2001 Dakota MIL(malfunction indicator light) is on...
From : r8rfan
Q: listen up modern vehicles are complex when the light comes on it takes expensive test equipment to find out why if you dont want to pay for that diagnosis then dont; go back to a 74 slant-6 with a one-barrel carb or you could just do what you seem to be contemplating throw parts at it and hope hi all i have a 2001 dakota with the 4 cylinder five speed and last evening i was coming home from work and noticed the mil was on. anyone have an idea as to what it could be before i go and have to spend money for a mechanic to tell me its something simple and charge an arm and leg for it i had an old chevy cavalier at one time and the check engine light was on and it was the pcv valve. i was wondering if thats what this could be or an oxygen sensor or something it has 41000 miles on it by the way. thanks in advance. any info or tips are greatly appreciated! .
Replies:
From : joe schmuck
tbone wrote whats the matter miles are you still upset perhaps you should do a little research before jumping in and making an ass out of yourself. perhaps if you knew anything about how an engine actually runs and how modern emissions systems actually work you would not be so quick to jump in and attack. lol geez me upset you just posted a friggn couple pages of rambling twisting nonsense. your own reply actually had part of the reason your logic is warped but you discounted it. higher octane fuel causes modern engines to ping. lol .
From : r8rfan
that is when most find out that the lift pump is not working. when the lift pump fails the injector pump will pull the fuel and all appears okay. when you change the filter then it becomes real apparent the lift pump has gone south and your injector pump is right behind. roy quit making sense dammit its annoying! ;^ every so often i get lucky. g i thought the lack of power symptoms would be very noticeable but after a bit of research i discovered several people claimed not to notice any power difference until after changing a failed pump. from what i have learned the lift pump provides more fuel than is required to run the engine. the excess fuel cools the inj pump. no lift pump and the engine seems fine until the lack of cooling takes its toll on the inj pump then as it fails the performance declines. roy .
From : jmc
on sat 4 jun 2005 055552 -0400 coasty uscgret@comcast.net wrote just a follow-up 87 burns at a faster rate than 91 octane fuel. also use what your owners manual or the manufacturer recommends. i know my autos say use 87 and my bike says use 87 or higher. i use higher because it prevents knocking when the bike gets hot especially in traffic. to date with about 38 years behind me in the trade i have never experienced an engine running worse on 91 than on 87. i have never seen mileage decrease by using higher octane fuel. i have seen many engines that specify regular fuel run much better and get better mileage on super. as for the additives refinery capacity is shared but additive packs are added at the tank farm - often directly into the tanker and these additives are brand specific. some are detergents. some are oxygenators. and some premium fuels will definitely help the engine run cleaner. some additive packs cause problems too like the problem over the last few years with fuel guages on some models of vehicles using shell and apparently one or two other brands fuel. there are more problems with different brands of fuel causing engines to run better or worse than with different octanes per se. it depends what is being used as the octane booster in the fuel. some of the equine urine being sold as gasoline in some parts of north america wont run right in a car requiring 91 or 87 octane. .
From : jmc
uscgret@comcast.net writes just a follow-up 87 burns at a faster rate than 91 octane fuel. also use what your owners manual or the manufacturer recommends. i know my autos say use 87 and my bike says use 87 or higher. i use higher because it prevents knocking when the bike gets hot especially in traffic. coasty is correct; 87 octane gasoline does burn faster. regarding the previous posters comment about refineries that too is correct. gasoline is gasoline. the refineries all crank out 87-octane regular-unleaded. what makes the difference in 87 or 89 or higher octane gasoline is additives. contrary to urban legend 91 or 93 octane gasoline is not more highly refined or more pure. gasoline is gasoline period. when your vehicle runs poorly on a certain brand and better on a different brand octane rating otherwise being the same likely what is causing the performance difference is the additives. different brands use different formulations based on their own research and marketing. yes gasoline is also custom-blended for different areas altitudes seasons and emissions performance. you are wise to follow your owners manual when selecting the fuel octane rating. if your vehicle performs poorly on the recommended octane then perhaps you should take it to the dealer to find out why. using a higher-than-recommended octane is foolish. it may give you a warm fuzzy feeling to squander money needlessly but youre impressing no one. .
