The 97 Dakota I bought has only 115k miles but was down on power, little sluggish. Decided to do a tune up. Pulled plugs, found them all around .050 and burnt white. Thought oh man this thing is gonna run great. Installed Champion Platinum plugs gapped at .040. Did one plug at a time and hooked back up to original spark plug wires. Truck would not fire up. Cranks but won't light off. Decided to pull cap and rotor, found cap worn with white corrosion and little nubs under cap half way worn through. Installed new cap, rotor, wires. Triple checked firing order starting at 1 on cap and going around clockwise. Verified clockwise rotation of rotor while cranking over. All wires going to correct plug. No fire. Changed coil. No fire. Installed spark tester on #1 then #3 plugs, lights up. Installed spark tester inline with coil, lights up and I got zapped, its working. No codes in computer that my scanner can see. I can smell gas and hear fuel pump priming when key is turned on. Tried spraying some carb cleaner down in throttle body to see if it would light that off, nothing. Pulled platinum plugs and installed OE copper same part # as on hood decal, still nothing. I am at a loss here guys! Truck ran when I pulled into garage, pulled plugs, now wont run! Need your help. Thanks.

Eric in Montana

 

Get rid of the platinum plugs. These motors hate them.

 

I did. Put stock copper plugs in. Same part number as on the hood decal.

 

Still doesn't wanna start?

I missed the part where you had already changed plugs.

If you smash the gas pedal to the floor, and hold it there, does the engine even try and fire? Give that a shot, if it still doesn't start, pull a couple plugs, see if they are wet.

 

I will try it tonight. Before pulling the platinum plugs I was mashing the throttle down. I do recall some of the plugs being wet with gas.

 

The flooding tends to clear after sitting. Try it without mashing the gas first. Also, check your wiring order again. Did you move the distributor?

This was recentlyposted in another thread with a similar issue.

 

The wires are in correct order. It says the firing order right there on the intake manifold. Start at 1 and go clockwise around distributor in order. Didn’t move the distributor, don’t think you can. It’s not adjustable like Chevy for example. Computer controls timing. Rotor and cap can only go on one way as well. Cylinders are marked at each injector connector.

 

Have a scanner that can read live data? Have a look at what the PCM thinks engine temp is.

 

Yes I do. I will take a look tonight.

If the crank sensor on the trans bell housing went bad I would not have spark correct? Isn’t that what the computer uses to control the ignition?

 

Yep. If you are getting good spark, the crank sensor is doing its job. Cam sensor for injector pulse.