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Matt
Dodge Dakota
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5/24/2006
09:40:05

Subject: 1990 3.9L with 2 problems (related?)
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Hey guys. I have a 1990 Dakota with the 3.9L V6 which has been acting up recently. It started on a long cross country drive when I went to start the truck after spending the night at a motel. It started fine and i left it idling to go check out. When I came back out i heard it sputter to a stop. When i tried to restart it, it would crank just fine but wouldn't turn over. I tried it a few more times before popping the hood and checking the obvious things and jiggling a few wires. After about 20 minutes I tried to start it again and it started and ran just fine! Later that day, after driving approximately 600 miles on the interstate the truck just suddenly died without any sort of warning at all. I was plugging along at 70mph on cruise control and it just stopped and then came roaring back after about 3-5 seconds. This happened 2 more times and then nothing else for the next 200 miles. Two days later, again driving on the interstate at 70mph on cruise control it died again and this time I had to stop completely for a few minutes before I could restart it. Long story short, every time I would stop for gas or to eat and start driving down the interstate the truck would die 2 or 3 times without any warning and then would be good to go until I stopped for any length of time and then started driving again.

The second problem, I dont know if it is related or not but it started after I started having the problem with the truck randomly quitting. In the middle of the 4th day of my cross country drive the truck would not shift past 3rd gear (automatic transmission) and the "check engine" light comes on. I have had this problem before a while back but usually stopping, restarting and shifting through park, reverse, neutral and back to drive fixed it. After several attempts I couldn't fix the problem so I decided to press on, driving the truck in 3rd gear at 55-60mph for the next 500-600 miles or so. Probably a dumb thing to do but I didn't have a lot of options because of my schedule and location. The next day I went out to drive the truck and it would hesitate in second gear until it was way past the shift point and then would just suddenly drop into 3rd but go no farther. Any thoughts? Has anyone else had similiar problems? I had a mechanic (not a very skilled one) look at it and they couldn't recreate the problem and they couldnt find anything wrong. Any help would be appreciated.



Scott C
Dodge Dakota
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5/24/2006
16:53:20

RE: 1990 3.9L with 2 problems (related?)
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sounds like your tranny might be locking up..... at first i thought you had a fuel problem like the pump was locking up..... but it actually now sounds like your tranny is going up cause of it not shifting past 3rd and hesitating coming out of second..... and you say the check engine light comes on there might be a code there that will tell ya whats going on that might be your cause..... could be tranny or maybe some else pending the code that is stored...


Scott C
Royal Auto



Matt
Dodge Dakota
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5/24/2006
21:41:05

RE: 1990 3.9L with 2 problems (related?)
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Hey Scott. Thanks for the input. I was thinking the same thing about the fuel pump or the fuel filter and then I started thinking there was a problem with the transmission. I took it to another shop today and they told me it was the speed sensor that was causing the problems and that needed to be replaced. Didn't ask if they got a code from the check engine light or not. Seem like a reasonable explanation?



Scott C
Dodge Dakota
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5/24/2006
22:21:07

RE: 1990 3.9L with 2 problems (related?)
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now that you mention they said the speed sensor.... i never crossed my mind till now.... i had a caravan in my shop that had me and my boss puzzled for days.... the car would shut down intermintly.... and one day we decided to take a ride and i had my scanner hooked and i be damn i saw the vehicle speed hit 220 mph.... no lie.... lol and when i saw that it shut down and wouldnt shift properly.... so yes i can say that is a very reasonable diagnose to your problem.....


Scott C
Royal Auto



Matt
Dodge Dakota
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5/26/2006
22:53:59

RE: 1990 3.9L with 2 problems (related?)
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Scott, thanks for your input. Didn't know a Caravan could hit 220;)



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