Hello everyone. Just joined here because I'm running out of ideas. I have a 97 dakota with the 5.2 in it and it wont start. At first I thought it was bad gas because one of the local stations is notorious for watering their gas down. But one night when it was about 10 degrees outside and snowing it fired right up. So far I've pulled all the plugs and cleaned them. They're all firing. The coil has spark of course. I've checked all the relays pertaining to the fuel system and they're all good. When it ran, up to the point it stopped running all together, if I would stomp the pedal to the floor it would cut out like it was only running on about 4 cylinders. When I try to crank it, I can smell gas pretty bad almost like it's flooding. Pulled plug 1 and it was soaked. I'm running out of ideas. Thanks for your help.

 

i just went through this last christmas. i never really figured it out either. however,, after playing with it forever. i treat like an old car. acted like it wanted to start if i pumped the gas. so i just kept the gas pedal floored. then she started. so i think that i must have had moisture in the gas. just guessing.

i have also seen some post say something about coolant temp sensor that could also keep your truck from starting and not throw a code.

plus, might as well check pressure too. you got power to turn the starter and spark at the plugs. maybe just not enough pressure at the injectors?

 

Thanks for the reply. It did get to that point but now holding the gas to the floor doesn't help at all. The other day I had it running, fired right up, left it sit idling and it just shut off. Since then I can't get it to start. I'll check for that sensor in the morning. Any idea where it's located?

 

it is next to the t-stat housing right by the ac compressor.. looks like a real pain to get to.

 

Just one more question. If the temp sensor is bad, it wouldn't register the temp on the gauge would it?

 

i would agree with you, but it is electronics and sometimes they do weird things.

i only sugguested it because i seen some post about it.

another thought,, have you turned your key on and off 3 times, leaving the key in the on position to see if there are any codes displayed in the odometer?

 

does it start with starting fluid?

 

My 5.9 has done the same thing to me twice. Was the coil once and the crank sensor the other...you can have spark at your coil and it still be bad. Needs a good solid spark, not just any little flicker will do it

 

My truck did something similar this last fall beginning of winter and ended up replacing the Idle Air Control valve on the back of the throttle body and that fixed my problem.

 

It's not displaying any codes and no it wont fire on ether either.