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V6 Dakotas
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GB2000
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4/16/2004
20:39:00

Subject: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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Okay...Larry, here's the question I'm specifically directing to you. It's a bit off-topic, but I know you got plenty of related experience. My girlfriend's car has been acting up lately. It's been idling really cruddy...i think it might be missing but it doesn't stall or anything. Just a really rough idle. Then yesterday we were driving down my road and it was definitely missing...it just didn't have any power and you could hear it stumbling. She shut it off, we looked under the hood and didn't see anything obvious and then when she started it back up, it was back to normal. The rest of the day it was fine, but on her way home (she lives about 20 minutes away) she called me and said it was really acting up. She was on the interstate and she said whenever she let off the gas at 60 mph or above it'd make this really loud noise and decellerate really quickly. That loud noise as far as I could tell is more like a rumbling noise. She had her spark plugs changed a while back so I'm pretty sure that ain't it (for the missing) and I'm guessing the rumbling/decelleration problem is the transmission, but what could cause it? She's got a 91 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais (or maybe it's just called a Calais)...auto tranny, 127,000 miles. My dad also suggested timing chain since it's never been changed. Anyway...I'd appreciate any suggestions cuz we're stumped and she doesn't have a lot of money to blow on her car.

Now for the rest of the questions directed towards anyone...

I'm gonna make an attempt to remove my center console (once again). When I got a nice long day I'm gonna go to my friend's grandpa's and work in his garage so I can remove the seats and pull it that way. What all does removing the seats involve? Just removing the bolts holding them down and then lifting them out or is there a bunch of other special things I gotta do?

Also, I need to check my plug gaps soon and I was wondering, how do I know whether the gap is too small/big? I pulled one the other day out of curiosity even though it's only got like 100 miles on it and the ceramic (i think) element part that is SUPPOSED to be tan was still brand spankin new looking...white. But there was also a lot of carbon on the metal components EXCEPT the electrode...like around the end of the threads and stuff. Oh yeah...in another post we were talking about the metal heat shields around the plugs and I was wondering if on the 98's if they are welded on or if they can be safely removed and not cause any heat/spark problems.

Last question...I'm gonna get a new cap/rotor from Napa. How hard is it to change? Just lift the old rotor out and put the new one in identically to how it was? Then the cap should be pretty self-explanitory. When you talk about checking the injector sync, doesn't that have to with where the rotor is pointing? My dad wants me to wait 3 weeks til my grandpa comes to visit before I change it, but my grandpa is TOTALLY against me modding my truck and I'd like to do it before then.

Sorry this is so long, but as always any suggestions will be appreciated.

Josh

Red 98 RC V6 2wd Single in/dual out exhaust (soon to be switched to a flowmaster 40 single in/dual out), s-bolt "mod", Edelbrock 10" round air cleaner w/ K&N air filter, removed rubber flap...and more to come

boguspete
Dodge Dakota
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4/16/2004
21:45:02

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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does g/f have the 2.3 liter 4cyl in that olds? they were notorious for under the cover plug boots and coil packs acting up. if it is that, remove the cover, pull the spark plug boots - look for grey/brown/black burn marks on the boots. the connectors that run from the boots were also notorious for fubar'ing up too. It was a piss poor GM trying to duplicate foreign cars idea.



GB2000
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4/16/2004
23:53:13

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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Not sure...she says she *thinks* it was a 3.somethingL but as far as I could tell all they made in 1991 was a 2.3L. Thanks for the suggestions though...hopefully we figure the problem out soon and it won't be too costly.

Also, anybody know the answers to my other questions toward the bottom of my post? Would like to work on the dak tomorrow if I can get answers by then.

Josh

Red 98 RC V6 2wd Single in/dual out exhaust (soon to be switched to a flowmaster 40 single in/dual out), s-bolt "mod", Edelbrock 10" round air cleaner w/ K&N air filter, removed rubber flap...and more to come

daffydak
GenIII
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4/17/2004
00:44:39

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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What’s up josh... the cap and rotor are easy to change; the hard part is getting to it (them). I found it easier to change the cap and rotor, by removing the purge solenoid on the firewall (drivers side thing hanging off by 2 bolts with a couple hoses running to it) and positioning it off to the side... that makes it easier to unscrew the cap and transfer the wires. Also remove the air hat, and don't forget vasoline in the wire boots....

about the spark gap. It sounds like its running ok to me, you might want to give it a lil more time though. Wait until your next oil change and see what they look like.
Something you may also want to look at while your tinkering with your dak, your rear brake adjustment just jack the back end up, put the truck in neutral and remove the rubber plugs from the back plate of the rear drums. Then you use a small flat blade screwdriver to turn the adjuster wheel (it will only turn in the correct direction) a few clicks until you can hear a very slight dragging sound as you turn the wheel. I did this last week, mine needed about 20 clicks each (too much power braking LOL) anyways hope i helped ya a little...

