87 Dakota quits running

[mjscanblue]

Any Help Out There?

1987 Dakota / 150K miles/V6/Auto. Dies randomly at intersections. Not every time but enough to be a nuisance. Happens when warm. Will start up after numerous attempts if I don't flood it out Otherwise runs reasonably.
Checked and repaired battery, cables, fuel filter

Any ideas out there?

[theFREAKnasty82]

Do you have an automatic transmission?

[mjscanblue]

Originally Posted by theFREAKnasty82

Do you have an automatic transmission?

Yes, it's an automatic

[BamaDodgenMX]

I don't have any ideas, but if you find a fix please let me know as I have much the same problem.

[theFREAKnasty82]

You might have a defective torque converter clutch. What that does is when you are crusing (with Chryslers, when you reach 42 MPH) a clutch inside your torque converter locks up the two of the three components inside the converter to give you a 1:1 drive ratio; equivalent to a clutch in a manual transmission. If that clutch is still applied, it'll stall the engine every time you come to an intersection. So in essence, you might have a defective torque converter clutch solenoid which is mounted in the valve body of your transmission.

[C_alexander]

I have a 1989 dakota that was/is doing this kind of thing..it's NOT the distributor pick up plate cap or rotor, the o2 sensor, the catalytic converter, the distributor bushings, the timing chain or the oil sending unit. My dealership replaced most of these and it still does it...very random problem without warning. I am at a loss.

[cpe65]

I had similar problems (94 with v8) occurring occasionally at intersections, then got worse to
occur at 60mph on the freeway...had to pull off, wait five minutes and
it would start and run ok until it happened again within different random
times??? I finally figured that it only stalled when warm in drive, and actually had to back home as the stalling got worse..dealer no help, no codes set, very frustrating, anyway I Replaced the camshaft trigger sensor (inside the distributor) and the problem went away???? I still don't know why that solved it but don't care...$30 fix better than giving the dealer the $250 to replace the crankshaft sensor, which didn't fix the problem...good luck
let me know how you make out

[mjscanblue]

Thank you all for giving me your opinion re this problem.

I have some more info.

I changed the plugs, rotor and distributor cap. Then I replaced the inline fuel filter and added some good gas tank additive, thinking it might be water in the gas.

Car starts well now, runs well cold and after it warms up it still runs good. So after I've driven 10 miles without a problem, I'll park it and go into a store, come back out and it's hard to start. It starts after 20 seconds or so of screwing around and then it runs great again. I drive 2 blocks and at about 20 mph it starts to sputter like its got bad gas or the spark isn't there. It runs like this for 5 seconds and then it runs good again. I stop again and it works fine, it starts OK and I drive it home without a problem. I only have a a couple of stop signs on this trip, but it doesn't stall or crap out at all. I park it and it's running great.

There is some connection about letting of the gas at slow speeds and this problem. I think it's electrical but it still could be bad gas. I really haven't driven it far enough lately. I guess that's my next step. put on a 100 or so miles and see if the problem is still there.

Again, Thanks for the input.

[SteveB05]

See if you can get your hands on a scanner and watch your TPS readings as well as the MAP sensor readings. Could be one of those. You can check them with a GOOD VOM but that won't tell you if you have a bad connection at the ECM.