I have a 93 3.9l Dakota and for some reason it wont start. I replaced the battery a few weeks ago, then went out of town for a few days and when i came back, it wouldnt start. So i took the alternator to the auto store and they said it was a good alternator. so i took the battery back to the store i bought it from, they tested it and said it was a good battery. If i hook up jumper cables to the dakota and to another car, it starts. So that has me believing my starter is also ok. After getting the truck started, if i turn it off and on immediately it will start, but if i let it sit for a few seconds then try to restart it, it wont. I dont know much about cars so this is really confusing to me. i have heard that it could be my cylinoid but im not certain if that is the problem. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? any help is much appreciated.


thanks,

Mike

 

By not start, I am assuming you mean the starter does not turn the motor over. When you turn the key, do you hear a "click"?

 

yeah, i hear one loud click. but thats it. i have been told the starter would make a few clicks, but im not certain.

 

Each time you turn the key to "Start" it should make one loud click (coming from the engine compartment) if it doesn't start (it will make the click if it starts, you just won't hear it). If you get a helper to listen, it is/probably is coming from the driver-side of the engine, towards the bottom (where the starter is).
I had the same problem (some days it would start right up, others it would take up to 20 trys to start it). Finally, I replaced the starter. I also made a how-to. Here is the link. (It's written for a 4WD, and I'm not too sure how differant a 2WD would be)
However, view this thread first. A common problem in your year Dakota was failure (corrosion) of a splice that feeds several relays, that in turn, supply juice to stuff.
Let us know what you find.