I have a 98 dakota 3,9 5spd 2wd

the problem
1 fuel mileage sucks and has been for a month or so
2 acts like it is flooding out when it is cold to the point I have to push the clutch in and floor it to clear it out it will do it going down the road starts chugging

3 if you start it and just let it warm up it will load up and then rev up and come back to idle
4 no check engine lights have not tried to see if there are any codes


was wondering if the fuel pressure regulator could have gotten some water in it and froze and ruptured the diaphragm or if the tps is not working right

I really hate to just start buying parts any Ideas

I have a 60 mile round trip commute I was able to drive 6 days on a full tank now I can only make 3-4

 

Do you use any fuel additives like Lucas or Techron? Could be lots of things. Sounds like TPS is messed up or maybe even fuel system has some gunk in it somewhere.

 

I have not used any additives over winter I did use a can of heat the yellow one but that was way earlier

 

does any one have any ideas

 

need help

 

so I take it no one knows the problem I am having

 

does it warm up to operating temperature

 

yes it does get up to temp

 

check for vacume leaks?? and if the pressure regulator was gone the way you described you wouldnt be able to start it because of how its designed. im sure someone somewhere has a break down. also check the TPS and timing. have to done a chain and gear set yet??
other then that all i can think is that one of the injectors is plugged

 

Just a guess but , it could be the coolant temp sensor - not the one to the gauge or light but the one to the computer , could be not responding and the computer thinks the engine isnt warming up and stays in open /enrichment loop ?? a scan tool will tell you what the readout of it is and if it`s reading the right temp or not .