I recently purchased a 1992 Dodge Dakota 3.9 V6 Auto 2wd truck that I thought had no issues but I was wrong. My truck will at random cutout and sound dead then will sometimes backfire but will come back. The truck wont shut itself off but it will be running great and then all of the sudden cutout and want to kill itself but then will come back. The truck can cutout for a second and come back or it can last a quite awhile. I was driving once and it cutout and it didn't come back to life for almost 2 miles. I've noticed when these issues occur my oil pressure will slightly drop and when it comes back it will jump back up. I've replaced cam and crank sensor, the distributer cap, and the coil pack. The truck is also affected by the temperature outside. If its hot out the truck will very very quickly rise to operating temperature but wont overheat. It just climbs quickly. Me and my old man are at a complete loss of what to look for next and I'm hoping that someone can point me in a direction to look next.

 

Read over the FAQ page. It goes through a lot of the common problems and is a good reference for vehicle maintenance. Bishko still sells the factory service manuals. You can get one on CD for about $40. Or try eBay.

 

I want to make it clear that I am in no way saying this is your problem. But I will tell you I had a similar problem. My truck would just randomly quit or not start. I'd be driving and the thing just quit running. Sometimes it would restart right away. Sometimes it would take 5 minutes, 15, 30, an hour. Sometimes I would go to a store and when I came back out it wouldn't start. Again, I'd wait a period of time then it would restart. I did the same (more) than what you did going around and replacing all kind of stuff. Turned out to be the last thing on my list. The PCM went bad (the microprocessor). Ended up getting another one. Problem gone.

Before you freak out, your PCM is an OBD1 and is an easy swap out. They're plug and play, no flashing from a dealer or anything like that. It's just another part on your truck that you replace. Where do you get replacement PCMs? You can find used ones on EBay (or other sources). You can find rebuilds at Rock Auto, EBay, other places. I got mine from a rebuild place in Florida. But like anything, there is risk no matter where you get them. In my case, the voltage regulator did not function in my rebuild (yes, Mopar puts the voltage regulator inside the PCM...stupid). So I bypassed it with an external regulator (another story). The part number should be on a sticker on the side of your PCM. You must get an exact match.

But again, I'm not saying this is your problem. There are other things to check like fuel pressure, fuel injectors, filters, pumps, etc.. Wait for additional thoughts from members here before deciding what to do next.