From : r8rfan
on 02/06/2005 2123 peter wrote over to the bank of dummy injectors. the fact that they dont have a moving pintle might affect the waveform a bit but i bet it wouldnt be enough to trip the computer. it would add a lot of complexity since you would have to put in 8 relays to switch over from the real injectors to the dummies intstead of a single relay to cut in the resistor on the common side. yep 8 relays it is. ive considered it but this would mean ungainly bundle of wires relays and coils of unknown inductance or injectors from junkyard. are there relays that will switch 4/8 separate circuits you can get 4-pole double-throw relays cant remember where i seen them but i definitely came across them as i was going to use it as part of a car-phone kit with the two front speakers two wires in each being switched hence the 4-pole required. never seen an 8-pole but it would be pretty huge packaging wise - the 4pdt has 14 pins! paul. .
From : r8rfan
just because you can hear it running doesnt mean that it is working. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving pump works - i can hear it running... .
From : tom lawrence
pump works - i can hear it running... .
From : r8rfan
position and release to on did this many times but still getting no fuel in this line - any suggestions are you sure the lift pump is running crack the fitting on top of the filter canister that comes directly from the pump - see if you get fuel there. if so somethings plugged downstream from there. if not your lift pump may be toast. .
From : r8rfan
it cant be any worse than my 95 ford ranger. 140000 miles and going on its 4th transmission. all highway driving. no hauling except the occassional load and no towing. john smith jones wrote hi just bought an 02 dakota. 86000 miles. any tips you can give me would be helpful. thanks bob i guess its to late to tell yo about my 2002 dodge dakota lemon. you have my condolences. jam .
From : transurgeon
on thu 02 jun 2005 174951 gmt tbone t-bonenospam@nc.rr.com wrote my spa had a built in stereo with a cd player. as for the tv i could see one through the kitchen window but couldnt hear it when the spa was running. i was going to wire sound for it out to the tub from the tv but we moved before i got the chance. just as well i can get rather addicted to tv during the winter and if i could watch and hear it from the tub i would never get out lol. the newer tubs that i have been looking at deliver sound through the tub wall rather than the external marine speakers that mine had. this looks like a great idea since it appears to keep the music in the tub especially if you want to use it late at night like i do. sound carries very well at night. we both smoke and about 5 or 6 years ago we decided not to smoke in the house anymore.. we figured that wed smoke less that way.. within 2 months the entertainment center had moved from a wall to inside the patio doors then turned toward the patio doors and finally into an outdoor one on wheels with a 34 screen dvd with surround etc... we pretty much moved the whole living room out onto the front patio and between the pool spa and all it and the shop have become the neighborhood coffee stops.. my last tub was 1000 lb empty and held 450 gallons of water so it would not be a good candidate for your application unless you didnt mind it moving itself into the basement - no the builder would probably add several thousand bucks worth of support beams.. *sigh* i would also suggest to anyone looking to buy one if you can try it before you buy it. unless you get in it preferably while it has water in it you have no idea how comfortable the different seating positions or jets will be. i bought my first one without getting in it wet and although i did enjoy it the lounge position which was the reason i bought that particular model turned out to be the least comfortable position in the tub too flat and poor jet placement and i almost never used that position. the same model without it would have give me an extra seating position and saved me some money as well. next time i will know better. exactly!! we almost bought the one that was just 2 lounges but ended up with 3 seats and a lounge... it never gets used because everyone is either too tall to be comfortable or too light to lay in it and not get blown off on high jets... no lounger in the next one... very good point t.. mac please remove splinters before emailing .
From : johnny thunder johnny
tbone wrote if it is such a lemon then sell the damn thing already. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving john smith jones wrote hi just bought an 02 dakota. 86000 miles. any tips you can give me would be helpful. thanks bob i guess its to late to tell yo about my 2002 dodge dakota lemon. you have my condolences. jam im just a poor working boy. i cant afford to throw money at my problems. jam .
From : r8rfan
ive got the leather version they are really comfortable im tall and they are a much better seating position than stock. http//www.discountvantruck.com/truck/000truckseats/000seating/40-20-40/splitbench/knightridertruckseatsexp.htm i was a curious if they are any good. how do you like them clay -- there are 10 kinds of people in the world those who understand binary and those who dont. .
