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Hello, I drive a 1998 Dodge Dakota Sport, it has a 2.5l 4cyl and a 5spd manual transmission. I understand that if I wanted any real power out of this truck I'd have to engine swap it, but i don't have the tools and funds to do so. I was looking into fuel chips and such to boost fuel economy or even just power because i live in bfe and it dosent have 4wd. If anyone knows any Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler fuel chips that would give me some horsies or range let me know! I'll take any recommendations although my budget is tight.
The 'chips' are snake oil. Most of them just try and fool the pcm into think the intake air temp is lower than it really is, so the pcm will add a bit of fuel.... thus, more power. Problem is, that only works in open loop.... so, about two or three minutes after initial startup, or at large throttle openings. In closed loop, where the engine normally operates, the pcm uses feedback from the O2 sensors to make sure fuel/air mixture is correct, thus, the 'chip' doesn't do anything at all. (aside from make your wallet lighter)
The four cylinder engines were never powerhouses...... best you can do is make sure all the maintenance is up to date. (plugs, wires, dist. cap/rotor, if you have one..... air filter, etc.) There might be someone out there that does a better tune for the engine, (PCM programming) but, that's gonna be several hundred dollars, and you probably won't notice any performance improvement.
The only way is to spend lots of money so it's not worth it for the results.
The simplest quick way to get some gain is swap out the stock throttle body for a 98 to 2000 jeep 4.0 throttle body but be sure to keep the idle chamber and iac from the oem 2.5 throttle body also keep the map and tps from the 2.5.
My 2.5 well 2.8 now was rebuilt by me with loads of changes and a custom DIY ported head with larger valves I also extensively ported the intake manifold. I went to a .040 over pistons a custom cam and a number of other improvements finally a custom 62mm throttle body.
If I had the extra cash I would have a from scratch custom intake manifold made for me.
You can try to reach out to Ryan hogan at FRPtuning.com and see what options he has - I know he has alot of 4.0/3.9/5.2/5.9/Hemi notes, but not sure how many 2.5's he has done.
Best thing I've ever had results from with a little engine is converting to an electric fan. I'm in the process of doing this with my Colorado right now, and it would be done had the spring on my 200lb garage door not busted. I'm locked out of my shed until Tuesday. Anyway, used to have an S10 with a 2.8 that before the conversion would barely maintain 70MPH on the highway. After, it would hit 90 or so. A manual fan uses horsepower even when the fan clutch is unlocked, and a tiny engine pulling too much truck feels every tenth of a missing horse. There are several ways to get there from cheap to expensive, depends on how much you want to spend. I've typically found that a conversion is worth 1-3MPG, so eventually it pays for itself. The smaller the engine, the bigger the gain.
If you decide to go this way, put out how much you want to spend and I can make recommendations, but don't get your hopes up - it won't make a huge difference. If you want to see how much, remove the fan clutch and fan from the truck, and take it for a VERY short drive, like around the block.
The 2.5 only has an electric cooling fan no mechanical.
You could buy a custom 62mm bored out throttle body but you must remove the intake manifold and bore it to a 62mm opening or the 62mm throttle body will be chocked down to about a 55mm. I did it by hand with a hand file not fun but free. Power tools can be used but hard to control without having an accident.
A vid to explain kind of goofy but good info also so you know the 2.5 is a jeep 2.5 engine put in a Dakota.
Fuel Chip?
