Coil problem

No voltage FROM the coil? Does the coil ohm out good?

Nothing TO the coil? check for battery voltage at the green/orange wire to the coil with key on. Once you turn the key to on you will only get voltage there for about 2 or 3 seconds so you will need to set your meter up where you can see it or have someone help you. No voltage: suspect ASD (aka ENG) relay.

(If the PCM doesn't get a signal from the crank & cam position sensor withing about 2 or 3 seconds of turning the key on it de-energizes the ASD relay & voltage to the coil & injectors is lost. I believe it also de-energizes the fuel pump relay in that situation as well. If everything is working correctly, cranking the engine will provide those signals to the PCM again.)

If voltage at the green/orange wire to the coil, backprobe black/gray wire to the coil with LED test light & check for trigger signal FROM the PCM while cranking. Test light should flash while cranking. No trigger signal: check crank & cam position sensors & their circuits. If cam & crank position sensors are good & their circuits are intact & patent, have PCM benchchecked/diagnosed & repaired if necessary.

That is the condensed version & fair warning that it came from Haynes, but that is the method I used to troubleshoot my own Dakota down to a PCM that I had repaired.

I didn't mention that both the crank & camshaft position sensors need to get 5 volts FROM the PCM to power them. But if all the circuitry is good & they are not getting 5 v from the PCM, the way I see it, that kind of means that the PCM is bad.

Here is a thread started by an OP with a question similar to yours on a '96 (although yours falls into the '97 through '99 category, I think that part is the same) & in post #32, Arrow describes a method to test the crankshaft position sensor. Actually you might find the entire thread interesting or applicable.


The camshaft position sensor can also be checked, & I am looking at the procedure & it calls out to use an analogue (versus digital) volt meter & to backprobe terminal #1 of the CMP connector with the + lead of your VM & to put the - lead of your meter on a good ground & have the engine cranked & it says that the voltage should fluctuate between 0 & 5 volts--if not the CMP is bad (& this is assuming that it is getting 5v FROM the PCM).

When my Dakota was shooting craps intermittently, I didn't actually get this scientific--I just threw new sensors at it & when the problem devolved from intermittent to terminal I worked on the assumption that the new sensors I had installed were good parts & I moved on to the PCM.

I don't know how many miles are on yours, but it might be a good idea to replace them even if they do check good. I am kind of under the impression that they have a finite lifespan & they are critical for function & from Rock I don't think they cost too much & they are relatively easy to replace. If you do wind up replacing the CMP & CKP, I have read on these Dakota sites that buying MOPAR sensors is the way to go & that there are issues associated with aftermarket sensors (but I do not personally know that to be true or false). BUT, I have a feeling that you may not be able to get MOPAR CKP & CMP anymore. I was able to score a MOPAR crank pos sensor, but that was about 5 years ago, & SMP was the best I could do on the cam pos sensor. But it's still in there & it is still working.

Good luck with this.