98 Dakota won't turn over
Alright boys, be gentle with me, please. I'm a Jeep owner and my hubby has a 98 dodge Dakota 4cyl.
He's a wonderful man, but fairly clueless when it comes to vehicles. Anyways, his truck sat this winter for various reasons. Now we are trying to get it back up and running and on the road, however, we can seem to get it to turn over. Here's what has happened.
We put in the old battery, it started up, ran for about 30 seconds then cut out and it won't start up again. It's giving a great try, but not quite making it.
Tried jumping the battery, no dice, same thing. Put in a new battery, same issue. Tried starting it with a screwdriver in the distributor wire to see if we got spark... no spark.
Pulled the cap and had my daughter turn it over for me to ensure that the rotor was spinning and there wasn't a bad bushing. It was fine.
Today I went out and dropped in a new cap, rotor and wires. (the plugs had been changed just before we put it up over the winter)The old cap and rotor were corroded to a lovely green shade.
So I start it up... same thing.
Where do I go from here?
I know this may sound like a n00b question, but bear with me. I'm terrible with engines/electrical stuff. Feel free to flame if you like, flames are funny, but I could REALLY use some help here.
Thanks!
He's a wonderful man, but fairly clueless when it comes to vehicles. Anyways, his truck sat this winter for various reasons. Now we are trying to get it back up and running and on the road, however, we can seem to get it to turn over. Here's what has happened.
We put in the old battery, it started up, ran for about 30 seconds then cut out and it won't start up again. It's giving a great try, but not quite making it.
Tried jumping the battery, no dice, same thing. Put in a new battery, same issue. Tried starting it with a screwdriver in the distributor wire to see if we got spark... no spark.
Pulled the cap and had my daughter turn it over for me to ensure that the rotor was spinning and there wasn't a bad bushing. It was fine.
Today I went out and dropped in a new cap, rotor and wires. (the plugs had been changed just before we put it up over the winter)The old cap and rotor were corroded to a lovely green shade.
So I start it up... same thing.
Where do I go from here?
I know this may sound like a n00b question, but bear with me. I'm terrible with engines/electrical stuff. Feel free to flame if you like, flames are funny, but I could REALLY use some help here.
Thanks!
It sounds like the control module went bad. If there is no spark, that module or the pick up coil is bad.
The pick up coil is the electrical version of points. When they go bad, it will not send a spark to the plugs. The control module controls the spark
in relation to the pick up coil.
Just something to start with. Remember to start with the less expensive stuff first. You will be suprised how most cheap things cause big problems.
Good luck.
The pick up coil is the electrical version of points. When they go bad, it will not send a spark to the plugs. The control module controls the spark
in relation to the pick up coil.
Just something to start with. Remember to start with the less expensive stuff first. You will be suprised how most cheap things cause big problems.
Good luck.


