Bill, good call...I had the same experience on my 98.
Rascal
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of Bill Pitz
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:01 AM
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
Subject: Re: DML: Hard Start
droo wrote:
>
>
> Hey everyone. Had a small problem arise with my truck. 2003, 4.7, 4x4,
> manual trans, 41,000 miles. I'd say it started about 2 weeks ago. My
> truck has a hard time starting. It cranks, but is taking a longer time
> to get thne engine started. The length of time varies. Sometimes it can
> take 5 seconds, others it can take 2 seconds. Though it almost always
> takes longer than it should to start. The crank is steady. It doesn't
> sound like the battery is dying and its cranking slowly. I took it to
> my mechanic and had him check it out. He says it the problem didn't
> appear for him. Figures, right? So anyway, I guess my question is does
> anyone think it could be something other than a bad starter? Like some
> other problem that has been fairly common in the dakotas. It's only 2
> years old. I know the miles are kind of high, but that's because I've
> had a long commute to work since March. So it's not like I've been
> starting my vehicle more often.
Check battery anyway. Either have it load tested or just ditch it and
get a better battery. (Beats being stranded because of the crappy OEM
battery).
The age of your truck makes it just about the same as mine when my OEM
battery died. Symptoms were just about the same. It would still fire
up, but it had to crank a bit longer for a little while before it
finally started to crank slower and then sputter after starting unless I
gave it gas for a few seconds.
If the starter is still cranking well, I doubt that's it. The whole
motor needs nice strong power from the battery in order to start really
well. Once I replaced my OEM battery with the Optima, I was amazed at
how much better it started. Barely have to hold the key at all.
-Bill
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