so i just bought this 91 dakota with 78,xxx on it from an old co-worker of mine and its a beautiful truck that i want to keep for as long as possible but it has a few issues. when i bought it i was informed of a hesitation when applying throttle, so i did the flash code method and it gave me a code saying "engine lean, enrichment added" something of that nature anyway it smokes like a freight train and takes a minute to lug up to the rpm. obviously its also getting terrible mileage (probably pretty close to a carb'd 360 ).

the other issue is im pretty sure my transfer case is toast. when i put it into gear it clunks pretty good, apparently a little clunk is normal for these but this is pretty bad. it did this weird death wobble thing on the drivetrain when i hit a bump like it was bouncing between the slop (made me pretty nervous as i wasnt expecting it) so i limped it the rest of the way to my buddies house. i checked the u-joints and they're as tight as a dicks hat band. while traveling at slow speeds i can hear a noise that sounds like a chain dragging, at first i hadnt consider the xfercase but i checked the rear end and it was "with-in spec".

edit: the truck is a extcab 91 dakota with 318 tbi- auto 4x4

any info would be useful for the engine issue and for the xfercase i was curious if i could use one out of a new dakota i believe they are a bit stronger and hopefully i can find one of comparable mileage.

sorry for my bad grammer

thanks

 

IDK anything about 4x4. The oil burning might be hard. These things have a lot of common problems. Read the FAQ page you will be glad you took the time. IDK about the smoke as that seems to be something lower down but the hesitation might be the plenum gasket. Look for oil in the intake or oil on the bottom of the butterfly. They used dissimilar metals on the plenum and intake when they built these. The steel plenum expands and contracts differently than the alum intake and that breaks down the gasket letting oil in destroying power and MPG and making it act funny as the computer tries to compensate. There are kits that replace the plenum with a 1/4 alum plate which eliminates the problem causing the problem or you can just change the gaskets and then plan on doing it again every few years. There is a lot of good info in the FAQ and you can search this site for others whom have had the same issues to find out what they did and possibly avoid a mistake or two. Good Luck

 

sorry i need to clarify that i meant its running rich, its raw fuel thats making the black smoke it doesnt burn any oil

 

These things can't be timed. The computer controls timing but the dist does affect when the injector fires. Maybe its way off on the fuel synchronization setting? I can't think of anything else that might be pouring too much gas into the motor.

 

i cant imagine it being the distributor timing as the previous owner is an OLD friend and hes not much of a maintenance kinda guy so everything is presumably stock.

does anyone have a service manual for this thing that can pull up the sensor specification so i can run around an check the output of them, as i would hate to start throwing parts at it

thanks

 

Have you replaced the Oxygen (O2) sensor? If it's not signaling, the engine computer may default to a richer mixture that is normally used only for warmup (before the O2 sensor kicks in).

As for the T-case, it sounds like it could be a stretched chain. Has it been run on paved roads in 4WD?

 

i havent replaced anything yet and i dont think its ever been in 4wd to my knowledge

 

i havent check the fluid levels yet but im sure its empty