universal joint going bad?

From : icpenguin

Q: i have another dead battery on my 93 dakota. it burns them up at the rate of a battery every year. leads me to believe it is the voltage regulator. does anyone know if the regulator on this rig is integral with the alternator or separate i can get a rebuilt alternator pretty cheap and i assuume this is something they check when they do a rebuild. everything is stock as far as the sound system goes. power windows + locks. zoso .

Replies:

From : woody

homebrewer wrote the trucks that came with 265/70s from the factory must have some kind of chip or gear to make the speedo accurate. is this changeable by me what does it cost its done by having the dealer flash the computer. or you can do as i do pay it no never mind as it will be off only 3-4%. or just about any good performance programmer can do it and many allow you to adjust your shift points as well. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .

From : high sierra

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 .

From : paulymanca uselinktoemail new used cars forums autoforumz com

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 .