Something wrong with my Dakota

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74Dusted

Stock Piler of 340's
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
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Lewistown, PA
Can you guys figure out what's going on with my Dakota? I got some video of the strange noise.... For a 5.2L Magnum truck, something doesn't seem quite right...

 
A blown muffler?
Videos stink for diagnosing noises.

Did I hear a slight tick in there at engine speed?
 
Yeah, I guess you could call it a tick...

There's a whistling noise when I step on the throttle too...

Check all the air inlet hosing for cracks and look for any missing vacuum caps or cracked/split vacuum lines off the intake.
Whistles with different throttle positions are almost always to do with the intake somewhere.
Vacuum hoses/caps, TB gaskets, intake gaskets and the like.
Use some carb cleaner spray to hunt for leaks
 
He's managed to squeeze a kerosene burning stink bomb under the hood.
I'd actually kinda like to see pics of that.
Is it a Cummins 5.9l?
 
Spray a can of ether in the intake, fill it up and start it and see if the noise goes away
 
He's managed to squeeze a kerosene burning stink bomb under the hood.
I'd actually kinda like to see pics of that.
Is it a Cummins 5.9l?

I wish it was a 5.9, but the front end would have needed to be about 9" longer for that. It's actually a Mercedes 5 Banger (it's a tight fit, but it was an easy swap). Strangely enough, It reuses a lot of the factory Dakota parts and a 1st Gen (89-93 Dodge truck) Cummins Turbo Back Exhaust System only needed the downpipe shortened to fit perfectly in my Dakota.

Not only is she Turbo Diesel, but she's also AWD. I installed a Fulltime 4WD/AWD NP203 Transfer Case, did a 3" Suspension Lift and added Coilovers to the Front to help distribute the weight


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Spray a can of ether in the intake, fill it up and start it and see if the noise goes away
The noise would definitely go away, after the head and intake launch into space. Your comment had me laughing my butt off.


This thing is going to confuse ALOT of people. My coworker said "It sounds like a big rig, but it's definitely not." I laughed. "Yeah, people are going to hear a diesel but wont be able to find it."
 
I wish it was a 5.9, but the front end would have needed to be about 9" longer for that. It's actually a Mercedes 5 Banger (it's a tight fit, but it was an easy swap). Strangely enough, It reuses a lot of the factory Dakota parts and a 1st Gen (89-93 Dodge truck) Cummins Turbo Back Exhaust System only needed the downpipe shortened to fit perfectly in my Dakota.

Not only is she Turbo Diesel, but she's also AWD. I installed a Fulltime 4WD/AWD NP203 Transfer Case, did a 3" Suspension Lift and added Coilovers to the Front to help distribute the weight


View attachment 1715049777



The noise would definitely go away, after the head and intake launch into space. Your comment had me laughing my butt off.


This thing is going to confuse ALOT of people. My coworker said "It sounds like a big rig, but it's definitely not." I laughed. "Yeah, people are going to hear a diesel but wont be able to find it."
I figured it had to something other than a 5.9L but I've seen some crazy stuff in my time.
It wouldn't have surprised me a bit to see the back half of a Cummins in the seat with you ;)
Around here they run pipes out the back of the bed or hood and smoke the place up.
They also sit at the bottom of a certain hill, and race up the thing.
I know, because I live on said hill.
 
I figured it had to something other than a 5.9L but I've seen some crazy stuff in my time.
It wouldn't have surprised me a bit to see the back half of a Cummins in the seat with you ;)
Around here they run pipes out the back of the bed or hood and smoke the place up.
They also sit at the bottom of a certain hill, and race up the thing.
I know, because I live on said hill.

Oh believe me, if I would have got a good deal on a 5.9 (like I did on the Merc setup...less than a junkyard 318 in price and low miles too) I would have made it fit, even If I had to do some surgery on the firewall and heater box.

I'm actually in the Green on this conversion. I sold my A518 Torqueflite for $500 (what I paid for the whole Dakota in '09), sold the NP231 Transfer Case to someone with a Jeep, Sold the Mopar Perf ECU (with larger Injectors and 5.9L Throttle Body), Sold the '92 Only Large Outlet Magnum Exhaust Manifolds and 3" Y-Pipe, etc... All said and done, even after buying the diesel setup and a bunch of new parts it ended up being equal to getting the truck for free and being paid to convert it to diesel.

I have a normal 3" Cummins tail pipe that dumps back at the bumper/quarter panel. I refuse to reduce the hauling capacity of my bed to be a poser/member of the diesel crowd ( LOL ).

