Dak is acting up again. :-(

From: Jon Steiger (stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu)
Date: Mon Oct 04 1999 - 18:23:34 EDT


  Some of you may remember I posted a message 1-2 months back
about a problem I was having with my Dak. When the engine got
hot, it would quit. Various folks suggessted different things
like the distributor pickup, etc. One dealership replaced the
fuel pump module based on what I told them, but that wasn't
the problem; it still did it, and my fuel pressure guage confirmed
there was good pressure. About 3-4 people who I've talked to
said that it sounds like a bad coil. Bill Tierney lent me the
coil from his '93 318, but it hasn't been warm lately so there
was no way to know if that fixed the problem or not. (I don't
think it even hit 50 degrees today.)

  Today, as I was pulling out of a parking lot, the engine
stumbled something fierce. I got off the throttle and it seemed
OK, then I got into the gas again and it happened again.
I played around with it a couple of times, and discovered that
it would start to stumble and backfire around 3500 rpm. One time
when I tried it, it stumbled pretty bad and the engine shut off.
I pulled into a parking lot, and tried to start the engine while
I was rolling to a stop, but it wouldn't start. I checked for
codes and puled a 43. I had the laptop with me, so I hooked
it up and it turned out to be a P0351, Ignition Coil #1 Primary
Circuit (Peak primary circuit current not achieved with maximum
dwell time.) I tried the engine again, and it started. I cleared
the codes and headed for home. When I got home, I put it in 1st
and went up past 3,000; I thought it was OK, but when I got to
just after 4,000 it stumbled again, the engine shut off, and
it backfired. It didn't start up again, either. I pulled
the same code again. (I've gotten that code before, but the
dealer I took it to thought it may have been from when I was
cranking the engine.) I just went outside (maybe a half an
hour after) to see if it would start. About 4-5 times, it fired
up, then as the idle settled down, it just quit. Finally, it
stayed running. (I shut it off after about 20 seconds or so.)

 Oh, I forgot to mention... I've got a small exhaust leak
which I haven't had a chance to fix yet (need a gasket),
and every now and again, I'll smell fuel (I assume its
coming from the leak). However, after the engine would
stumble, the fuel smell was noticably stronger. Based on
the ignition coil trouble code, I'm assuming that something
is interfering with the spark, and the engine is dumping raw
fuel into the exhaust, but that's just a guess.

   So... Anyone have any ideas??? :-)

                                              -Jon-

  .--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ----------------------------------------.
  | Jon Steiger * AOPA, DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA * RP-SEL |
  | '96 Dodge Dakota V8, '96 Suzuki Intruder 1400, '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
  `--------------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
 



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