Hello guys I'm having an issue with my 1999 5.9l 4wd durango. I haven't been driving it much these last few cold winter months. Yesterday morning I drove it maybe 3 miles and last night I went out and started it to warm it up for my wife and it died at some point. I went out to check it and it will crank over but will not start. I can hear the fuel pump and when I press that little fuel line plunger under the hood fuel comes out. The throttle body seems ok I poked my head over it and moved it and whatnot, it is a little dirty but nothing looked too hinky. I haven't pulled spark plugs but I did swap out fuses to rule those out. I put in a new tps over the summer. It's parked on a bit of an incline (very slight) and it's pretty low on gas I think my gauge said something like 15miles left. I only bring that up because I thought perhaps it just ran to low and with the freezing temps maybe something went wrong with the fuel pump float or something I dunno and it is actually empty.. Anyway I'm going to go put some gas in later in the day but I don't think that's it. So in the mean time it would be great if you could toss out some ideas for me to check on. I'm planning to check the distributor, I was wondering if the ignition coil went out would it stop running or just not start again?

When I turn the key it turns over, it doesnt sputter or anything just turns.

Thanks in advance guys I really appreciate the help.

 

My bet is fuel related. The overhead gauge isn't very accurate to start with, plus you're parked on an incline which could leave the pickup outside of the fuel level. Pressing the pressure release valve on the fuel rail tells you that you have some fuel there, but the pressure could be too low to make it through the injectors.

Put a few gallons in it and try again. Also not to good to let the tank get that low, especially in colder weather (not sure where you're located) as water and debris can make their way into the fuel lines. Beyond that, you can CAREFULLY spray a LITTLE BIT of starting fluid (ether) into the intake and see if it fires up. Take it gentle with starting fluid as it can cause a lot of damage if it's overused.

 

Ok, I put about 3 gallons of gas in it today and nothing has changed so I guess I'm back to w/e can cause it to shut off while running and not start back up?

 

OK, back to the basics here. An engine needs fuel, spark, and compression to fire. Since you've put fuel in it and still see no difference, let's assume for now that it's not a fuel problem. Next thing to go after is the spark. Not knowing the particulars about an ignition system for your year / engine, the first thing I'd look for is voltage at the coil. You should be seeing 12 volts minimum on the positive side when cranking the motor over. If you don't see that then I would suspect either a fuse or relay on the primary side died somewhere. If you do have voltage there, then check for spark on the high side of the coil by removing the coil wire from the distibuter and putting it near a ground / cranking the engine. You should see a hot spark. Alternatively you can remove the wires from the coil and read resistance between the + and - sides on the coil to compare with the factory specs.

If you have 12 volts to the coil and no spark, then suspect the coil. If you have spark at the coil then suspect the distributer cap / rotor. Take them off and look for wear. You can also pull off a plug wire and ground it / crank the engine to look for spark.

If you find that you *do* have spark to the plugs then you're back at square one with fuel. Next thing to check is for adequate pressure at the fuel rail. Other possibilities would be a crank / cam sensor, but I would suspect that would throw a CEL code.

I'm sure someone with more 5.9 knowledge will jump in here, I'm a 4.7 guy. Sorry!

 

WOW I finally got around to fixing that beast today. I purchased an ignition coil, a crank sensor, and distributor cap and rotor. I started with the crank sensor (OMG NEVER AGAIN) because everyone I talked to was convinced that was it. Turns out it was the ignition coil all a long. I changed it out and it took about 2 mins of solid cranking but I could hear it trying to I just kept at it and boom started right up and starts like a dream now :O. Thanks for your help guys sorry it took me so long to get around to replying and fixing