I have had the truck for 6 months. When I first got it it didn't have a t stat in.i put one in it. I live in Mississippi. I got burped out.the heat works. A little steam came from the radiator. I wouldn't mind putting a aftermarket gauge.i gotta figure that out first. Is my temperature sensor bad. I got a check engine light.

 

 

1) As JKeaton said, code your truck. It's easy to do with "The Key Dance" - with the key in the igntion, take a deep breath, and turn it on/off/on/off/on within about 5 seconds (that's ON, not START! Like you were turning it ON right before starting the truck ... )

2) You have two temp sensors; does the gauge work? If so, the single wire is working. The two-wire sensor MAY be bad. But the one-wire won't cause a CEL; it's a completely independent system on the 1st gen Dakotas.

3) In the FAQs (specifically FAQ, not FAQ2) in the stickies at the top of the forum postings, you can find the factory service manual as a PDF download (well, a link to it!) DOWNLOAD IT. You NEED that to work on your truck. (Or go buy a copy, your choice, but hey, it won't cost you anything here!)

(We have 95 and 96 FSMs up there; scroll about 1/3 of the way down to 1/2 the way down in the posting, and you'll find the link.)

I'd also get the parts list, so you can hunt up the original part numbers for parts you may need.

RwP

 

Where is the one wire sensor located

 

I figured it out y'all. It was a wire that wasn't hooked up. But I still have little heat

 

Probably an air pocket in the heater core, or, a blocked core.

 

Could also be a bad thermostat. When you say "little heat", do you mean the temp gauge is low, or that it's about mid range and the air out is still cold?

RwP