Hello all,
New member and new owner of a 1993 dakota 5.2L 4x4 club cab with 19,000 original miles. I just purchased her yesterday and am concerned with a few things.

She has a very low idle (200-300):
-she does not stall when coming to a stop
-has a bit of shaking at idle (caused by low idle I'm guessing)
-runs great at 1100 rpm and above

She is also popping when hard on the gas:
-popping does not happen under light to medium acceleration or revs
-only occurs under medium heavy to heavy acceleration or revs

My father says she is missing….:
-no codes at all (ran the "key dance" with 12 and 55 codes only)
-mechanic who smogged said there was no codes and he did not think it was missing either.
My father and I have tested the EGR valve and it is still functional.

The previous owner did do a tune-up before my purchase:
-hoses/coolant flush (a small leak from top of radiator yesterday, but it went away today)
-new battery
-cap/rotor/wires
-ordered new o-rings for injectors, which I will get tomorrow or the next day.

Any info and advice on these problems will help tremendously. Any info on problems that I should be looking out for, or things I can do now to prevent them will be appreciated too. Also, if there are any people from the Bay Area who can direct me to a great Dodge mechanic, that would be awesome. Thank you.

 

Did the truck pass smog? I would guess without seeing the vehicle, you may want to remove and either clean or replace the Idle Speed Motor. That would be on the rear of the throttle body. And clean the throttle too. Where about in the bay area do you live? Just a City.

 

Thanks for the reply. The truck passed smog with flying colors. When you say the Idle Speed Motor, do you mean the IAC? It is on my list to tackle tomorrow. I am still a little baffled about the loud popping or "pock, pock, pock.." sound when under hard acceleration. The tech who smogged it did not take the rpms much, only to about 1600 or so. The popping or 'pocking' comes around 2000rpm or when I'm really punching it.

I read that it may be the injectors leaking, a hole in the exhaust, or a clogged cat… Any thoughts?

Also, any tips to better the mpg?

I am located in Cupertino

 

popping can be a misfire aswell , can be bad plenum gasket... but id start one thing at a time, if you want pull out a plug and see how it looks, like passenger side of engine back 2 plugs , miles are low but if original plugs they are old....

 

They are the original injectors, so I did figure I might have to replace them. The guy I purchased the Dakota from ordered O-rings for the injectors which I just picked up from him. Injectors are close to $300 for a set of 8, so I will replace the O-rings first. He gave me 8 of them, but I read somewhere that the injectors require 2 O-rings each. Am I mistaken?

I thoroughly cleaned the throttle body and replaced the IAC today. I also put some fuel injector cleaner in the 1/2 full tank, just for giggles.

By the way, what is the Plenum and how difficult is it to get to or replace the gasket?

 

plenum would be last thing to look since it requires removing the intake manifold.... not a simple task but not hard just time consuming .. but if you remove those two back plugs like i said it would indicate alot of whats going on..

i just had a 92 Dakota had 80k miles on it bought from original owner most fo truck was still original, injectors dont usually fail unless dirty fuel or bad gas or sits to long and gums up. I Still Have a 91 2wd Standard im going to start Swapping for a solid axle build but not in much of a rush...

but plugs i had were bad the gap was to much replaced with a set of NGK platinums and the truck had more power then it needs.. i recently sold it off cause the 5.2 just cant afford fuel for intown driving which is 90% of what i do now..

Thier was also a TSB for coil wire arcing for the 5.2 to re route wires cause after certain time they would arc with the coil wire.. anyway dont worry about plenum till the end of checkign everything else...

here is a pic of my Truck before i sold it, i Now Drive a 98 Jeep TJ 4 banger 5 speed, i get about 3 times the milage intown and 1/3 in the highway ..lol

 

Well, just got done replacing the O-rings on all injectors. I pulled the #6 and #8 injectors first and everything looked fine, just a bit of dirt. Disconnecting the fuel lines was a bit tough because of the stupid clearance behind the fuel rail, but everything went smoothly after.

The truck still has the popping sound, but seems to have gotten better. The popping is quieter and doesn't seem to happen as much as it did.

This project did fix one thing though! My idle is now at at about 570 instead of 200. Is this a normal idle? I don't know what could have caused the idle to jump back up and don't really care, as long as it stays there now.

Thanks for the suggestion DakotaClub. I dig the look of your old Dakota. Are those newer dakota or durango wheels? I am looking to get new tires for mine, as the side walls are cracking from sitting so long and was thinking about getting some of those on good 'ol Craigslist. Heres a pic of my virgin Dakota. More detailed pics are soon to come. ***Created a new thread in Members Rides with more photos***


Any other info/suggestions/opinions are welcome and appreciated.

 

UPDATE

My idle has not been fixed. Drove the truck last night and occasionally it will go back down to 250. Right now it is at 400. In park, the idle is higher, maybe 450. Does anyone know what is wrong with it? How could removing the fuel rails and injectors increase my idle, then drop it back down?

 

15X8 from a 99 durango(orginally had 31 inch tires.. those are 33X14 R15 Mud Boggers i put on it LOL

idle is roughly 700rpms..
check the back 2 plugs.. #8 if its wet or oily or hell plugs might just be to old ... or gas is bad in it or so on.. try some seafoam ?

with 19k on it its hard to say the issue only thing i can think of is check those back 2 spark plugs on passenger side..

popping is an indication of misfire or crossfire or timing, bad spark plug ect...

anyway Nice truck, sure dosent show it age atall look cleaner then my 2008 vehicle

 

She show her age a little, she sat in the sun so the original owner did a respray on the roof and hood, not the best respray. I did my best to polish/ wax it out. The roof is burnt, I have to sand it down and respray primer and color… not that big of a deal. No one will see it anyway. All other panels are in great shape.

Question about your wheels. I found the same ones off a 2000 durango 4x4 just now on craigslist. I am going to pick them up tomorrow and was wondering if my stock tire size will fit okay 235-75-15. I have heard they will work, and I have heard that they won't…. don't know. I can get a deal on some All Terrain 235-75-15 for $475 mounted/balanced/and aligned… let me know