omg, i experience the same probs, but mine doesnt backfire, but it shakes and stuff, does your engine light come on? mine does, and plus one time i would be going down i state, and it would just lose all power and i would have to stop and it would run real real rough, it hasnt done this since i got new spark plugs and etc, and plus not bad gas...lol

 

no, i didn't get any codes.
it runs great under throttle now
charges like a horse
________
Hyde Park Residence 2 Pattaya

 

Okay Everyone, I am sorry it took soo long for me to get back to this topic. I have found the cure for the backfiring and lose of power when you travel 1 to 2 miles down the road.

IT IS THE 'O2 Sensor' I replaced that and my truck was like brand new.

GL

 

which O2 sensor? there's more than three at least...
________
Teen live

 

Well there are two O2 Sensors in my 1998 Dodge Dakota V6 3.9L One is located right after the cat and one in the right side headpipe near the manifold. I replaced the O2 Sensor near my Manifold which is attached directly to the Engine PCM.

What was basically happening was the fuel/air mixture was not right, and the engine was backfiring in the throttle body. There was a huge lag in horsepower and the truck wouldn't run properly untill I reved it up and got the majority of the air flow through the system.

The worst part of all was that 'NO CODE' went off until 3 months later, and I sure wasn't going to start replacing part after part until a code went out. Basically I used the rule of thumb saying the best thing that could happen is the vehicle breaks down or puts out a code before fixing it, that way you know what you are looking at instead of just throwing parts at it.

I am very glad I waited, for it to get worse and worse and throw a code out.

Glad I could help!!

 

Just a point to Note... I spent $97.00 having a Dodge Dealer Diagnose and replace the O2 Sensor, and I now have a 12month/12,000mi warranty on it. Keep in mind though I waited till a code was thrown out, and then had the Dealer diagnose it.

I could have spent upwards of $500.00 attempting to fix this by performing tune-ups, replacing coils, distributor caps, etc..

The truck runs like a champ, and the best part is it only has 52,500mi on it.

 

Im having the same problem with my 3.9 v6 engine. I was thinking it was a o2 sensor but ill try a tune up first. Mine had 60k even when i bought it and it now has approximately 82k.