Well, Where do I start. I have a 2001 Dakota QC, 4.7L 4x4. I have had it to EVERY shop in the area and Nobody can figure out the problem. I have spent endless amounts of money on it, with no luck. I figured this may be the only forum that can help. So, here is goes.....The truck will crank for quite a while before firing and running quite rough for a few seconds and then runs like a top. If you turn the key off before it fires and back on again it fires right up everytime and runs great. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? The truck has a 4.7L motor in it, but seems to lack power. I have a 3000lb travel trailer that the truck can just barely handle. It shifts constantly and doesnt seem to want to pull very well. The only other this is that yesterday I was driving it down the road and lost all engine power, pedal to the floor and just blah.......nursed it along for about 19mins and away we went, back to normal. Are all the problems related? or does this truck just have alot of problems.

Thanks in advance
Mark

 

What have you replaced so far? A hard start could be caused by a bad crank position sensor. Not having any power could be clogged fuel filter/bad fuel pump. Knowing what you have already done to the truck will help us eliminate the hundreads of possibilities out there.

 

I have replaced the air filter, had injectors serviced and cleaned, new vacuum lines under the hood, had the coils checked, exhaust manifold gaskets replaced, new 02 sensor, new a/c compressor, new muffler. I have not had the fuel filter replaced or checked since I have had it. It now has 245,000km on it and I bought it at 180,000. It has had the power problem since I bought it, but the starting just started about 2000km ago. It has 17" michelin a/t tires on it(which doesnt help when trying to spin them)

 

have you checked the fuel pressure befor it starts and after its runnin. i would go with the fuel pump and filter first. then move to the crank postion sensor like dodgeramguy said. might even be a woren out timen chain.

 

I would also start by checking fuel pressure and the pump. Possibly still the injectors if they are leaking down, but sounds like a fuel pressure problem offhand. As far as lack of power, you can check your compression and again, fuel pressure.

 

ok, unfortunately I dont have the tools to check the fuel pressure, but I will get it checked at a local garage. What kind of numbers am I looking for? Should it remain constant? I dont know if I mentioned it, but if I turn the key on for a bit first, the truck will fire right up.
Thanks guys

 

The last garage I had it to suggested that the timing chain adjuster was not working properly and causing the timing to be out. Is this possible? or common? They said it wasnt worth fixing because of the age/km of the truck.

 

could it be the cat starting to get clogged

 

The garage said they elimated the cat when they did the muffler, to see if it made a difference, and it didnt. It is now all back hooked up with the cat and new muffler. What kind of fuel pressures am I looking for?

 

This may sound a little strange but check your grounds, particularly for the ECM. I had an old LTD that used to do things like you describe and it turned out to be a poor ground to the ECM that was causing it. Makes the computer confused.