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Chris G.
Dodge Dakota
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4/17/2006
11:11:35
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 Subject: Bad Luck........
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Message:
I have had the worst of luck. My 5.2L Magnum in my 1996 Dodge Dakota has something wrong with it. I just switched to full synthetic oil BTW. I noticed that it started loosing a lot of get-up when you are 60 and above, floor it and the speedometer doesnt climb nearly as fast as it used to. It used to have plenty of power and was a pretty fast truck. I suddenly notice a decrease in power. I don't know what's wrong. I did notice that this morning the engine would let out a short puff of black smoke when I would start it over and over. I tested this for about 5 times. I also noticed that I was full of oil 5 days ago and now I was on the fill mark on the dipstick now. I put a whole quart in and now it is back full. This is odd considering I have no oil leaks. Could the valve seals have gone bad because of the synthetic oil? The engine has 78,000 miles on it. I run near the redline a lot though and have owned it for about 20k miles. I wonder if I have worn out the engine. I don't know whether to replace it or do something else. Can someone please share some advice? Thanks.
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/17/2006
14:59:07
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Check your plenum gasket, that seals the intake from the rest of the motor. When you look down your throttle body, can you see a puddle of oil ?
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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Chris G.
Dodge Dakota
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4/17/2006
18:03:48
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
YES!!!! I Did notice a lot of black stuff in there, not gum, just black stuff that washed away with intake cleaner. BTW, nice Dakota Kowalski.
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Shatto
Dodge Dakota
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4/18/2006
02:20:43
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
Were you using a detergant oil before?
Did you use an engine cleaner before installing the synthetic?
It is possible the old, gunky oil kept the leaks plugged up.
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WTF?
Dodge Dakota
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4/18/2006
02:22:55
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Run near the redline a lot? And now you're wondering why your engine is falling apart?? Gee, I have no clue!!
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/18/2006
16:24:13
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
Thanks. Problem is common, has nothing to do with your choice of oil; or flogging the motor. You'll need to pull the intake to replace that; I think I've heard someone (Hughes Engines ?) has a heavier duty replacement available. Keep the oil up in the meanwhile, its the vacuum loss at that hole that's cost you performance.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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Obio3
Dodge Dakota
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4/18/2006
16:55:44
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Think first I would disconnect the header pipe infront of the converter and try driving it it. Will be very loud but it sure will tell you if it is plugged or not prior to buying one
So many problems .... So little time
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98dak
Dodge Dakota
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4/21/2006
15:55:45
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
could also be a bad air flow sensor. happened to my friend's chevy, and the engine lagged real bad cuz the computer was telling the engine that it wasnt getting enough air.
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Obio3
Dodge Dakota
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4/21/2006
16:30:56
| RE: Bad Luck........
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I have yet to work on a plenum gasket situation on these engines. I do know in my shop over the years we used starter fluid in short fast bursts sprayed on suspect areas while the engine was idling to test for vacumn leaks. Is there a reason the plenum on these Dakotas can not be checked this way also. You do need to be carefull not to over due it for sure for fire safety. Anyway, as this is a vacumn leak I would think it is the easy fast sure way to determine a leak as the engine idle speed will increase for a couple of seconds. spray carb cleaner can be used in a pinch but starter fluid is the best for the really small leaks which I believe a lot of you guys with spark knock do have and don't realize it.
So many problems .... So little time
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mopardr39
Dodge Dakota
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4/24/2006
23:21:36
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
At 1st I thought of a cat starting to clog up.Sounds like the 1st part of your complaint,highway speeds and low power,.But then you stated a puff of black smoke, Black smoke means a rich condition to much fuel to burn so to speak.ie missfire ,plugs wires cap or rotor or possibly a fuel injector. And then you said you run at red line alot and alot of black stuff in the throttle body and missing oil. Runnin the dog p--s out of your motor causes low engine vacuum and allows the pcv valve to stay open thus sucking alot of engine oil up to the throttle body and intake to be burned thus fouling the spark plugs and causing poor performance. A good inspection and testing should show the problem maybe a 5.2 dakota is just not what you need (I'm sure the power is lacking) and you should step up to a....let me think....a Dodge Ram Srt10....
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DaKarl
Dodge Dakota
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4/25/2006
07:47:26
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
All that makes sense. I have a '89 and replaced the vacuum lines. I noticed an immediate increase in response. I actually went when I tapped the gas. I have synthetic in there right now but didn't clean out the engine first. Sounds like a plan. Maybe I'll start checking for a puddle of oil too...
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Chris G
Dodge Dakota
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4/25/2006
09:36:29
| RE: Bad Luck........
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Message:
LOL it has plenty of power. I can beat 99.9% of the Honda wannabe's and 100% of other trucks the same size and lot's of trucks that are full sized. 0-60 is around mid 6 second range.
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