Intermittent no start
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Intermittent no start
First, thanks for all the references on this site. They have helped a bunch!
I bought a 1993 Dodge Dakota club cab 3.9 SE automatic a few months ago. It has about 110000 miles.
It had an intermittent no start condition and sometime it would die when driving. If you put gas down the throttle body it would start. I changed the fuel pump and fixed the wire connection at the pump after it died on me again.
I did a tune up on it, it seemed to be running good for a few hundred miles then it started not starting on the first couple of turns of the engine. It got to the point that it would take a few cycles of the ignition switch before it would start. It seems that if you would cycle the switch it may start on the next try but not always.
So I started to look at several things.
I swapped the ASD and the AC relays around. No change
Looked at the wiring under the relay/fuse box and in the harness. They look great, clean and test good with test light and wiggle test.
Fuel pump cycles when ignition is cycled.
No spark when it does not start. Sparks when it does
Changed out the pick-up coil in the distributor. No change.
Changed the Crankshaft position sensor. Then the engine would not start at all. It back fired a few times.
I set the truck on TDC and checked the rotor (I bent the tab on the rotor when I was in the distributor) so I went and got a new one. Installed it with another new cap. I noticed that the rotor was not on number one. It was about a cylinder or so off.
I installed a new chain and tensioner as the chain was really loose and had skipped a tooth.
It still would not start.
I changed the pick-up coil back to the old one. No start.
I changed the CPS back to the old one and it started. But it doesn’t start every time. Again if you cycle the key then it will.
I put the new pick-up coil back in. Still starts intermittently.
I put a test light in the ignition coil driver connection at the computer. When it’s not starting there is no light. But right when you let the ignition off from the start position it sometimes lights for a moment. Sometimes it starts and stays lit. Sometimes it blinks during cracking. Really sporadic.
When it does not start the computer always has power on Fused +, 5 volt and 8 volt terminals.
I put a digital volt meter on the ASD ground and it does not have a steady ground. It never goes to full ground, the readings continually change during engine crank. When it does not start, during crank and with ignition on, I found battery voltage from relay ground to battery ground. Thinking this may be normal as it is the easy ground path????
Any suggestions on what else I should look at?
I bought a 1993 Dodge Dakota club cab 3.9 SE automatic a few months ago. It has about 110000 miles.
It had an intermittent no start condition and sometime it would die when driving. If you put gas down the throttle body it would start. I changed the fuel pump and fixed the wire connection at the pump after it died on me again.
I did a tune up on it, it seemed to be running good for a few hundred miles then it started not starting on the first couple of turns of the engine. It got to the point that it would take a few cycles of the ignition switch before it would start. It seems that if you would cycle the switch it may start on the next try but not always.
So I started to look at several things.
I swapped the ASD and the AC relays around. No change
Looked at the wiring under the relay/fuse box and in the harness. They look great, clean and test good with test light and wiggle test.
Fuel pump cycles when ignition is cycled.
No spark when it does not start. Sparks when it does
Changed out the pick-up coil in the distributor. No change.
Changed the Crankshaft position sensor. Then the engine would not start at all. It back fired a few times.
I set the truck on TDC and checked the rotor (I bent the tab on the rotor when I was in the distributor) so I went and got a new one. Installed it with another new cap. I noticed that the rotor was not on number one. It was about a cylinder or so off.
I installed a new chain and tensioner as the chain was really loose and had skipped a tooth.
It still would not start.
I changed the pick-up coil back to the old one. No start.
I changed the CPS back to the old one and it started. But it doesn’t start every time. Again if you cycle the key then it will.
I put the new pick-up coil back in. Still starts intermittently.
I put a test light in the ignition coil driver connection at the computer. When it’s not starting there is no light. But right when you let the ignition off from the start position it sometimes lights for a moment. Sometimes it starts and stays lit. Sometimes it blinks during cracking. Really sporadic.
When it does not start the computer always has power on Fused +, 5 volt and 8 volt terminals.
I put a digital volt meter on the ASD ground and it does not have a steady ground. It never goes to full ground, the readings continually change during engine crank. When it does not start, during crank and with ignition on, I found battery voltage from relay ground to battery ground. Thinking this may be normal as it is the easy ground path????
Any suggestions on what else I should look at?
Last edited by eslfuzzy1234; Dec 11, 2015 at 03:14 PM.