From : r8rfan
gas cap on tight i just found the code online. it says there is a evaporative emission control system leak detected. whatever that means! .
From : transurgeon
thats fine guys. i was hoping it would be something simple but obvisouly not.... thats cool. you can check and make sure you gas cap is tight but beyond that especially if the engine is running normally you need the computer to tell you what it thinks the problem is. and i also need to apologize - for some reason i had it in my mind that you had a 99 truck which doesnt have the capability to display the diag codes. on an 01 you should be able to cycle the ignition switch three times off-on-off-on-off-on and the obd-ii codes will display on the odometer. do that and either post the codes back here or do a search for obd-ii codes - youll find a list of the various pxxxx diagnostic codes and their descriptions. i just installed a plug for my boat trailer the other evening on the truck i know you cant answer for sure but is there a chance that something like that could cause the light to come on unlikely especially if you were just splicing into wiring at the rear of the truck. its possible that you might have done something like stretched the wiring to one of the o2 sensors if you were running wiring up the frame rails and zip-tieing it im really going out on a limb here. id certainly double-check any area that i was working in making sure i didnt pinch any stock wiring etc. - but in all likelihood the two events are unrelated. .
From : r8rfan
no idea how easy would it be to un-do it thats fine guys. i was hoping it would be something simple but obvisouly not....it just seemed like you were talking down to me like a little kid. its been a long hot day and my temperament isnt the best right now...sorry. i just installed a plug for my boat trailer the other evening on the truck i know you cant answer for sure but is there a chance that something like that could cause the light to come on thanks. .
From : tom lawrence
peter wrote just buy an emulator! i know aeb make them for 4 6 and 8 cylinder vehicles. wireing it in takes under an hour too thats what im talkin bout when i posted i hope someone presents you with the answer which it would seem would be simple and off-the-shelf rather than you having to re-invent the wheel so-to-speak. fairly pricey. a good 4-cyl emulator with coils instead of resistors will cost about 70$ equivalent of. do you know where in eu i can mail-order them for less by the time you got thru buying parts and taking the time to wire up and debug your one-of-a-kind design youd wish you had chosen the simple off-the-shelf solution. of course nothing wrong with trying to find a better price. bill putney to reply by e-mail replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter x .
From : transurgeon
im not contemplating throwing parts at it. i was under the impression that this forum was to get help. i thought somebody that knew what the hell they were talking about would hopefully reply....i guess not. okay - to that end i should be able to go into a computer support group post hey my computer crashes from time to time. why and expect an answer that will fix my problem no one owns a crystal ball and no one can tell you whats wrong with your truck based on the information you provided. the first step in diagnosing any computer-controlled vehicle is to retrieve the diagnostic codes because after all thats what theyre there for and go from there. .
From : transurgeon
in message %ejne.148$%h7.97515@twister.southeast.rr.com tbone t-bonenospam@nc.rr.com writes why dont you just disconnect the fuel pump and let the injectors operate normally. im not sure thatd be wise. many injector designs depend on fuel flow to cool the solenoid windings i.e. to prevent them overheating and cooking. im not sure its a good idea too. fuel pumps are designed to work continuously and disconnecting it could be yet another reason for cel to come on. while it is possible that the fuel injectors may overheat the cel will not be set by the fuel pump being disconnected. there may be a fuel pressure sensor which would be triggered iirc late volvos have one. incidentally my fuel pump does not run continuously. there is a pressure switch on the rail which controls it. if you listen you can hear the pump start up then after a few seconds switch off when first switching on the ignition. i run my lr 4.0 litre v8 with injectors running and pump off and have done so for 50k+ miles. switch back to petrol and absolutely no problem. we did this on the advice of a technical consultant in this field who advised us that these injectors do not rely on petrol for any form of cooling or lubrication. however i dont recall whether he was actually referring to all injectors. -- hugh reply to address is valid at the time of posting .
From : tom lawrence
im not contemplating throwing parts at it. i was under the impression that this forum was to get help. i thought somebody that knew what the hell they were talking about would hopefully reply....i guess not. .