Hi guys, I'm new to this forum. I was wondering if any of you guys ever had an issue with your Dakota being unable to turn over.

Here's the situation. Since 2 months ago, the truck has been having a hard time starting. I would have to give it gas during the starting process, and then hold the gas petal for a while before the truck stays running. At stop lights and intersections when a full stop is required, the truck would then shut off.

I have brought it into a respectable mechanic, and he cannot figure it out. So far, he has done a "FULL tune-up". Which includes Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, oil change, he's changed a sensor (I don't know which one, but it's near the TPS sensor).

The truck made it all the way back home, but since then, it will no longer turn over.

I've tried the following on my own:
- I followed steve05ram360's fix for the TPS sensor.
- I tested the Fuel Pump relay, relay is fine.
- I tried to boost the battery
- I tried trickle-charging the battery to a full-charged state.

It will crank and crank, but just won't turn over no matter how much gas I give it now. Any other suggestions?

 

try puting a little bit of gas in the throttle body to see if it fires

 

Perhaps your fuel filter is clogged. I had an old F150 with very similar symptoms and it turned out that there was a chunk of something stuck in the fuel filter, causing very small amounts of gas to pass through. I changed that and it fired right up with no problems.

 

Do you know where this fuel filter is located?

 

the fuel filter is located in the gas tank, you can see if you're getting fuel by having the ignition on and pressing in the schrader valve on the back right-hand side of the fuel rail. if you have fuel pressure, gas will squirt out. if you dont have any pressure either nothing will happen or gas might just dribble out.
Have you looked at the IAC? its located on the back of the TB and is what controls the amount of air comming in at idle.

 

Oh shoot, I didn't know the fuel filter was inside the tank on Dakotas. I'd check it and see if its working, but I wouldn't replace it until it has been confirmed that its the fuel filter that is causing your problems.

 

Just an update guys:

Had this thing looked at by a well respected (certified) general mechanic that has been around for ages.

He checked: sparks, fuel pump, fuel filter(s), injectors, starter, solnoid, tps sensor, thottle body, distributor, fuel quality, relays, fuses, etc etc. Nothing found.

THEN, had a 2nd opinion with a mechanic that's non-certified, he found out within 10 minutes, it was the ignition coil. He changed the coil, and BANG!!! The truck came to life!


There you have it guys, it's always best to get a second opinion.

 

yup, some mechanics look right over the coils on these trucks,

 

Glad to hear that everything got figured out...


Cheers and welcome to the forum.

 

i had a intermittent coil. Would go on and off. randomly.