I have a 92 dakota with the 5.2L. this morning i went to start the truck and it cranked a little longer than usual to start up. once i got it running it had a bad idle surge that slowly went away as the truck warmed up but as soon as it hit operating temp i started to bog down. once i went to go put it in drive the truck choked then died. i threw it in park real quick to start it again and it would do nothing but crank. it acted like it wanted to turn over but nothing happened. i swapped a few relays around to check if one went bad for either the fuel pump or the auto shutdown relay. still got nothing. so i eventually just pulled the fuel pump relay and cranked the truck after i pulled the plugs just to make sure it wasn't flooded and to see what they looked like. the plugs looked dry and normal so i put everything back together. at this point i still had the fuel pump relay unplugged and decided to try and crank it for the hell of it. well it fired up without a problem with the fuel pump relay out but started to die so i quickly plugged it back in and the truck idled. well that was short lived because once i threw it in gear again it died once again. im not sure what is causing this and im at a loss for solutions. normal i have this truck all figured out but now it has me confused.

 

Can you check the codes? It may point you in the direction you need to look.

 

"it acted like it wanted to turn over".... huh? Did the engine spin over, when you hit the ignition switch? That IS "turning over". No more no less. Has NO bearing on whether it starts or not, or even tries to.
did you hit the key and get a "click" only? or maybe nothing at all?

I don't get where people think an engine has to fire and run to "turn over".

 

so what i mean is it will crank and turn over but is hesitant to actually start and run. it is throwing a code but it is only for the coolant temp sensor being out of range which i doubt would effect it like this.

 

Actually, the coolant temp sensor plays a rather large role in determining how much fuel the engine gets when in open loop. (like, when you are trying to start it....) If the PCM thinks the engine is extremely hot/cold, it will inject very little/way too much fuel. Giving you starting issues.

 

yeah I figured that out last night. turns out when i replaced my upper radiator hose i knocked the connector off of my coolant temp sensor. plugged it back in and all problems were resolved. thanks for the help tho

 

Gotta love the easy ones eh?