I have a 1996 Dodge Dakota 3.9 L 2WD truck. I took the engine air filter housing off and was stumped what was under it. My first thought is the carburetor but then I know they stopped using those in 1992 I think. All help is welcome Thank you.

 

Throttle body I guess is what you mean? All it is is a couple butterfly valves actuated by the throttle cable, a secondary purpose is a place to mount several sensors for idle control etc. Just to clarify, I think only the '87 Dak was carbureted (maybe the '88 too?), but after that it was throttle body injected, in 1992 they went to the Magnum motors and multi port (i.e. one injector for each cylinder) fuel injection.

 

1987 was carbed. 1988 the V6 went TBI, the I4 was carbed. For 1989, the I4 was also TBI.

RwP

 

Throttle body.

 

It's a portal to the inner regions of your engine so the fuel fairies can get in and make power. Seriously, it's the throttle body and replaced the carburetor on older engines.

 

Thank you everyone for the help.