Jay,
I had a similar problem in my 94' 5.2L Dakota. It would crank, but would not start. Sometimes it worked for weeks, and then one morning, nothing. It was very intermittant. The problem happened at 72,000 miles, so the dealer did not cover it under warranty. Also, sometimes when I drove through a large,deep puddle, it would stall. Some mornings, particularly in late winter / early spring, when there was a lot of humidity or moisture, the problem cropped up.
Heres what I did:
(times 1-10 happened in one month.)
1st time= cranked for 10 minutes then it started and ran rough for 3 min.
2nd time= cranked for 20 minutes, did not start. I left it alone and came back in 30 minutes, it started!
3rd time= ($80 checkout fee) Cranked for 25 minutes, it started. Took it to the dealer, they kept it for 2 days. No problem found.
4th time= Cranked for 30 minutes, it started and ran rough for 5 min. Took it to the dealer, No problem found.
5th time= ($178) Happened at the dealer picing it up from the 4th time. Would not start for the dealer. They checked it out and replaced the wiring harness to the fuel tank.
6th time= ($104) Next day, would not start. Had it towed to the dealer. Started when it got there.
7th time= ($640) I left it at the dealer for 2 days anyway. Told the I didn't want it back until fixed. It wouldn't start for them, They replaced the fuel pump.
8th time= ($78) Four days later, same problem. After 20 min it started, drove it to the dealer. It died 3 blocks away, they towed it back for $15. They rebuilt the t-body (boy did they see me coming) for $63 and also replaced the fuel pump again.
9th time= ($15) Two weeks later, It would not start at work (foggy night). Towed 3 blocks to dealer.
10th time= It would not start for them the next morning, they replaced the fuel pump again.
No problems for about four weeks:
(spread out over the next four months, summer, only happened in rainstorms)
11-17th time= I lived with it. (see 1st and 2nd times)
It did not happen again for 6 months:
Died in Toledo, 65 miles from home. There was a Dodge dealer a few blocks away that I passed. I walked back and told them the whole story. They said, "no problem, I know exactly what it is" The tech drove me back to my truck in his own car, with a portable solder iron, a piece of wire, and a few tools. 10 minutes later and $50, my truck was running. I have not had a problem in the 80,000 miles after the repair.
What was it?
The harness that goes from the underhood fuse-box to the computer was known to have corroded crimps in the stock loom that were not soldered, but should have been. When he cut open the harness, nothing but green powder fell out. That powder used to be a power wire for the computer. The funny thing was that in my search for the problem, I had checked the harness, but I stopped only one inch from the bad spot!
(Side note: I work with a guy who had the same problem later in his 93' Dakota 3.9L)
My 94' Dakota cost me over $1500 to fix a $50 problem. That includes everything listed above and car rental from Hertz. Not included was replacing the stock with a performance computer, 2 sets of plug wires, 4 caps and rotors, countless bottles of gas-line anti-freeze, and enough aggrivation to take four years off my life!
In the end, I can't blame the truck, it was the dealers fault for having morons work there. Chrysler eventually reimbursed me for 2 weeks of car rental.
I won't even go into detail as to what other things the dealer did to damage my truck, most of these were fixed for free.
Mark
http://home.att.net/~flyboy01/
P.S. If you are interested, the 94' is on my home page, I now have a 99', my friend is still driving the 94'.
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