Please help me on this. My malfunction indicator light came on last week (solid, not blinking) and truck is running rough. Hasnt stalled, but seems to come close when I am stopped or going very slow.

2002 Dakota V6 stickshift. I took it to Pep Boys and they gave me the code for free, but said it would cost $49.95 for diagnostic check. He said P0303 could mean a variety of things. I have to wait till payday this friday, but should I go thru with that? Or is there a cheaper way of finding out what the specific problem is? What does that code normally mean?

Unfortunately I dont know much about this industry. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

 

P0303 is the code for a cylinder misfire on cylinder #3, that is the one in the middle on the driver's side of the truck. There can be a number of reasons for the misfire. It might be a bad spark plug, plug wire, or you could have a bad distributor cap, those are a few of the main reasons for a misfire. You might also have a bad fuel injector but I would think it would give a different code or at least a second fuel problem code if the misfire was fuel-related.

You can check the plug wire the old school way by running the engine in the dark with no lights on, look at the wire and see if you can see any arcing or sparks. If you have not done a tune up in in the last 25,000 to 30,000 miles it might be time for a good tune up with new plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor button. Tune-up is not hard to do, if you have some mechanical aptitude. The Haynes Book for your truck has a lot of good tune-up and maintenance info in it too, and in the FAQ section here at the top of the 2nd Gen page there is a link somewhere in there that you can download a copy of the 2001 Dakota Factory Service Manual for free. 2002 should be the same info as a 2001. There are also several lists of the trouble codes and their explanations in the FAQ section here. Personally, I would not pay Pep Boys or anyone else to fix it, at least not yet. Maybe take it to a shop only if the tune-up does not fix the problem. Good quality tune-up parts including new plugs, wires, cap and rotor button can be bought at Napa for maybe $75.00 total, maybe more or less depending on where you live.

After you do the tune-up you can clear the trouble code and turn off the check engine light by removing the negative battery cable and holding the ignition key in the start position for 30 seconds. Or most auto parts stores will clear it for you with a code reader for free. And don't ever pay someone to read the trouble codes for you. You can get the codes yourself by turning the ignition key from off to run and back to off 2 times. Then turn the key from off to run one more time and on that last time you turn the key, leave the key in the run position. Any trouble codes you have will show in your odometer window. If you have multiple codes it will say "P Done" in the odometer window after the last stored code is displayed.

Hope that helps.

Jimmy

 

Thank you so much Jimmy! You really gave me some great info there. Just signed up to this site and such a quick response. And I love the key trick of getting the code yourself

Its been a good 50,000 miles since a tuneup (I know, I'm horrible). So like you said, I'm gonna bypass the diagnostic check and get the tuneup. If it's back to normal after that, then problem solved.

As far as mechanical aptitude goes, forget about it. I have none. Any ballpark idea as to how much $$ parts & labor should run on plugs, wires, dist cap, and rotor button?

And thanks again for helping me out. I really love the internet when it works productively.

 

Sorry I have no idea how much a shop would charge for a tune-up, I would guess maybe $125.00 or $150.00. I know when I do my tune-up and replace the plug wires the parts cost me about $75.00, without new wires the parts run about $35.00 or $40.00 and I get everything at Napa. I use their Belden Premium plug wire set and Echlin distributor cap and rotor buttons with the brass contacts. They work better and last longer and brass contacts do not corrode. The Belden wires are great quality, better than OEM and don't cost a lot, they run about $32.00 a set and I replace my wires at every other tune-up. I use the stock heat range NGK copper core plugs, also from Napa for about $2.00 each. The NGK's run real well in my 3.9. I do a tune-up about every 25,000 miles.

I am not trying to tell you your business but I would not use Pep Boys for a tune-up. Maybe yours is good, but Pep Boys around here has a bad reputation. I would find a good independent garage that would have a fair price, do good work and be honest with you about what the truck really needs. Maybe check some online reviews of local shops or ask friends and colleagues to find a good independent mechanic you can trust. If you have a local Napa store they probably do a lot of business with the local garages, maybe they can recommend one.

Good luck with it.

Jimmy