Gas Mileage 96 Dakota V6
From : oldtimer
Q: does it crank over no-crank usally means starting system. you can manually block the choke to be always open but youll have a hard time on cold starts and youll have to let it warm up and take it easy for a bit when it is cold. with more information everyone can provide more help. engine size mods 4x4 what have you done to it lately have you driven in any deep water ect carl having trouble starting it might be the starter but found water near the carberator and the choke doesnt stay open. help this is my only ride to work .
Replies:
From : warren abbott
low freon will cause the clutch to not engage. bill -- i have a 1999 2500 4wd v8 and the air has stopped working. pressure in system and i do not here the click of the compressor when its turned on. so ok they clutch is bad no there. the question is do they make noise. sounds like a bad valve tap only when i am driving and accelerate. do they make this noise or should i look else where. thanks doug .
From : bdk
thanks for the info i found your post. ill be checking for a battery draw too. i have been having the same problem with my 92 dakota no the regulater is not in the alternator it is regulated in the engine computer. william .
From : j haggerty
weekend possibly. between the honeydos assume the parts convolute clips etc are readily available. its available or at least used to be as a kit from mopar but you can get by with your basic split-loom and some universal ignition wire clips. the important thing is to separate the wires that are adjacent in the firing order order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 - and its typically the 5/7 combo that cross-fires becuase those wires naturally want to run parallel with each other. keep the wires spaced at least a wire-thickness apart and when they do have to cross make them cross at as close to a right angle as possible minimize their co-mingling. also make sure that you keep the coil wire isolated as running that adjacent to any plug wire is just as bad if not worse then having two plug wires in direct contact. some have even gone so far as to re-locate the coil to the firewall something else thats pretty easy to do - just need to make a bracket and extend the wire harness - two wires very easy to do. when you think about it its not the smartest location for the coil to begin with... the further away from the distributor the more voltage thats lost to resistance especially as the wires age. .
From : oldtimer
the 3.9 v6/auto is not known for good mileage. i had a 3.7 v6 in my 2002 ram with stick shift and got better than what you are getting but the 3.7 is a more efficient engine. i have a 4.7 v8 in my dakota with automatic and im getting a little lower than what youre getting. its hard to say if what youre getting is good or bad though because everyones city driving is different. red light every block or every few blocks; does your truck idle while youre scraping snow/ice or are you in south tx where you can take off right away; is your city commute 2 miles where it never reaches operating temperature or 10 or more miles; do you like to accelerate slowly or rapidly. too many variables to compare one persons mileage with yours so id take any high mileage claims with a grain of salt. my city mileage in the winter on a rural 5 mile commute is only about 13 mpg with my 4.8 and when its cold below 30 the transmission seems more like its filled with molasses than trans fluid for about 3 of those 5 miles. mileage is the only complaint i have with the dakota but then this is the first truck i had with an automatic. my stick-shift dodges and fords were all better fuel misers. the only thing i can think of that will help you get better city mileage is slower acceleration synthetic lubes warmer climate or a different truck. any other add-ons will probably cost you more in the long run than what you would save in fuel costs. jph oldtimer wrote i bought a used 96 dakota club cab 3.9 v6 with automatic nearly a year ago. the truck itself is close to being a cherry but the gas mileage sucks. the plug wires and dist cap appear to have been new when i bought the truck. when pulled the plugs also looked new. the cat rattled so i had it replaced. i put in new thermostat just in case. the air filter has been changed. the tires are properly inflated. the rear end gears are 3.5. i use 10w-30 oil. there are no trouble codes registering. the truck runs just fine even with 97000 miles on it. however the gas milage sucks. even though no codes were registering i took an uneducated guess and changed out the after-cat oxygen sensor. i drive it with a very light foot. before replacing the oxy sensor i was getting 12 to 12.5 mpg city. now after a new sensor i am getting 14-14.5 city. is this the best i can expect from this truck. what are others getting as city mileage with a simliar dakota. what cost effective measure can i take to try to up the mileage oldtimer .
From : homebrewer
musical snippage i believe you. i was looking at some tube steps for my quad cab. about 500 bucks at the dealer about 300 at harrys hot rod in grand prarrie. -- moparman---remove clothes to reply! --scud coordinates 32.61204 north 96.92993 west-- you may want to go look at 4 wheel parts for your tubular needs http//www.4wheelparts.com/4wp/products/productline.aspcat=tub&prodline=2167&catname=tubular&man=wes or http//tinyurl.com/6usa9 will get you there. westin platinum series is what i picked up and installed. chrome over stainless guaranteed not to rust for life. iirc around 375 with free shipping not sure what they are now. you can go to http//www.westinautomotive.com/ and click on side steps/bars up on top then click on applications on the page that brought you to. address in the address bar stays the same or i would have linked the applications page you can look up your 3500 and see what part number you need so when you call 4 wheel you get the right part. it comes in chrome or black. easy install counry cd and beer not included. fmb .
