these trucks were absolutely NOTORIOUS for pcm failure. and no, there isnt really a good way that i am aware of to check your pcm. maybe someone else has a little more experience with these?

 

I have looked at all sorts of pages on the net trying to see if this has happened to anyone else and I have found nothing. The few people I've talked to that have had something similar, said they could not figure it out and got rid of the truck or car. I even asked a guy at the scrap yard who was behind me that happened to be driving a similar dakota. It's kind of irritating when it dies and you are on the interstate!
It's a great truck and runs good except for this.
When we do fugure it out, I will try to follow up and post what finally fixed it. Hopefully it won't be that we gave up. LOL
Thanks for all the input.

 

ground wires were a failure point on these trucks, the pcm, and the splice under the ASD relay. i cant think of anything else right now im so tired. does this happen EVERY time you drive the truck? is it an auto or stick trans?

 

and by the way, i have never seen this myself, but i have heard tell of some of these having ignition problems when warm, (i.e. coil, distributor cap). if the ignition system is ruled out, these were known for bad grounds as well, so i would go around the WHOLE truck and find every single ground you can find, and clean the ground point/move ground point/replace crappy looking ground wires. if a grounding point looks ok, clean it anyway. if you have even the slightest suspicion of corrosion in any ground wire, replace it. there are quite a few under the hood, and a few under the dash that i know of. my next step would be to start checking the continuity of every wire that has something to do with ignition/fuel (hopefully you have/have access to a multimeter). if you want, you can PM me your vin and an email address and i can send you some wiring diagrams tomorrow when i get to the shop. if all your ignition system components check out, the grounds are good, and the wiring is all solid, from the trucks symptoms youve described, it almost seems to me that it would have to be pcm failure. the pcm and ignition systems on these are pretty simple, but someone heres got to have some more experience or atleast has seen a similar situation, hopefully someone can chime in with some more info/correct me if im wrong about anything ive said haha.

 

It only does it when the engine is warm. It has cooled off here outside and I noticed it's not at bad. Also, I have limited my driving to short distances! lol So, it hasn't died in about a week. It is an automatic. I did find a PCM at a junk yard, only $30, but left it there because it was original and there was no hood on the truck therefore is was wet... I'm sure it will be there later.
If it is a wire, would it start right back up?
I have asked MANY local mechanics and anyone who might know. Because you cannot get it to die on command, no one really knows. Mike and his brother were able to determine some how that it does not get a spark.
What idiot designed a system where the computer can go bad and it not send any codes to tell you it's bad?

 

its not that someone designed it that way. you have to think, this was one of chryslers earliest pcm systems. what happens is the gel stuff inside the pcm housing cracks, usually cracking the circuit board inside. and from there, the more vibration, the worse it will get. and if it has absolutely no spark when it dies, it really sounds like a pcm. my factory reman pcm would drop pulse to #5 injector. ive heard of them doing all kinds of funky things when they go bad.

 

REALLY? I have done so many times without a problem..
especially with 92-95,,,, often they used the same unit for Dakota, full sized pickup and van.
I have run across 2 different times where a 96 computer wouldnt work on a 97; 96 is a year all to itself.
I do have here a computer (mopar reman even) that actually came from a 95 Dakota with a 3.9 and auto that I ain't using. it's a spare I had for my 94.

 

every car manufacturer in the world.

 

i have had some luck with different pcm's, but the last one i tried before i bought a mopar performance one was out of a 95 van, and it never did run right with that pcm. was almost undriveable with that one. perhaps that was already a junk one... dunno

 

We have not tried an new or another pcm yet, but since it has gotten cold here, it has not died... and I drove all over town last week. I made a point to drive to see if it would die! Now it will die when I take the kid to school in the morning and that is just over a mile away! lol