the windshield. if i have them turned all the way up it goes off every time and they hit the metal at the bottom of the windshield when they come back down.

4. Gas not staying in the lines. I noticed that most every time i try to start the truck the gas has left the lines and it takes a few seconds to get to the engine. Im guessing this means there is a vacuum leak or something, how can i fix this?

5. Performance Injectors. The replacement engine i installed came with "blue" injectors on it that i have read are higher performance than the stock white ones. is this true and what effects would i see if i swapped them out?

Well thats all i can think of right now

 

First post updated, Feel free to comment/answer

 

There are replica decals available if wanted. I believe www.Phoenixgraphics.com has them.
There are Euro/Clear style tail lights available. The FAQ has a link, sometimes they are on ebay too.

For best MPG keep off of the gas, keep RPM's under 2,000. I don't know about the M3's but I do agree they will not improve MPG or HP much. If you got the money try them.

The Platinum plugs run to hot, they can start pinging under load. 1 step colder plugs are best, Autolite 3923 ask by number for them.

Maybe there is clog in your sprayer system.

There is a check valve in the fuel sending unit that should hold pressure, they are notorious for failing even new. My sending unit is less than a year old it and the check valve fails at times. Just turn the key to on let it sit for a few seconds then start it.

Find the part number on the injectors and find the specs for it.

 

1. That's about normal mileage don't expect much better. New plugs, wires, cap, rotor, oxygen sensor and checking tire pressure will increase it slightly.

2. I've has 3 trucks with the Magnum motors and tried a few plugs the cheap Autolite, Champion, NGK work the best multiple electrode and platinum plugs caused pinging.

3. I'd replace the pump it sounds like it's worn and not flowing correctly.

4. What Crazy said, doesn't really point to any other problems and won't do any harm other than annoying you.

5. Can't really answer besides try and find the flow rates and decide if they're different enough to cause much higher fuel usage than stock.

 

thanks for the replies guys.
about gas mileage, i realize that the Dakota is has a much heavier power/weight ratio on that engine than most v6 powered cars do, i just wish i could get more out of this thing without swapping over to a v8.

I havent noticed any unusual noises when using these plugs, but Ive never towed anything with it and my engine always runs on the cool side. what does pinging sound like?

How would i check for a clogged line or worn out washer fluid pump aside from completely replacing them?

Is there a way to replace/tighten the assembly that controls the wiper blades? mine go off the side of my windshield (esp. when on the fastest setting)

as for the injectors, i had checked and they are a higher flow rate. pretty much they would only serve to increase HP. their effect on Mileage would depend on how i drive it right?

 

suppose i should update this thread. i havent quite put as much work into her as i'd like but i just dont have the spare change to do what i want (or the time since its my daily driver)

I got new Headlight/signal housings for the front, the old ones were just too fogged up and i was tired of having dim headlights all the time. i have to say the difference was night and day:


To go along with the clear signal housings i got some LED Bulbs to go in there. makes sure the light is a nice bright amber like its suppose to be, but you dont see the orange from a bulb filter when they're off!
So i now have LED stop/turn signals all the way around, shouldn't ever have to worry about replacing them.

As you can see from the picture, i did a 2in key lift for the front end and put some 31s on there that i got for free from a co-worker who just had them laying around. i still need to find some tires for winter though.

A couple weeks ago i put in a new coil and distributor cap, along with the E3 spark plugs and the blue injectors i had asked about previously.

I didnt see any improvement in MPG the first two tanks, but i think that was because I put FSC through both tanks (seafoam in the first, gumout in the second) but on my current tank, I hit 180 miles with the needle at half (its usually 150 at half) so i may finally be seeing something there.

I just changed the oil today (bout 3500 since last changed) with Bosch distance plus filter and Castrol GTX 5W-30. also put a little seafoam in the oil to see if i could clean up the crankcase a little.

So as far as what i plan to do next here it is:
After reading several posts about the timing chain being very loose on these motors, ive decided i should replace mine, since it has rattled as described since the engine was installed.

Then ive got another grill set that isnt broken im going to get painted along with the rest of the truck and swap out the old one. Ill get some bedliner sprayed in after i get it painted.

Then id like to get myself a custom brush guard made, and i think ill put a moon-visor on it.

Eventually i'd really like to rebuild the whole truck, but that will have to wait until i have something else to drive for a while and have the cash to do it, but this is the plan:

Complete teardown, take the body off, get the frame cleaned and painted.
Rebuild a 5.9 from the ground up with performance enhancements, and drop it in with an NV3500. I want to Redo the interior, and have a custom grill and headlights made for it.

 

Looks good. Sounds like you got lots of plans for the future.

 

Sounds like a similar build to what I am doing for my truck, Except I am doing the same engine but dropping it in over the course of 2 days so I am not missing work or anything.

As for your wipers are concerned, mine do the same thing. If the passenger side has play it's a good bet the shaft is loose in the wiper motor, least it is for mine. best bet is just replace the motor and make sure the arms have good bushings. Should work like new after that.

Btw, beautiful truck man. It looks like it's in really good shape bodywise. Good luck on your projects we will be here for help and advise!

 

Nice looking truck.

I'm hoping to be driving on a similar road in WA next year.
Looks like the roads I drove on west of Wenatchee, WA.

Good luck on the project.
These older trucks may suck fuel but they don't suck. hehe

 

so i recently just replaced the rattling loose timing chain on my truck. got everything back together properly (or so it seemed anyways)
Last night i was on my way home, just about 2 miles away from my house i noticed i could smell coolant. looked at the temp gauge on the dash and it was almost pegged. so i coasted the rest of the way home (at least where i could). when i did finally get home i popped the hood to see steam shooting out of the hose that goes from the pump to the heater core. This hose had leaked on me before, back when i first got the truck running, so i guess the end of the hose (where the clamp goes) was worn out and it leaked at least half of my radiator out on the way home. the Res was empty and sure enough when i popped the cap off this morning there was no coolant in the top of the radiator.

popped the hose off, there wasnt any coolant in it either. so i cut the end of the hose off since there was a little bit of usable length in it, and i cleaned the end of the pipe that it goes on to. should be good now.
it doesn't look like i completely overheated the engine, i must have caught it just in time...