1994 Dodge Dakota 3.9 V6- Idle and gas MPG

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Walt - 20 Nov 2006 03:41 GMT

I bought this Dakota from a dealer that was about to wholesale it to
get it off his lot. In general the vehicle is in pretty fair shape,
interior and exterior are ok with no rust or anything other than minor
dings. To date the following things have been done to the 3.9 V6
engine and automatic tranny. Replaced head gaskets and intake gasket,
oil pump and pick up tube, water pump, fuel pump, crank was turned and
new bearings installed just prior to my buying it,complete overhaul of
the transmission just completed. The A/C unit has been gone thru with
new compressor. My complaint: The truck seems determined to idle
poorly. I have cleaned, adjusted, and tried all of the normal or
readily known fixes. Idle motor on the back of the Throttle body is
the next component of choice to replace. Other than a poor idle, the
truck runs fine. The second part of my complaint, the fuel mileage is
simply terrible. So far my best has been 16 mpg. Granted, I am not ASE
certified yet (working on it) but there seems like there should be a
few simple things to up that mileage. Any thoughts or suggestions
welcome. Thanks in advance

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sqdancerLynn - 20 Nov 2006 08:35 GMT

16 mpg is normal for milage, was the intake gasket replaced (bottom of
intake) ??

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Walt - 23 Nov 2006 03:15 GMT

>16 mpg is normal for milage, was the intake gasket replaced (bottom of
>intake) ??

Yes, sorry if that bit of information did not make it clear, when I
did the heads I replaced al associated gackets, would not consider
trying to reuse any gasket

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Abby Normal - 20 Nov 2006 14:01 GMT

Dodge makes a good truck no doubt. However, fuel economy has never been a
concern in any of their designs. I own 4 of them now and have owned a few
in my past and all have been bad on gas mileage - except for the Neons.
They are not too bad. The truck really stink on it though. My 98 Dakota
was getting near 17.5 MPG until I tweaked the plugs to spec. Now it is near
16 MPG (5.2L V8). I will tweak them back with a new set soon.

>I bought this Dakota from a dealer that was about to wholesale it to
> get it off his lot. In general the vehicle is in pretty fair shape,
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> few simple things to up that mileage. Any thoughts or suggestions
> welcome. Thanks in advance

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damnnickname - 24 Nov 2006 12:31 GMT

Have ou disconnected the EGR Valve to see if this helps the idle?

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler tech

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Walt - 30 Nov 2006 02:48 GMT

>Have ou disconnected the EGR Valve to see if this helps the idle?
>
>Glenn Beasley
>Chrysler tech

No, actually I have not at this point. I have been so busy the truck
is on the back burner but thanks for that tip, I will be hooking it up
to a scan tool when I dive in to see whats what.
Walt
ASE Automotive student

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