New to this forum and i hope you guys can offer some good advice. I have a 96 Dakota with 318 and automatic. This is the bastard tranny that just fits one year i think. Anyhow, this Dakota has just been sitting for 3 years after it wouldnt start related to bad battery connections or such. I just got busy with life and let it sit. I have always liked the old truck and its solid and the body and interior are in great shape. Seems like when i last drove it the tranny slopped a bit and the engine had 200k on it and was getting low on power. I am ready to spend some money on this truck but not go crazy. I would like to either rebuild the 318 or get a 360 and rebuild it. I figure the current tranny needs a rebuild or i could just get a 360 engine and tranny combo with hopefully a good tranny. As i understand it the tranny in the truck will only work with like a 96 engine. Of course i could be wrong about that. Would swapping out to say a 2000 360 and tranny be a problem as to computer issues? I would like to up stock performance into the 300 to 400 hp range. Thanks for any advice.

 

You should have the 44 or 46RE, which were really common in both the Dakotas (with v-8s) and the full-sized trucks. Parts for these are pretty easy to come by, and anything from 96-99 should work for ya. In 00, they changed the electronics, so they are not compatible with previous years computers. (but, changing the electronics, and the retainer clip for the governor stuff, solves that.) There is a small possibility that you still have an RH trans...... but even so, those aren't hard to come by either. (and they use pretty much the same internals as the RE fellers.) Easy way to tell if its RH, or RE, is look at the connector that goes straight down into the valve body on the drivers side, about halfway back. 3 wire is RH, 8 wire is RE.

As for the rebuild, if you have OBDII electronics (three connectors on the PCM.) you can do pretty much whatever you want, but, if you stray too far from stock, you will also need a custom tune to run the engine properly. (figure around 5-600 bucks for the tune, and tuner) In all reality, a tuner is a good idea, even if you keep it mostly stock.......

What is the end goal for what you want to be able to do with the truck? And what kind of budget did you have in mind?

 

Thanks for the info. I need to check for sure about exactly which transmission i have. I had this one rebuilt years ago and at the time i considered just installing another transmission but found out that the 96 had a different transmission than the other first generation. As to my goal, i figured that since a rebuild would need to be done, i might as well put some punch in the engine. I am not looking to race anyone but i want at least the power of a V8 in a new truck. I would like a nice mild cam rumble but the ability to drive the truck everyday even if i dont. As to the budget, i plan on assembling the engine myself and was thinking maybe a 3000 budget if that is doable. As to the truck overall, i just want a really nice driver that appears stock overall until you lift the hood.

 

You aren't going to get 'new truck' power levels from the 5.2.... not within budget at least. You may be able to get close to 300HP, with a cam, intake, better heads, and a custom tune...... but, that is going to be pushing the budget REAL hard. There just isn't much aftermarket support for these engines any more. You get two choices on the intake, (ok, three....) stock, which you can modify, Hughes Air-Gap, or Mopar M1. The M1 has been out of production for a while, and is getting REALLY difficult to find. The Hughes manifold is north of 600 bucks, all by itself..... and you need to modify the fuel rail for it to fit properly. (parts come with the manifold, so, no additional parts cost there.) The stock kegger is a low RPM manifold, it runs out of breath at around 4K RPM or so.. but, power starts dropping off quickly before it gets there. It's designed for low end torque, and does a decent job of it.

The stock heads aren't the best, and are prone to cracking, replacements can be had that are NEW castings, with thicker decks, but, don't really flow any better. You can get EQ monster magnums, they come in either 1.9? or 2.02 intake valve flavors, and flow quite a bit better than stock. (custom tune required for these.) The larger valve versions can produce more power, but, that's in the upper RPM range, (at the expense of low-end torque)... not really what you want if you actually use your truck AS a truck.

Cam? Get on to compliment the head and manifold choice. (basically, determine WHERE you want your power, and build accordingly.) These are getting kinda fun to find as well, and a fair few of them are re-grinds, so, you will likely need custom length pushrods as well. If you can find a cam that isn't, then the stock fellers should be fine. (custom tune required for this as well.)

Rockers: Harland sharp full roller rockers are a nice upgrade. Of course, that's another 300-400 bucks...... They come in varying ratios, and one member picked up an additional 10HP/TQ, JUST by changing to 1.7 ratio rockers. (stock is 1.6)

That said, dollar for dollar, you will get more power from a 360, than you will the same build on the 318.

And that's just the basics. There are several build threads around here, in both the dakota forums, and the full sized truck section. (2nd gen ram.)

 

I guess i wasn't very clear. I originally thought about building the 318 but started to think that i would be better off getting a 360 and tranny from a Ram and buulding the 360. What are the obstacles with getting the new engine and tranny to sync with the computer?

 

Just need to flash it for the right combo. Any tuner would be able to do that for you. (just get one for the engine/trans you actually have. ) Or, grab the PCM out of the donor vehicle as well, though, only 96-97 will be compatible. A fair bit changed in the full sized trucks for 98.

 

1996 5.2 ECU will run the 5.9 however you're going to want a custom tune (as stated previously) to make sure your air/fuel ratios are safe for the 360 Magnum. Torrie with Unleashed Tuning will be tuning my 96 360/AX-15 swapped Dakota I'm working on (as he does a excellent job on my S550 Mustang). When tuning you're going to need a wideband o2 and gauge which hooks up via printer cable to your handheld/laptop so your tuner can get you dialed in.

 

Two other sources for tuning - Flyin'Ryan Performance and Marty Fletcher. I've also heard of Hemifever.

So far, the only bad I've heard about Ryan are Marty fans who haven't tried Ryan.

RwP

 

That's true...the 96 truck is different in many ways from the other 1st gen's because it went OBDII that year. So the Transmission is the electric version instead of hydraulic. It's a 46RE instead of a 46RH. But as has been noted, the 46RE was used in a ton of vehicles, including Gen II dakota's, so it's not a bastard transmission.

 

I love OBD II, introduces modern day tune-ability with handhelds etc.