What do you think? I want your opinion...

[JumpinJabroni]

Hey all -

If any of you can help me, I'll be greatly appreciative.

Truck:
1999 Dodge Dakota Ext cab, 76,000 miles
4x4, 5.2L engine, AT
ALL STOCK PARTS

Scenario:
Driving from Salem, OR to Medford, OR (about 4 hours), my truck recently lost a good quantity of it's power while going up a hill. All of a sudden, the engine started pinging badly and it felt like I was running on 5 or 6 cylinders. The empty truck was barely able to make it up the hill by itself! As soon as the truck shifted down into the lower gear for more power, the "Check Engine" light flashed, then stayed on. I limped 18 miles to Eugene, where a friend of mine goes to school at UofO. I can drive the truck as long as I have a steady, straight area to get up some momentum. At lower speeds (in the city), the truck drives a bit better. At highyway speeds, the truck will not make it up most hills.

The engine error code was P0300 (Multiple engine misfires) and since it has posted multiple different cyliner numbers (errors P030X, where X is the cyinder number). I DO NOT, however, think that the misfires are part of the problem - read on.

Two big problems currently exist:

1. SEVERE LOSS OF POWER - The truck labors very bad in normal operations, almost like I'm towing a boat or something. I also appear to be buring a crapload of gas (maybe - this one is not for sure).

2. TRUCK IS UNABLE TO SHIFT GEARS DOWN AT SPEED TO GAIN MORE POWER - Normally, when more power is needed (passing, hills, towing, etc...) the truck will just shift down a gear and power through the RPMs until it can shift back up to maintain speeds. This power band is approx 3500 to 4500 RPM. Redline is 5000. My truck, for some reason, is shifting down a gear like normal, but then as the RPMs increase, the power to the wheels falls off - almost like the tranny is slipping or something. At this point, it never shifts back up, and it actually loses speed. This is when the "Check Engine" light comes on. I belive that the "misfire" warnings, however, are happening as an effect of the problem, not the problem happening becasue of misfires. I can re-trigger this "Check Engine" light as much as I want by just trying to drive up a hill.

Here's what I know:
New spark plugs (Bosch 0.40) have been installed, no abnormalities were found in old plugs
New cap & rotor have been installed (old one was a bit corroded, but functional)
New coil has been installed
New air filter
New PCV valve
Pulg wires are good
Added octane booster (cuz I had just filled up on regular gas)

My suspicions:
O2 sensor (not tested)
Catalytic Converter (not tested)
Torque Converter (not tested)
Fuel Filter/Pump (same part)

I just picked up a Haynes manual, and it appears as if there are a number of engine control electronics that can be tested with a multimeter - I'm going to try that tomorrow. Any ideas other than that?

BTW - for all reading this:
THE KEY SWITCH ON/OFF PROCESS FOR READING "CHECK ENGINE" CODES MOST DEFINITLEY DOES NOT WORK ON 1998/1999 DODGE DAKOTAS AND DURANGOS. Haynes manual has confirmed this.

[BleedDodge]

It's probably your cat that's clogged. Sounds like the same thing that happened when mine went.

[JumpinJabroni]

Originally Posted by BleedDodge

It's probably your cat that's clogged. Sounds like the same thing that happened when mine went.

DING DING DING DING!!!!

YOU WIN A COOKIE!!!



****** FINAL DIAGNOSIS ON MY PROBLEM ******

It WAS the catalytic converter! The entire problem was because of a bad cat. Without a doubt.

That's the bad news, folks. Those things can be expensive.

The good news is - it's expensive... for Chrysler to have to replace it under warranty! WOOHOO!

Remember the year (1999) and the mileage (79,500)?
Well the FEDERALLY MANDATED extended warranty on emmissions components is:

96 months/80,000 miles

Yep - you got it. I made it in by 500 miles.

Anyway - I have no shifting problems, no pinging and I have more power than I did when I bought it with only 37,000 miles on the road. The cat has been hindering the performance since day one.

While I was at it, I decided to add a Super 40 series FlowMaster behind the cat, too. :-)

Anyway - thaks for all the suggestion. Hopefully, someone else who is having the same problem will see this thread and it will save them some frustration like I had.

CHEERS!

[BleedDodge]

I like oatmeal cookies. When are you gonna send it to me? HAHA just kidding man...

Glad you got it fixed.

[highrisk]

Thanks for the info on the emissions waranty. I have a 2000 Dakota sport 4X2 3.9V6 with 65,000 miles. That is good info to have. Thank you.

[Revolution13815]

I had the same problem with an S10 I had with the cat. I could climb hills, and it wouldnt even go 15mph eventually. haha. I was like "Damn Chevy!!" and sold it, the guy that bought it changed the cat and went on his merry way

[pimp_squeak]

my parents had an 86 voyageur with a bad cat covnerter....damn thing wouldnt do anything...they thought it was normal though XD damn 4 banger...