Not a fan of gigantic clouds of smoke either, as a driver and also a motorcycle rider. Last year a ****nozzle in a show diesel kept pumping clouds of smoke. Poor guy on the motorcycle behind him couldn't see anything, I was in my D50 so I flicked the high beams and motioned to the guy on the bike to pull off to the side of the road. I got in front of the bike and served as a navigator for him until the diesel finally turned off the main road.
 
The 273 '84 D50 (A Power Ram 50 Sport) started life as factory Turbo Diesel D50. Ironic, that my V8 Dakota is now a Turbo Diesel and my Turbo Diesel D50 is now a V8.... Actually, it's kind of sad. The Diesel D50 is an extremely rare option (we're talking SuperStock Hemi Dart/Cuda Rare). It was a 3 year option from 83-85, with roughly 3% of the D50's being ordered with it in 83-85 (only available with the Sport and Royale option packages).

Mine was extremely rare, as she was ordered with a Torqueflite 904 Automatic (Floorshift, with Console), an option that wasn't supposed to exist with the diesel. It was fully decked out, ordered with A/C, Cargo Light, Rear Sliding Window, AM/FM/Cassette Radio, Power Steering, The "Winters Package" (which included an Electric Rear Locker in the rear axle and a Limited Slip in the front axle), "Gauge Pack" (which added an Ammeter/Voltmeter and Oil Pressure Gauge to the Forward portion of the Center Console/AC Vent Combo)

I later upgraded/stroked the 4D55T 2.3L Turbo Diesel to 2.5L (4D56) using parts from overseas 4D56 engines (the 4D5x engines shared the same block, different crank/stroke though) and added an intercooler, turned the pump up a little.

After a very long life and many many miles (the odometer rolled over more times than anyone can remember, my dad bought the truck used at the end of 1984, it was his first New truck) the diesel finally died. Parts by then were impossible to find. I bought the last injection pump in the USA from a junkyard in Alaska, Rocker arms came from London England, Camshaft came from Germany (these parts were before it died). When it died, I couldn't find a sleeve to fix the damaged cylinder so I called it quits on the diesel engine.

I had a hopped 273 sitting under the work bench, that was supposed to be an upgrade for my '65 Formula S Cuda. The 273 had been bored .060 and had a Forged Crank, H Beam Rods, Forged Dome Pistons, Shaved 1.88 Valve J Heads, a .495/505 Solid Isky Cam, a 340 Intake and an 850 Thermoquad. I dropped it in the truck (after combining the guts and Tail assembly from my Diesel 904 with a Small Block 904, to create a 4WD 904).

100 miles later the 904 exploded, it couldn't handle the 273 and turning 40" Tires at the same time, so I replaced it with a 727. It was an interesting experience when the 904 exploded.... I went to pull out of an intersection, got a little heavy into the throttle, all 4 40" tires lit up and I heard a BOOOM and smoke started rolling from under the hood and up around the shifter boots on the floor. My cousin bailed out of the truck as I rolled to a stop, he's screaming "Your truck's on fire!" I quickly slid under the truck and started to put out the fire with a small extinguisher and a gallon jug of antifreeze, called my dad and he showed up in his Caravan and towed my truck off the road to safety.


These days she still has the same 273, the same 727, and the same KM100/NP203 Transfer Case Doubler (it's AWD and has a 4.75:1 Double Low Range), though it has changed carbs, tires and beds over the years. If I ever upgrade the engine I'm either going V10, Cummins or 440 6 Pack.
 
This one is just for 67Dart273, he seems to like the 273 D50 (Can you blame him, it's pure awesome!).

I know everyone says 360, Stroker, Big Block.... Here's a 273, in an AWD TRUCK that weighed 4,700 Pounds at the time, turning 40x17.5-15" Tires! Halfway through the video, you can even hear that little tiny 273 light up all four of those 40" tires at about 1/4 throttle.

I do apologize about the shaking, the camera was hanging from my overhead console and then youtube decided to try and fix the shaking and only made it worse (you can actually see the video distort at times, thanks to their corrections)

 
I'm not a diesel fan but it is pretty cool, probably gets killer mileage also.
 
I'm not a diesel fan but it is pretty cool, probably gets killer mileage also.

I'll have to get back to you on that once I start calculating mileage and fuel use.

You need your own TV show LOL

My friends have said the same thing a few times. I've always got some kind of unusual project going on, and have enough projects to keep me occupied for a long time.

