Ok, I think its the trans, whenever I floor it, i think in 2 or 3rd(or both) gears when I get into 4000-5000RPM(The rev limit is like 4800-5600), it starts to bog in a weird way, like the gears are slipping, sounds kinda like the engine is about to give up on me or somthing...
so whenever I gas it im scared to go to those RPMs(I have 5 Speed by the way...) so I just stay below 4K RPMs...

anyone heard of this??

hey anyone know averige MPG on these 4x2 5speed club cab V6 dakotas? mine dousn't even last me a week.. even with high flow exhaust and cold air.. cause I think im getting around 9-12city...

 

You might want to stay away from those higher rpm's that will help out your mileage quite a bit. As far as the bogging down maybe your engine doesn't like to be in those numbers either I know my truck loves anything under 3000 to 3500 rpms but then again my engine is completely different than yours...

 

Is this something that your truck just started doing or has it been doing it for some time?

 

I just bought it, it dousn't seem to be doing it as much today, maybe just hasn't been ran in those RPMs in awhile?.............. but my MPG sucks, but i'll try n stay in the 3K-4K and below

 

What are you getting (and what type of driving?)?

 

around 10+ city, i drive it hard every now and then, but when im minding my own buisness just taking it slow driving it around, the needle drops everytime I take my eyes off of it, it dousn't even last me a week, but maybe its the whole 17 year old, 5speed.. but my Dads NorthStarV8 lasted a week+ with me driving in it all the time

 

when I first started driving, I never got good gas milage either. I had a 82 dodge ram 4x4 with a 360. and I was getting 200km per tank. I think its just the heavy foot.
________
Water Bong

 

i think we have found the mpg problem. as far as the hesitation goes, it is a v6 with a relatively large displacement. once you have reached 5k rpm, you are pretty much topping the power gain out for the motor. it is a magnum motor though and has variable valve timing above 3k rpm so try shifting around 4500 rpm and see if that solves your problem. i hope you arent hitting the rev limiter on a regular basis as well; never really a good thing for a motor if you want it to last a long time.

 

well, I checked my MPG again, hurray it came up at 17.2. Not bad when Auto Consumer Guide said 14.1 averige in City, alil over 260 miles auto consumer-14.1...youngen-17.2... high flow exhaust and air really help...

but my Dad says he wants me to get atleast 18.0 and better out of it, so im trying to find cheap, or not so cheap things to do, I'm getting a OBX Straight Flow CAI next week, ive heard that Getting High performance spark plugs and wires help too, will a TB off of a 318 or 360 make my MPG worse or be better because it will be sucking more air in? or will it suck gas more?

Oh, I forgot to pick up a 180 T-stat... but any other gas saving products? Someone before mentioned the Magnums have hard time breathing beyond 3500RPM, what if I installed a Electric fan inside the Air Intake?.......

This MPG report was with prolly driving granpa half or less, I DO NOT REDLINE IT OVER AND OVER, ive only high revved just a few times since last gas fill up.

rev at 4500? my truck says 5000 limit and u want me to averige at 4500? OR just when I gas it switch gears at 4500?
Normal driving I dont go past 3K RPMs

WELL, its not making that crap it was doing between 4-5K RPMs, but I think something is clogged, tommorow im taking it to shop, have all fluid changed, getting everything checked and just trying to get it cleaned out the best I can get it

I didnt know it was a VVT

 

i will answer these as listed above.

a tune up is always a great start for fuel economy. new plugs, wires, rotor and cap are a way to make sure you are burning up all that fuel you are pumping. please do a search about spark plugs on this forum and you should get every answer about which plugs to get.

an oversized TB for your 3.9 will be a power booster, but not really a mpg booster. you will be burning more fuel than before to make up for the larger flow of air.

electric fan in the intake? f*ck that! get a typhoon! im just playin. steer away from products that promise all kinds of mpg gains and power gains out of a computer fan in your intake. it is just not realistic. this topic is another one you can find in the forum's search engine. search "typhoon". luckily we steered you away before some of the typhoon reps heard you asking a question like that!

i would never want anyone to average at 4500 rpm (unless they are entering a drift competition). i think you misunderstood what i was saying. shifting around 4500 rpm will kepp you in the powerband and not fall off the other side. normal driving should be just that, normal; not racing, or leadfooting. (unless you have a racing contract you arent sharing with the rest of us!)

correct me if i am wrong but i believe the magnum motors have a soft rev limiter. (soft rev limiter is where the fuel being sent to the cylinders is decreased due to very high rpm. hard rev limiter is where the ignition is interuppted so you dont blow your motor.)

any takers?