do a search on here for terms - crankshaft position sensor, crank position, cam position. see if any of those describe your symptoms. i was hoping you'd have a CEL that would nail it down.

normally i just go buy the cheapest thing i can find at autozone or advance. but, there's been a lot of posts about people having bad luck with non-dealer crank position sensors, so beware. but, since tomorrow is sunday, you might have to take a chance.

i'm still just guessing - crank or cam position sensor.

 

alright, I appreciate it. I had just changed both of those about 4 months ago maybe worth a try though.

 

I don't know if I'm liking these dodges ha ha. they have so many quirky things going on with them. When we were checking for spark at the coil, we found out that it won't spark if the distributer cap is off. I don't understand that one at all. Also, I can unplug all 4 fuel injector plugs on one side and it won't effect the rpms much at all. Very strange indeed.

 

if you installed mopar sensors, its unlikely they have gone bad.
if off brand, you might have joined the group of people with bad sensors...

i don't know how to test them. chris had some long detailed posts on it a few months ago. i can't remember his forum name. give me a minute.

here's one of many. search on cmckenna
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-me-crazy.html

 

OK, so these "tests" you're conducting aren't very conclusive, because you're not using any equipment. So you have fuel pressure, but is it enough? Most MPFI engines specify somewhere between 35 and 50 PSI, and won't run if they're below 15-20. And on spark, just because it's there doesn't mean it's enough. Spark jumping the electrodes in atmoshpere is different than under compression with fuel. That's why some misfires only present under load. You need to see upwards of 30 kV's.

The best way to verify mechanical timing is with the distributor cap off. Make sure the rotor aligns with the #1 cap terminal position when the engine is at TDC of compression stroke

I will tell you that I've seen many burned-through rotors on magnum engines. Again, with electricity taking the path of least reisistance, you may see spark at the plug when it's just laying on top of the exhaust manifold for ground, but could be loosing it to the distributor shaft when it's actually trying to fire under compression.

 

Isn't there usually a little black spot on the rotor where the electricity is leaking thru to the distributor shaft? We didnt see one on it. There was alot of carbon on it though. As far as the fuel pressure, when I opended the shrader valve it squirted about a foot out of the engine compartment and almost got me in the face, but the ether in the throttlebody should have made it at least try to crank. We checked the spark on my friends 01 ram, same truck as mine, and his spark was about the same strength as mine at the plug. I'm gonna go ahead and buy a new cam position sensor and see if that does it.

 

I'll check the timing too on the distributor

 

Yes, you can usually see carbon tracking or burns. But not always.

I missed the bit about starting fluid. That mitigates a fuel delivery issue for diagnostic purposes.

Verifying cam timing is definitely your next step. I haven't personally seen a timing chain skip on a Magnum, but it used to happen a lot with the LA blocks that used a nylon composite cam sprocket.

 

And how will you be performing that procedure?

 

Guys I found the problem!!!! wooohoooo!!! it was the coil. it was delivering spark but not enough spark to cause combustion. We took a coil off of my neighbors dodge and hooked it up to mine and she cranked right up. the weird thing is that it seemed like a strong spark at the coil but apparently it had degenerated enough to not be able to deliver under a load (plug wires, rotor, cap, and plugs). it did it very suddenly yesterday too. exactly as if it had just that minute ran out of gas.