Hey guys. Awhile back you might remember I posted about my 92 Dakota. Well long story short it had too many problems, including the frame rotting out of it...
So not wanting all the work and all those good parts I spent money on just going to waste, I decided to look for another Dakota from the same generation, and by sheer luck I scored a 96 Dakota for only $750
The frame is solid, the trans shifts right, it has more get up and go then my 92, it's in better condition overall.
Same specs as my 92:
3.9 V6
Automatic
4x4
Extended cab
But this is why it was $750 and why the guy was so eager to get rid of it:
https://youtu.be/jrjr5K0hyhg
Now you might notice a few issues in the video. The tachometer isn't working (My 92 did this occasionally after I pulled the dash to fix the hot/cold slider switch). Also, the shifter needle says it's in Second, but Second is actually Drive. Drive is neutral, Neutral is reverse... basically the shifter is off by one place. Linkage issue?
But right now the engine stuttering is the biggest headache. This also occasionally happened on my 92, but this truck has it much worse. It drives pretty normally when the engine is cold, but after it warms up the stuttering sets in.
Idles smoothly. After getting up to speed, the stuttering will pretty much stop. It's accelerating up to speed that's the problem.
Not sure where to start looking. The ECM has a re-manufacture date of 2013 so I doubt that's the issue. My thought is it's something in the wiring and might also explain the non functioning tachometer.
Second thought is cap and rotor, but I changed that on my 92 and it didn't fix the issue.
Now looking under the hood I can see that somebody's had a crack at the wiring before: (Links for big images)
http://i.imgur.com/X3P7ula.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YYgLlYa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zQ6N3F7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kE2j1ll.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3B15A5G.jpg
So it's like where do I start...
Oh I did see something possibly related on another forum, something about a #115 splice According to a poster on that board:
Quote:
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Splice #115 is something the factory did. It's 3 wires spliced to one larger wire. Re & red w/ white stripe are the colors I think. I't down in the wiring harness under the PDC. About 6-0 inches down from the PDC. You'd have to peel the wire loom and tape back
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If I knew what the PDC was and where it is I'd look there.
Should also mention that this being a 96, it has ODB II, meaning my ODB scanner works on it. However it shows no trouble codes.