Sam, since your Dakota is a '95, which from what I've heard doesn't have
an external fuel filter, changing that is out. Noticed that you had Bosch
Platinums which others, including me, have had problems with. Have used
them in other vehicles without problems, but in the Dakota they made the
engine run like garbage. Might try Autolite Platinums.
If you aren't getting 53, 62 or 63 fault codes it's probably not the SBEC,
and the Mopar SBEC doesn't carry any warranty (I think). When my '92 was
acting up, backfiring, popping and acting up at indeterminate times and
places; it turned out to be the distributor. There was never any
explanation about what the problem was with the distirbutor (the body,
shaft and bushing were all replaced, it had a new cap, rotor and switch)
except that the timing was "jumping around". What I noticed on an Auto
X-Ray wasn't that the timing was jumping around, but that it seemed
"stuck". At idle it's normal for the timing to vary from the nominal 10
BTDC by +/- 3 to 4 degrees, checked another '92 3.9'. With the new
distributor installed mine now varies from 6 to 14 degrees BTDC at idle,
but is very steady at cruise.
My '92 is a 5 sp'd with Mopar SBEC, but it's one of the early "wierd" ones
that indicates a 53 fault code with no SBEC problems. The upshift light
is all hosed up due to the Mopar SBEC.
Good luck!
Larry Elliott
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