Hello all, my first post... Greetings.

I'm sure you get a lot of frantic first posters begging and pleading for help. I'll try and be succinct.

1992 Dakota / Automatic / 3.9 / 107k miles

About a year ago the truck started experiencing random stalling. And I mean completely random, no rhyme or reason. It was'nt anything I could not deal with, in fact sometimes it would stall and then pop right back on while driving and other times while on the highway it would stall and while I was rolling I'd flip into neutral and start it up and keep cruising. It progressed and slowly got worse. It would stall and I'd have to pull over and usually it would fire right back up. Then after some time it might fire right up or it might take 20 minutes.

Got to the point where my wife wouldn't go near the thing never mind in it.

I took to a shop and they replaced the computer. Again due to the random nature it appeared to have fixed it but did not.

Finally I parked it one day and it simply would not start so that got me to Googling. The thing that fit the bill to a tee was the CPS so That's what I did. The truck would not start for a week and I ordered the CPS, put it in and boom! Truck fired right up so I 'solved' the problem.

Ran great for about a week no problems at all then it started right back to stalling again.

Then I let the truck sit for several months. I never did use it too much anyway, a trip to Lowes or to throw my mountain bike in that back and head for the trails.

Last weekend I was determined to fix it so I got out my Chrysler manual for the truck and got to work in the diagnostics chapters.

No spark at the spark plugs so I went back to the out going coil wire - no spark. In going coil wire - no spark. So I went and checked the ASD relays and they passed the test. I even swapped some around. There was no voltage going to the ASD relay switch. Voltage was present on #30 and #86 with key on. I could jump the relay and hear some noise like probably the fuel injection?

So then I went and got an ignition pickup, new cap and roter and replaced them. Now I had voltage to the ASD relay but still no start.

So I pulled the CPS and lo and behold it failed the resistance test. So I went and got another one put it in and guess what?

Boom truck fired up. I was over joyed! I finally fixed my beloved truck until that is well, this morning... Truck won't start. I had driven the truck to several places too with no problems at all.

So I am at my wits end here. The truck runs like a champ when it actually runs and I hate to send it to the grave yard because of some damn gremlin in the electronics but it's driving me absolutely insane.

I have not pulled the CPS to test it again but I guess my thinking is that something is sending voltage to the CPS and damaging it???

My other thought is that could it actually be the ignition switch in the steering column? Or is that out of the picture here?

Could the coil be on the blink? (does not make sense in my mind)

Could the computer be bad?

Could a mouse have chewed through a wire? BTW I did inspect all the splices under the power center and they were all in very good condition. I checked back to a lot of other splices too.

Regards.

 

I replaced my ignition switch in my 94. Not sure if it has worked....too scared to take on highway. Mine would only die at higher speeds.

 

Mine is totally random. In fact last night when I got home from work I stuck the key in and she fired right up. Turned off and it started up again. It was hot so naturally I start thinking about temperature failing to remember that there really is no rhyme or reason why this truck has a problem but I have to think of something right? So later that night when it was cooler out I tried again and she started right up.

Problem is it's totally unreliable.

One thing that might be of importance to the mechanics on the forum that I forgot to mention. The check engine light. The light normally flicks on when you turn the key to start then off once it's started, well what I have noticed is that when the engine won't start all the other dash lights and meters turn on or jump into action as expected except the check engine light. When she fires up the check engine light comes on and off like it normally should.

Perhaps that is a hint in diagnosis? I don't know. I did a key on off code check last night and got numbers 12 and 55 which from what I understand is normal especially since I've been disconnecting the battery (code 12 power to pcm).

