[ericgh]

Hi there. I have checked the wires and hoses and everything looks fine. All the fluids are fine too. None of the gauges inside show any sign of a problem, but the "Check Engine" light is on. I don't have a code reader so I'm going it by trial and error.

Can I drive the car for a few days just until I get paid and can take it to a mechanic?

Thanks for your help.

Sorry, I forgot to give some pertinent info......this is a 1998 SLT with the 5.2liter engine

 

[dizzyD]

Vacuum leak, weak battery, cap/rotor, coil or PCM. I'd lean on weak battery

 

[lstevens76]

How many miles? Check your fuel pressure as well.

 

[tomk]

can you get it to an autozone or something and get the codes read?

What does it do at idle? run rough? try to stall?

How old is the battery?

 

[ericgh]

Vacuum leak, weak battery, cap/rotor, coil or PCM. I'd lean on weak battery

Battery is fairly new (5 months). I checked the vacuum hoses and all seemed to be on tight. It might be the coil pack then?

 

[ericgh]

How many miles? Check your fuel pressure as well.

111,000 miles. How do I check the fuel pressure?

 

[ericgh]

can you get it to an autozone or something and get the codes read?

What does it do at idle? run rough? try to stall?

How old is the battery?

Can't take it tio Autozone. They don't check codes here. At idle it is loping a little bit. Doesn't necessarily run "rough". Does not try to stall. Battery is only 5months old.

 

[tomk]

might be worthwhile to get a cheap code scanner..

Could be the coil, but I don't think that's the usual symptom on that engine.. unless the ODBII code shows misfire codes, then it could be anything in the ignition system..

 

[dizzyD]

have you tried the key dance? On-off-on-off-on (start is not on, accessory is not on) SOme D's of early years allow for the code to be produced in ODometer readout, have paper or camera ready.

 

[ericgh]

might be worthwhile to get a cheap code scanner..

Could be the coil, but I don't think that's the usual symptom on that engine.. unless the ODBII code shows misfire codes, then it could be anything in the ignition system..

I will look into getting a code scanner. Last time I checked they were quite expensive ($100) and my budget can't take a hit that big for something that I won't use often. I seem to remember something like this happening with my last vehicle (Ford Minivan) and it turned out to be the coil pack. So that is my first guess. I'll take the Durango to a shop and see if they can scan it for me.

 

[ericgh]

have you tried the key dance? On-off-on-off-on (start is not on, accessory is not on) SOme D's of early years allow for the code to be produced in ODometer readout, have paper or camera ready.

I have never heard of this. I will definitely go out and do this tomorrow in the daylight.

 

[ericgh]

Thanks for all the help folks. It sure is appreciated.

 

[lstevens76]

Well at least come back and tells what the problem is.

 

[ericgh]

Well at least come back and tells what the problem is.

Will do.

 

[tomk]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=autel+ms309

available lots of places online for about that price..

 

[ericgh]

So here's what we found. I took it to a mechanice and had it scanned. It showed a code of PO308. The 8th cylinder is misfiring. So we looked at the plug and the under the cap and found both were fouled. So I let the mechanic do a tuneup with new wires and plugs and rotor and cap. While they were doing the tune-up they noticed that one of the leads to an injector was chewed up so they went ahead and fixed that too.

I liked it better in the old days when I could wrench on the engine myself. Nowadays there are too many things in the way and I don't have the patience and skills to get down there and navigate through all the piping and wiring and hosing. Thank goodness there are folks who can do that and do it well.

Thanks for all your help folks.

 

[dizzyD]

So how does she feel now, the results were positive?!?

 

[ericgh]

So how does she feel now, the results were positive?!?

She runs fine now, dizzyD. Smooth as butter. But, I'm a little jaded. I've had trouble with cars in the past where they wouild start falling apart bit by bit. This may just be the first doctor's visit in a long line of ailments. I'm hoping not. This car is much nicer than what I could afford before, so I'm expecting it to be a more solid ride.

 

[tomk]

the Gen-I D is a very fixable vehicle.. and with maintenance can last a long time..

 

[ericgh]

the Gen-I D is a very fixable vehicle.. and with maintenance can last a long time..

That's what I'm hoping for. I like that it's a RWD V8 (4x4) and that it has some old school tech in it. I'm not happy with the ABS, I never have liked ABS. If I had the money I would beef up the engine with some new headers and a K&N air filter kit. But we are relegated to just keeping it maintained and driving it stock. For now. Maybe in the future the money will be there to upgrade the performance.

Thank you for your help and your genuine interest. It means alot.