1992 Dakota LE shuts off unpredictably
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Joined: Sep 2013
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did ya check the halls effect pickup as in kahanabob's reply ? i agree with him based on : 1988 dakota, start, drive for awhile ( warms up ), stop at light or sign - stops running , may or may not re-start = faulty halls effect.
at least in my case, new halls effect pickup solved problem.
at least in my case, new halls effect pickup solved problem.
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Professional
Joined: Jul 2007
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Swapped the Starter and ASD relay. No change, vehicle still takes inopportune moments to die while traveling. Truck restarts quicker when both Underhood fusebox and PCM are given a good slap, leaning more towards faulty PCM again since I gave the fusebox only a slap and the truck was not interested in restarting.
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Joined: May 2014
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Check the 3 wire splice that was stated earlier, my 91 did the same exact thing and that was the problem. I was really angry it was that easy after I had to get it towed home from work. Here's the thread for pics and references: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ml#post1678925
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Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Northern Utah
Had the exact same problem with my '92 LE only with a 5.2. Would just go silent while driving down the road. Found that smacking the fender where the PCM is mounted would usually get things going again. If somebody was riding with me I'd just have them reach out and hit the fender and she'd start back up most the time and off we'd go!
But I was never sure it was the computer and I didn't want to spend the money if it was something else and it never left me stranded so I just dealt with it for about a year. I kept probes in the truck (I had a repair shop at the time) and when it died I just pull over and start checking wiring. I tore the entire harness apart and redid all the splices, cleaned up the PDC and all it's connections, battery cables, grounds, etc. Sometimes it would go for weeks and not act up. I should mention here that I had an identical '92 5.2 Dakota sitting in the shop with the same problem that would not start at all anymore so I was actually working to solve the problem on two vehicles.
I never did come to a conclusion on anything but one day on e-bay a factory reman computer popped up for sale for like $70.00 and I snagged it and installed it and problem went away. So I installed the one I just took out and put it into the dead Dakota sitting in the shop and it fired up and occasionally would die. I sold that one and forgot about it.
Few months later my truck wouldn't start one morning and I thought the @#$%^& computer crapped out again! I was busy at that point and had something else to drive so the truck sat for about two weeks before I got back to it. Turned out that the coil just decided to die overnight! So now two years later she's still running fine but I still need to tie that darn harness back together
And the fuel pump is overheating and stopping when I let the fuel level get below 1/4.
Oh well, what's one to expect from a 23 year old truck with well over 200K on it and always rode hard and put up wet? But I'll never drive anything but a Dodge.
But I was never sure it was the computer and I didn't want to spend the money if it was something else and it never left me stranded so I just dealt with it for about a year. I kept probes in the truck (I had a repair shop at the time) and when it died I just pull over and start checking wiring. I tore the entire harness apart and redid all the splices, cleaned up the PDC and all it's connections, battery cables, grounds, etc. Sometimes it would go for weeks and not act up. I should mention here that I had an identical '92 5.2 Dakota sitting in the shop with the same problem that would not start at all anymore so I was actually working to solve the problem on two vehicles.
I never did come to a conclusion on anything but one day on e-bay a factory reman computer popped up for sale for like $70.00 and I snagged it and installed it and problem went away. So I installed the one I just took out and put it into the dead Dakota sitting in the shop and it fired up and occasionally would die. I sold that one and forgot about it.
Few months later my truck wouldn't start one morning and I thought the @#$%^& computer crapped out again! I was busy at that point and had something else to drive so the truck sat for about two weeks before I got back to it. Turned out that the coil just decided to die overnight! So now two years later she's still running fine but I still need to tie that darn harness back together
And the fuel pump is overheating and stopping when I let the fuel level get below 1/4.Oh well, what's one to expect from a 23 year old truck with well over 200K on it and always rode hard and put up wet? But I'll never drive anything but a Dodge.