1993 Dodge Dakota, 5.2L

Want to pick your brains. Every once in awhile (like once a year...last time three months ago) my truck wont start. Cranks and cranks and cranks but wont fire. I wait 20 minutes then it will fire up. Tonight I was driving home from picking up a pizza. Going 50 mph, no one in front of me no one in back of me just minding my own business humming along without a worry in the world. Then suddenly my engine dies. No warning. No sputtering. No sound (but I did have my radio on). No flashes. No smoke. No springs flying around. No nuthin'. Just plain quit running on the spot. Got off to the side of the road. Looked under to see if oil was draining out. Nope. Checked the oil. Plenty good there too. Hopped back in to try and start it again. Cranked unsuccessfully for a few seconds. Tried again and it fired right up. A little rough the first few seconds but leveled out nicely.

I have a couple ideas but I'd rather not bias anyone and just hear your thoughts what this could possibly be. Thanks, Ed.

 

Cam or Crank sensor.

 

Ignition switch...were the dash lights still on when it died?

 

That crankshaft sensor doesn't look easy to get to (I have an auto transmission). I wonder, can the dealer make a positive diagnosis considering this is a highly intermittent problem?

 

Can't say either way. I had my lights on but it was still pretty light outside so didn't notice the dash lights. I turned the lights off (as a matter of habit) once I pulled the truck off to the side.

 

I had a 1994 v6 do that, and it turned out to be a bad water temp. sensor.

 

That's weird.

 

Too bad it is so intermittent. Mine got to the point I could not drive it off the farm. After the fix (2 years ago) smooth sailing.

 

I'm gonna call the dealer tomorrow and see if they think they can diagnose it. I don't know how unless the component has totally failed but who knows. Maybe it has a funky signal when it is in soon-to-be failure mode.

 

I would be skeptical that they could diagnose.