Hey guys, long time no see!

My 2wd is tankin' it up like it always has, no problems there. My 4x4 is running, but I fear the engine is on its last legs.

As some of you might know, I did the plenum fix - but it's still going through a quart of oil per tank of gas. Doesn't appear to have any external leaks. Blows massive white smoke and stinks of burning oil when I stomp on the accelerator. Oil pressure gauge drops real low every time I come to a quick stop or around a turn.

Plus there are the other unsolved issues of it stalling in neutral when I come to a quick stop and the tranny (despite the new clutch) is not the smoothest to shift (especially 2nd gear).

So now I'm thinking, what to do? V8 + tranny swap with a rebuilt motor/tranny? Pull and rebuild the existing V6? Buy a junker V6, rebuild it and do a swap? I just dropped some nice change on the new clutch, so I feel kind of handcuffed to the tranny - but more power would be nice to move the bigger tires. How much power do you think I'd gain from just putting a rebuilt V6 in vs my sieve of a V6?

As always, thanks for the tips and ideas!

edit: I'm not paying attention, could you move this to 1st gen? Thanks Crazy lol

 

Done!

I say V8 swap and rebuild it if possible.

 

Agreed! V8 swap if you can!

 

before this problem how satisfied with the power of the v6 have you been? the v8 wont be very difficult to drop in but youll need to look at full sized trucks OR a 94 Dakota for a V8 manual trans computer since they were not sold that way in 92.
I put a manual in my 93 V8 CC and fortunately I got the computer and wiring harness with the trans I put in my truck.
There were only 3 things I had to change on the original 93 V8/AT wiring harness to allow me to put everything together "right" when I put the manual in;
1. cut the Neut. safety switch connector off 2. Solder the M/T backup light switch in, put eyelet terminal onto old NSS center terminal and ground to body
3. Crank sensor connector for A/T vs MT are mirror images of each other so i had to snip that and solder the right plug on; my 94 MT V8 harness has a few issues, so instead of hacking that further (I have future plans for that harness) I cut the pigtails off a JY truck.

just throwing that out there because you'd be looking at the opposite mods if you go to an A/T plus different driveshaft lengths.

but I agree on keeping the manual trans. and contrary to popular belief you wont blow that trans just because you put a V8 in front of it... depends on how much you beat on it... some will say you "have to" put a different M/T in there...
and you will need the V8 flywheel because it has 8 "windows" in it for the crank sensor your current one only has 6
and you will need another new clutch as the 6 cyl one wont bolt up to the V8 flywheel (dont ask how I know) the V8 one has a 1/2" or 1" larger diameter pattern to bolt up the pressure plate. I bought a Centerforce PP from Ebay for a great price that was listed for a 3.9 and for a 4.0 Jeep (those ARE the same) and assumed that it would fit a V8 No dice, it collected dust in the attic for ~5 years I kept it only because I also have a Wrangler.... so I did wind up having a use for that PP it didnt go to waste....

 

I'd like to do the V8 swap, since then it'd be feasible to do a SAS at some point. Only issue is, can I find a V8 with a manual tranny? I didn't think the Dakota came in that configuration in OBD I. Is there a ram that had a V8/manual combo? I'd like to stick with plug and play as much as possible, but a hemi swap would be freakin' badass.

edit:
Volaredon: I'm alright with the power, but it's definitely slow with the big tires. I think it maxes out at about 80mph and takes forever to get moving. I'd lean more towards the V8 simply because it makes doing a SAS and bigger tires possible. Thanks for the help on which trucks to search for the V8/manual combo.

 

For a Hemi Swap you would have to re-wire the whole truck up to OBDII..I looked at that road myself with wanting to stick with simple plug n play..waaaay too much work.

 

I've been pretty happy with my v6 compared to my extreme happiness towards my old v8. like eveyone else said go with the v8. i've had both the only thing i dislike is the mileage i get out of the 6cyl. you dont need a v8 manual trans computer to swap to v8 and keep the manual trans. i ran my 93 with an auto pcm and the check engine light didnt come one(the 2 auto trans codes popped up but i only saw them through the flashing light).

when i did my swap i got the 6cyl clutch to bolt in. the only problem is that the 6cyl clutch wont hold up to the v8. mine went out a week after i finished the swap as i was winding out my truck on an open highway...lol

 

wasn't sure on the M/T computer, I had heard both yes and no; I got the M/T brain with my tranny so I went ahead and used it just to be sure

One thing I do know for sure is that starting in 94 you could get a 5 speed in a Dakota w/a V8.

how new was your 6 cyl clutch? I know the OEM V8 disc, was smaller than the replacements are under a pressure plate with the same bolt pattern. I have seen both the "OEM" replacement and the larger disc version in the parts listings in all the hunting online I did when I swapped the 5 speed into my 93.

 

it was brand new, had 200 miles on it when the guy, who sold me the trans, wrecked his truck. what happened was the throwout bearing went and wrecked the rest of the clutch. made a loud screeching noise every time i hit the pedal. the most annoying 10 miles i've ever driven.

 

yup I had that happen to me, 5K miles after my swap the TO bearing did the same thing; I was working 3-11. I 1st noticed it when I went to dinner break and all the way home every time I touched the clutch;
damn Made in China clutch set..