Dan

mopar=mopower

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4/17/2004
01:09:35

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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Thanks Dan... I was wondering about accessing the cap/rotor. I don't gotta airhat to remove though... I just gotta pop the filter off real quick. =P I wish I woulda been able to afford the cap/rotor when I did all the other work to my truck... I could have changed them while I had the tb off and prolly would have had fairly easy access to them. Ah well...too late now.

Anybody here got the answer to my seat questions? Intense, if you read this, I'm sure you will since you've done about everything to your truck that can possibly be done...and then some. lol

Josh

Red 98 RC V6 2wd Single in/dual out exhaust (soon to be switched to a flowmaster 40 single in/dual out), s-bolt "mod", Edelbrock 10" round air cleaner w/ K&N air filter, removed rubber flap...and more to come

daffydak
GenIII
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4/17/2004
01:15:34

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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if you don't mind my asking what did you do to your throttle body?? did you port and polish it? one other thing are the wires still stock on your truck? if so they are likely needing replacement. i got accell super stock wires from jegs (the red universal set) and they look KEWL :-P you can see a lil bit of them here along with my missing drivers side manifold bolt :-(

http://www.geocities.com/xspyder_shooterx/pics.html
enjoy the weather this weekend i know i will!!!!

Dan

mopar=mopower

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4/17/2004
01:37:15

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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My throttle body definitely was done in about the worst way possible...if I ever do it again, I'm having my dad take it to work to get one of the machinists to port it and polish it for me. What I did with mine cuz I was too impatient to have a machinist do it for me (STUPID mistake), was use a dremel on it and grind down the torque step the best I could (which wasn't real great) and I also made the top so it's basically flat cept I left the part where the s-bolt screws into and I also left a small amount of the front tab to line my air cleaner up. After grinding it all down I used a real rough grit sandpaper and sanded it as even as possible and got the big knicks out (due to the damn dremel slipping). Then I used about a 300 grit sandpaper and smoothed it down a lil more and finished it off with a 600 grit sandpaper. It still looks a lil rough and knicked up but it feels totally smooth. It just doesn't look like it was done by someone with a lot of experience...and it definitely wasn't. lol

I still have the stock wires on my truck...but they're on my "soon to-do list." I'm just broke at the moment. Nice missing bolt... the easiest one to reach had to be the one to break off, huh? Oh yeah, even though I don't have enough miles for my computer to have fully relearned everything, my truck definitely is running better than before. I can spin my tires much easier...lol. I need to adjust my tv cable some though and I also need to buy a multimeter so I can check/adjust my tps. My friggin truck shifts at 3500 rpm's every time no matter how much I floor it. Not a problem if I was ONLY concerned about gas mileage, but when I like fast acceleration, it kinda blows. Still overrevs too... my dad got me hooked up with a job at his work in the IT dept. so when I start working and earning money, I'll have a lot more to put into my truck including getting my tranny probs fixed. =D

Josh

Red 98 RC V6 2wd Single in/dual out exhaust (soon to be switched to a flowmaster 40 single in/dual out), s-bolt "mod", Edelbrock 10" round air cleaner w/ K&N air filter, removed rubber flap...and more to come

daffydak
GenIII
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4/17/2004
06:59:46

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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mine overreved last month.... thats the second time its ever done that. its kinda scary/embarassing when it happens cause it sounds like my truck is a POS (a whole 52K on the clock), when in reality it isnt.

yeah your tv cable is definitly in order for adjustment, i have mine adjusted a lil on the tight side now. it shifts late even on light throttle, and shifts a little bit harder now. when i have it floored now it shifts just after the 5K mark!! and the kickdown is much more sensitive. i have a transgo shift kit sitting on a shelf in front of me (in my catch all junk, utility/computer room LOL) theres NO way i'm trying to install that. oh you should see my ported and polished v8TB LoL, talk about a piece of work!!! I think I may have ported it too much, sometimes I get an off idle delay when i mash it :-( also the tb's bores are about 1/16 larger than the holes on the manifold. i guess that could cause turblance and thus my off idle stumble (tps at .71vdc...) so i'm thinking about having a custom adapter made to taper from my tb to my manifold, maybe that will banish my bog.. or just save for an F&B hehe i didnt mess with the bores or the torque step, i took larry's advice and left that alone. i have my v6 TB still around somewhere, maybe i will get brave and mess with that someday..

well i guess il quit hogging up the board so other people can answer your ?s LOL

Dan

mopar=mopower

J and J Auto
GenII
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4/18/2004
00:35:01

RE: Couple ?'s (One for Larry)
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Message:
First check
cap rotor plugs and wires

the cap with that many miles may have a carbon
track and on a cool moist morning would jump
and create a miss

once warmed and dryed from engine heat it will
stop missing.

Don't remember does the olds cutlas have coil
over set up I hav a 90 in my yard with a V6
that had over 300,000 miles that developed a
short and would run 15 min and quit but than it
blew a front axle and has been sitting here since

Bad EGR that is sticking untill it warms and
expands will also cause that

posible injector pluging up run some cleaner
through STP injector cleaner is about the strogest
avalible

posible low fuel presure

could be a lot of things but start with the easy
stuff and eliminate that first

could be a bad coil from the description

Larry
J&J Auto

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