Hello everyone. This is not my first time here as this has been my go to site for when I need answers for my truck.
but now I need help faster then i can search
so here goes...
a little story leading up to my post today
My starter had went in my dakota earlier last week. it was gradually getting worse and worse. So I finally went ahead and ordered the part. Take out the old, in with the new.
everything goes smoothly ( surprisingly no bolts snapped off with 22 years of rust on the rust belt in Pittsburgh )
I go to fire it up kicks over IMMEDIATELY!!Everything seems to be going great. Well my wife needed the truck to go to Walmart ( typical )
Brings it back nearly bone dry of no gas.
Now heres where things get interesting.
She then proceeded to tell me she added one of those little bottles of in the gas tank thinking itll help me get to the gas station
I know... I know... she was trying to be helpful i guess??
so I leave to go to work and stop to fill it up.
when I went to start it it seemed like no so much hesitant but bogged down
nonetheless it fires up and I'm on my way
no less then a half hour of driving and less then a mile from the customers house it decides to shut down on me. I couldn't really hear it when it happened cause I was playing the radio.
I only noticed cause of loss of power steering and brakes.
I go to engaged the engine
nothing
I decide to atleast do the job and play with it after thinking it might have been the solenoid wiring
I check underneath and everything seems fine under there from what I can tell
go to start and it sounds like it wants to engage and turn over but never does
and keep this in mind
the entire time when I turn the key to engage the engine these things are happening
1. The "check gauges" light stays on until I stop and the " check engine " light is on too until u turn it off
2. Not sure if this is valid information im able to take the key out of the tumbler anywhere its positioned
I have since
1. Checked the battery - its good
2. Listened for fuel pump - I'm pretty sure I can hear it starting up
3. Even tried jumping it - no go

If anyone can remotely HELP ME get my dakota give me some pointers to get her up and running
would be much appreciated. I know this is a long shot as not being able to see and hear for yourself but if necessary I will give out my cell to send videos and or let you see whatever it is your asking for

thank you so much in advance

https://youtu.be/_rWqdPogIY0

I was able to make a little video only 14 seconds of what it sounds like when trying to start

Again thanks for your help

 

I'm thinking fuel pump didn't like going dry but could be other things.

Happened to me not going dry but not using my truck for a month because I pulled the engine and rebuilt it.

you may of sucked dirt into the pump plus they don't like running dry.

my pump had an intermittent bad spot in the pump it worked on then off plus my fuel gauge stopped working showed empty.

Try spraying some carb cleaner down the intake if it starts the pump has died on you brake clean works also.

 

Not firing. Check and see if you are getting spark.

 

bad "new" starter? sounds like it isnt even cranking over to me.

 

Reman you just cant trust them.

 

I'm gonna try the first suggestion and spray down the intake valve.

I'll keep you guys posted. i appreciate everyone's advice. My dad was the mechanic of the family and unfortunately passed away a few months ago.

How do you check for spark?

And idk if this helps but mind you it just shut off while driving for about 20 25 minutes if that helps diagnose the problem

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rWq...ature=youtu.be

I watched the video. The starter is cranking strong, so this is either a spark or fuel delivery issue.

Check the fuel pump relay. You can swap it with another nearby. Also check fuel pressure.

 

So I'm back from trying to start it via carb sprayed down the throat. Not sure how much I should've sprayed but I did a couple quick sprays

Nothing happened...

I took another video to show the dash lights popping up when i go to crank it

UpdateI decided to test my battery one last time with the key in the ignition its reading a low 12.03 in the run position
without the key in it and stand alone
A big fat 0 across the board

Anyone wanna buy a 3.9 98 dakota? Lol lots of new parts

Here's the link for the video below
Thanks in advance

 

Carb spray doesn't necessarily burn..... Need starting fluid for that particular test. Just pulling a plug wire, and stuffing a spare spark plug into it, and ground it out good is an easier/safer method for checking for spark.

I note the tach doesn't do anything at all while cranking...... that more or less points at the crank sensor.

 

That sounds to me like the battery has a bad cell. Each cell should be 2.2V for a total of 13.2V. Subtract one bad cell and you have 12V. A battery with no load on will give a good voltage reading for the good cells, but when you try pulling current it won't put out the current. Have you tried a known good battery?

It's still possible to be a bad crank sensor, but as the crank sensor depends upon electricity to operate, a bad battery means it won't be working either.