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Matt
Dodge Dakota
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4/21/2007
22:30:07

Subject: 92 Dakota Timing Issue
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I have 1992 Dodge Dakota. It started back firing and dying occasionally and would not fire. I took it to a local shop (who never worked on a 3.9 V6) as I did not have time to diagnose the issue and needed it fixed ASAP. They determined that it was the Oil Pump Drive Gear. Extremely worn and as a result the rotor was missing the point on the cap.

They replaced the gear and shaft and didn't charge for labor as it still ran poorly. In fact worse than before. I insisted that the Distributor needed to be indexed, but they doubted me. They recommended replacing the timing chain and gear set. Since it needed it, I decided to replace it.

Prior to installing a new set, I checked alignment. When the Cam Gear was at 6 and the Crank Gear was at 12, the Rotor point to 6. Exactly 180 out of time. That would logically explain the fact that it would run, but very poorly. So, I installed the cam gear and crank exactly as I found them, cam at 6, crank at 12.
But, I lifted the Distributor and rotated it 180 to 1 on the distributor, aligned exactly with the mark on the pick up plate.

I reassembled everything thinking I was well on my way to tightening things up and resolving the poor running condition the local shop set me up with.

Once it was all back together, I hit the key and it would not fire, only back fire on the very last stroke.

I found an article (http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1993/18-08-93.htm) regarding indexing the distributor. It talks about aligning TDC with the 14.7 degree (V6) mark on the dampener and then using a volt meter and adjust it between 0 to 5 volts.

I did not find the V6 mark, but did see V8 mark 17.5 degrees as well as 10 degrees. So, I counted marks and made a judgment between 17.5 and 10 degrees. Set it there and attempted to adjust the distributor voltage. However, all I could get is 4.79 and no voltage change on distributor rotation. I rotated the crank one rotation and got 0.03 and no voltage change on distributor rotation. I move to the V8 mark and no change.

So, what do I need to do to step by step align.

The Oil gear/shaft (verify that the shop installed it in the correct position)

#1 piston up (compression), cam gear at 6, crank gear a 12 (front end already sealed up)

Rotor at #1 and aligned with the pick up plate mark.

How do I index the distributor?

...and GET THIS THING TO START and BACK IN SERVICE!









J and J Auto
GenII
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4/26/2007
02:51:13

RE: 92 Dakota Timing Issue
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Message:
The dist can go in 2 ways right and wrong

Index

#1 at TDC
rotor button over cyl line on dist pickup plate
centered is 0 over line

If this does not work turn motor 1 time back to
TDC and 0 now rotate 180 and index again

Like I said right or wrong also rotor must aim
at #1 wire

You can put the chain in any way you want
6 and 6
6 and 12
12 and 6
12 and 12

it would just throw the dist 180 out in the dif
locations

however if you moved the gear it will be off
the dist oil pump gear

Larry
J&J Auto

   P 1


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