 

My '93 5.2L does the same thing, but never at the same time. One morning I can fire it up and 8 miles of rural 4 lane and a dozen traffic lights in town it dies out of the blue. Coast into the center turn lane with my 4 ways on, pop the hood and swap a couple of relays out or just unplug the fuel pump and ASD and plug them right back in, turn the key and it fires right up. Shut the hood, pull back into the pre-dawn traffic and it goes the remaining 5 miles to work without a glitch. Coming home it may stall a couple of times or it might not. I never have any sign of it until it stalls completely out. Other times I can drive it all the way to work without a hitch or issue. Fire it up to go home in the evening and doesn't even make it out of the driveway before it dies. Same deal.
It's throwing no codes, active or stored, and jumper wires in place of the pump and ASD relays has no effect on it. Can still pull one end or the other of the jumper and plug right back in and she fires right up and away we go.
I've decided the PCM has GOT to be the gremlin in the system. Practically everything else is new or has been thoroughly tested and retested to make sure it's good and functioning properly.
I'm replacing the module tomorrow and will keep you posted as to my findings.
Good luck with yours!

 

It sure does make life exciting doesn't it Kevin?

Yes please let me know how the PCM swap goes.

Last night she started right up no issues at all same as this morning. All my theories are dead leads except for one. I want to check the power and grounds TO the PCM to see if it's getting power in the first place. But I have to wait till she's in a failed start state to do it.

Oh yes which brings up my other theory, if I want the truck to start up then I have to honestly deep down in my heart WANT it to fail so I can test it.

 

Check out the sticky that references "...General Info, Common Problems, Factory Service Manuals". In the first post look under the heading "Truck doesn't start".

It's a fairly common issue with the wiring harness, where it rests on the driver's side fender. The splice is accessible by removing the tape that covers the wires in that area. If it's bad, you'll see corrosion around the splice. Symptoms vary, but intermittent starting and occasional/intermittent engine dying are red flags for this problem. I think they say it affects '93 to '95 trucks, but I really think '92's should have been included.

 

ragged89 Thanks for the tip but I did check out that sticky. I pulled back about two feet of the wiring and found all the splices, in particular the red whit one, and even though they looked fine I re-spliced them any way.

I wish in my case it were that easy.

In fact just Googling around I found so many other forum posts both here and on other forums when people like me come in begging for help and someone mentions the splice so they come back and post the next day with showers of thanks and praise because the splice fixed it. Not for me

So it's back to the drawing board. The last several days the truck has been starting fine which is pretty funny considering I want the darn thing to fail so I can run some tests.

 

I've finally narrowed it down thanks to the help in this thread I found from an Internet search:

http://www.justanswer.com/dodge/22le...l-problem.html

The truck finally went back into a no start state so I followed his instructions on checking the voltage going to the PCM and it's grounds and they were all good. So the PCM was getting the proper voltage when the key was on or off and so it must then mean either the PCM is bad or the lines going out are.

So I plugged the connector back in and stripped a bit of bare wire on pin wires 6 and 7 to check voltage going out to the CPS and other sensors. Sure enough there was nothing coming out. And then it would jump up to 3 volts back down then up to 5 then zero and so on.

While I was testing things with the key on I would hear a click and a whir and the check engine light would come on in the key on state and all the voltages checked out. Now the truck is in a start state, then it would drop to zero.

So finally what I found was if I torque the connector I'll hear the clicks and whir then I release it and it drops back out. So something is either wrong with the 60 pin plug or the computer itself. The pins in the computer seem to be pretty solid but it's possible that the internal mother board bus has some bad connections in it but I'm guessing it's the 60 pin plug itself so I'm going to dig into that a bit. It certainly would be a lot cheaper.

 

Could just be sprung connectors ...

I'd also pick up a new PCM; swap the PCM and include the dielectric grease; and have the old one (or do it myself!) resoldered; it could be a bad solder joint on the connector on the PCM.

For the cable connector, try removing, tightening, and reinstalling; this will take the proper removal tool to do properly, alas.

RwP

 

You are talking about a tool to take the connector plug apart? Do you know where I can get the proper tool? I was just looking around online for a 60 pin connector replacement part and cannot find that anywhere either.