My wife was driving my Dakota the other day when it died on her twice. She was able to get it home. The next morning I attempted to start it. It started, but barely. It runs extremely rough, and backfires. Its a 2000 Dakota with the 3.9 V6. 206,000 miles. The check engine light is not on. Any idea on where I should start to diagnose the problem?

Thanks

 

When is the last time it had a tuneup? Does this just come on all at once, or did it get worse over time? Does it run ok when cold? (for a couple minutes?)

 

Happened suddenly, was running fine before this started. Its been a few years since a tune up. I'm going to check the distributor cap and spark plugs as a place to start.

Thanks.

 

Checked plugs, they looked good, as did the dist.cap. Probably start replacing sensors now, I've never replaced a single one since I've owned it (I'm the only owner).

 

For crank and cam sensors, only buy from Mopar. I think the cam sensor is near EOL but crank is still made. The V6 is particularly finicky with crank sensors.