From : scott s
your above post. even started using chevron gas. been fine for going on 4 months but it just came back. its cyl #7 again in spite of the injector swap. hmmm... okay we can pretty much rule out injectors as the problem - although the fact that it occurred again on #7 could be a fuel contamination problem - #7 is closest on the fuel rail to the inlet so any trash in the line usually ends up clogging the #7 injector. however id then expect you to have immediate misfires on #5 since that used to be the #7 injector and it would have been clogged/fouled previously... id now guess some cross-firing of the plug wires. its been a while so i forget what was discussed before. how old are the plug wires have they been re-routed per the tsb tom he could also have an excess build-up of carbon around the valve and combustion chamber. maybe a dose of mopar combustion chamber cleaner would be in order before spending major bux. of course the crossfire tsb should be performed as well. mike .
From : tbone
says... i bought a used 96 dakota club cab 3.9 v6 with automatic nearly a year ago. the truck itself is close to being a cherry but the gas mileage sucks. the plug wires and dist cap appear to have been new when i bought the truck. when pulled the plugs also looked new. the cat rattled so i had it replaced. i put in new thermostat just in case. the air filter has been changed. the tires are properly inflated. the rear end gears are 3.5. i use 10w-30 oil. there are no trouble codes registering. the truck runs just fine even with 97000 miles on it. however the gas milage sucks. even though no codes were registering i took an uneducated guess and changed out the after-cat oxygen sensor. i drive it with a very light foot. before replacing the oxy sensor i was getting 12 to 12.5 mpg city. now after a new sensor i am getting 14-14.5 city. is this the best i can expect from this truck. what are others getting as city mileage with a simliar dakota. what cost effective measure can i take to try to up the mileage oldtimer thats about right. my friend gets about the same mileage with a pretty much identical dak. he really wishes he got a v8 since his trucks slow as hell. my hemi ram gets 11.5 or so around town and is a hell of a lot more fun.. bdk .
From : oldtimer
that is the best that you can expect and with what you are saying about you current mileage you are doing better than most. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i bought a used 96 dakota club cab 3.9 v6 with automatic nearly a year ago. the truck itself is close to being a cherry but the gas mileage sucks. the plug wires and dist cap appear to have been new when i bought the truck. when pulled the plugs also looked new. the cat rattled so i had it replaced. i put in new thermostat just in case. the air filter has been changed. the tires are properly inflated. the rear end gears are 3.5. i use 10w-30 oil. there are no trouble codes registering. the truck runs just fine even with 97000 miles on it. however the gas milage sucks. even though no codes were registering i took an uneducated guess and changed out the after-cat oxygen sensor. i drive it with a very light foot. before replacing the oxy sensor i was getting 12 to 12.5 mpg city. now after a new sensor i am getting 14-14.5 city. is this the best i can expect from this truck. what are others getting as city mileage with a simliar dakota. what cost effective measure can i take to try to up the mileage oldtimer .
From : carl saiyed
on mon 28 feb 2005 202112 -0800 carl saiyed carlsaiyed@removehotmail.com wrote is it a 4x4 does it have overdrive carl it is not a 4x4 and it has an automatic 4 speed. the top gear in the automatic is an overdrive. oldtimer i bought a used 96 dakota club cab 3.9 v6 with automatic nearly a year ago. the truck itself is close to being a cherry but the gas mileage sucks. the plug wires and dist cap appear to have been new when i bought the truck. when pulled the plugs also looked new. the cat rattled so i had it replaced. i put in new thermostat just in case. the air filter has been changed. the tires are properly inflated. the rear end gears are 3.5. i use 10w-30 oil. there are no trouble codes registering. the truck runs just fine even with 97000 miles on it. however the gas milage sucks. even though no codes were registering i took an uneducated guess and changed out the after-cat oxygen sensor. i drive it with a very light foot. before replacing the oxy sensor i was getting 12 to 12.5 mpg city. now after a new sensor i am getting 14-14.5 city. is this the best i can expect from this truck. what are others getting as city mileage with a simliar dakota. what cost effective measure can i take to try to up the mileage oldtimer .