I ACTUALLY JUST BOUGHT A 1990 DODGE DAKOTA V6, AND THE MOTOR RUNS GREAT, IT RIDES SMOOTH, NO LEAKS, I CHANGED ALL THE FLUIDS, AND FLUSHED TRANS. IT IS JUST SO SLOW, I MEAN...........WHEN I'M ON THE HIGHWAY, IF THERE IS EVEN A SLIGHT UPHILL GRADE, THIS THING HAS TO DOWN SHIFT, AND STILL WON'T GAIN SPEED. IT SEEMS LIKE DECENT TORQUE AT LOW SPEEDS, BUT HIGHWAY, OR IF YOU FLOOR IT FROM A LIGHT, 1st, and 2nd ARE DECENT, BUT AT THE END OF 2ND, AND ON, ABSOLUTELY SLUGGISH............I'VE SEEN IN SOME FORUMS TALKING ABOUT THE CRAPPY V6, BUT IS THIS REALLY NORMAL???:crying:

Normal. I have had a 1990 3.9L for years, it has always been sluggish at highway speeds. It is a dependable engine, mine has 260,000 and never had anything but V/C gaskets. Give yourself room when you pass!

I have a 94 Dakota 3.9L Magnum V6 5-speed. I have a good friend with a 90 Dakota 4x4 3.9L Automatic. His truck is as dependable as they come but very very slow on acceleration. My Dakota could run circles around his truck. I think this is nothing more than a V6 that is weak on the top end (125 hp net). Just ease on it and take it the distance.