Hey, my dakota is having a issue with stalling out. It's 1995 with the 3.9 V6 and it's an automatic. The truck will start up alright and you can rev the engine all you want without any problems, but as soon as you put it in gear and start driving (often for only a few feet) it shuts down. After it stalls, it's often very hard to restart, usually i have to let it sit for a few hours. It seems to be getting fuel fine, but as your cranking the engine you don't get any spark to the ignition coil (at least right after it stalls, after is sits you get spark again) I tried quite a few things to try and solve the problem, so just hit me up with any possible reasons as to why this might be happening. Things I've tried include, swapping out relays (particularly the auto shut down), replacing the distributor cap, rotor, and pickup assembly (this seemed to help delay the stalling issue and allowed me to drive further, but the problem came back relatively quickly), I checked all the wiring to the relay box and fusible links and couldn't seem to find anything abnormal, swapped in an ignition switch out of a '93 dakota, and I also tried swapping in a computer from that '93 as well. None of these solved the problem, I feel like the computer may be getting some kind of signal that's triggering auto shut down, but I'm not familiar how that would work. Any help is very much appreciated!!!

 

... oh and I also tried out the ignition coil and crank sensor from that '93, to no avail of course.

 

Im in the same boat as you.Ive replaced so many damn parts I might as well have got another truck..Im starting to lean towrd the fuel pump.Gonna be testing it before I replace it though.Pressure test is fine but will stay running with either.After started(and sometimes takes a awhile),it will stall out shortly after..Ill keep ya posted at what I find.Things Ive done.

Cap,rotor,cam sensor,wires,plugs,coil,crank sensor,throttle position sensor,MAP sensor,Idol air control valve and fuel pressure regulator.STILL WONT RUN!

 

Thanks! Now that you mentioned it I also tried the MAP sensor, throttle position sensor, and Idle air control as well. When you said you replaced the cam sensor, is that the same thing as the distributor pickup assembly? Its the small plastic plate that sits under the distributor cap with the wire plug in running off of it.

 

Alright another winched Dakota. What winch you got? What is it rated for?

I got a Smittybilt XRC12, 12,000lb winch.


As for your problem how does it stall?
Does it just die like you turned off the key, no warning at all?
Does it stubble for a second or two then die?
Have you tried to press on the throttle harder at the time its about to stall to see if it will help?

You said you checked fuel pressure, but did you check it when it was hard to start?
Did you check for spark when it was hard to start?

 

Haha i just have a cheapy winch from harbor freight, its rated to 6,000 lbs.... a little under rated but just enough to give me a little tug if i ever need it... I pulled a little saturn out of a ditch no problem with it once...

As far as the stalling issue there is no warning whatsoever, just like you said... just like if you would turn the key off. Stepping on the throttle more doesn't help the problem at all. I don't have an actual fuel gauge but I just checked to make sure fuel was spurting out of the test port on the fuel rail with good force and it did even after the truck stalled and was hard to start. As far as spark goes, once the truck dies and you go to try and start it again you don't recieve any juice to the ignition coil... you can also hear the fuel pump turn on when you turn the key on.

 

cap rotor wires plugs and filters should NOT count in complaining about money spent on your vehicle These are items that should not be left on long enough to go bad they should be replaced periodically as part of MAINTENANCE.... not driven til the thing wont start
another case of not being the vehicle's fault but the owner's on account of neglect.
"booo hoo I drove my truck into the ground and now it won't run...". just like any machine they need to be maintained to stay reliable; yes there are things that happen out of the blue but a maintained vehicle is much less likely to heave its owner high and dry..... they even have a mileage suggestion for O2 sensors to be replaced.
Not the 30K interval of 30 years ago when O2's started appearing on cars but they still have a "replacement interval" still like every 50-60K miles... even if not bad enough to throw a code they do get "lazy" and cost fuel
you need to expect to periodically put some money into it even when apparently "running fine" ---that goes beyond feeding the gas tank, or adding to the stereo or big tires or a lift kit...... no matter what you drive.
I get so tired of people that dont wanna drive if they gotta go more than a few miles away from home because "their car won't make it" because they didn't take care of it.... and most of them have newer vehicles than me.

 

You can always get a ****** block and it will double you pulling power.
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-W...t_pn=S%2fB2744

I forgot did you have any check engine light codes?

 

Cool idea with the ****** block, I've never really looked into winching accessories and that definitely is worth the money... And as far as fault codes I got the 12 (memory standby power lost) and 11 (no distributor input signal)... As far as I read the 12 code just simply means the battery was disconnected in some way and the 11 code is what lead me to believe it was in the pickup assembly.

-volaredon, I'm not complaining about regular maintenance whatsoever, I fully believe in keeping vehicles in good running condition. I've saved tons of money on this truck by doing work myself, granted I'm no professional mechanic, but i rebuilt my transmission by myself just simply through research and following a repair manual.... considering im 17 and have no mechanical education outside of the internet and my own readings id say that's not too shabby

 

I'd say! Right on man!