Currently (aside from the Dakota getting some new parts and paint soon), I'm helping a friend convert his '90 Dodge Daytona over to a Supercharged AWD car. And then when I'm not doing that, I'm building a guitar for myself from scratch (A nifty Fretless 7 String)
 
31x10.5-15" tires mounted (including a matching spare) on the truck. Yes it has a Tailgate Mounted Swing-Out Tire Carrier. New brakes installed, Coilovers on the front, diesel gauges and lights installed.

Almost there!

I just need to fabricate an adapter to connect the Dakota Speedometer Cable and VSS to the diesel transmission, fabricate a mounting bracket for the A/C Compressor and tidy up a few loose wires that are no longer in use.

image.jpeg
 
I'll have to get back to you on that once I start calculating mileage and fuel use.



My friends have said the same thing a few times. I've always got some kind of unusual project going on, and have enough projects to keep me occupied for a long time.

Currently (aside from the Dakota getting some new parts and paint soon), I'm helping a friend convert his '90 Dodge Daytona over to a Supercharged AWD car. And then when I'm not doing that, I'm building a guitar for myself from scratch (A nifty Fretless 7 String)
You need to figure out a way to make an A-body AWD but not lifted, actually I'd prefer it slammed some! Fender flares/wide body and 315s (like the new demon) or at least 295s on all 4 corners. Maybe even use an old Demon :D

IMG_1089.JPG
 
You need to figure out a way to make an A-body AWD but not lifted, actually I'd prefer it slammed some! Fender flares/wide body and 315s (like the new demon) or at least 295s on all 4 corners. Maybe even use an old Demon :D

View attachment 1715051336

I already have that figured out and I'm going to be doing the AWD conversion to my '65 Formula S Barracuda.
 
And it'll be able to stay lower than stock ride height? And how much power will it handle?
 
And it'll be able to stay lower than stock ride height? And how much power will it handle?

I doubt I could go lower than stock height, due to the fact that we're talking about squeezing an 8.75" Differential under/off to the side of the engine. Stock height would be possible though. Powerwise, it should be able to handle a decent amount, I'd wager 500ish hp or more.

The front differential is a shortened 8.75" that's been set up to be used as an Independent Suspension Axle (K Frame will need to be modified to tuck the differential up in as high as possible). It uses a set of Early (5 Lug) Dakota 4WD Spindles and a Rack & Pinion, a Torqueflite 904 (I have a custom 4WD 904 transmission here, though a Short Tail 81-93 4WD 727 would also work), and an AWD Transfer Case from a mid-late 90's Dakota.

A lot of the parts to do the swap are Dakota parts, the parts that aren't are still Chrysler Parts, with the exception of modifications to stuff like the K Frame and such.
 
I doubt I could go lower than stock height, due to the fact that we're talking about squeezing an 8.75" Differential under/off to the side of the engine. Stock height would be possible though. Powerwise, it should be able to handle a decent amount, I'd wager 500ish hp or more.

The front differential is a shortened 8.75" that's been set up to be used as an Independent Suspension Axle (K Frame will need to be modified to tuck the differential up in as high as possible). It uses a set of Early (5 Lug) Dakota 4WD Spindles and a Rack & Pinion, a Torqueflite 904 (I have a custom 4WD 904 transmission here, though a Short Tail 81-93 4WD 727 would also work), and an AWD Transfer Case from a mid-late 90's Dakota.

A lot of the parts to do the swap are Dakota parts, the parts that aren't are still Chrysler Parts, with the exception of modifications to stuff like the K Frame and such.
Man you're DEFINITELY gonna have to do a detailed build thread when you start! I have a 75 Duster body sitting at dads that would be perfect to do this to.
 
Man you're DEFINITELY gonna have to do a detailed build thread when you start! I have a 75 Duster body sitting at dads that would be perfect to do this to.

There will definitely be a build thread when I get to the Barracuda project. These days, my problem is finding time. Too much work (as in work-work, not project-work), not enough cash and not enough time. It only took me 3 years to find the time to put a few parts on and fire up the Dakota, the engine swap was done 3 years ago!

I blew the clutch out of my '92 Supercharged D50 (uprooting a Red Oak), back in December. I've been driving the '84 D50 Dumptruck because I can't seem to find 3 hours to yank the transmission and put a new clutch in (and I have the a new Stage 2 Clutch for it sitting on the shelf)

EDIT : It's not actually that extreme (Okay, it did take me 3 years to fire up the Dakota, and my Supercharged D50 does still need a clutch). I need to learn to stop overloading myself.

When I say Overload, I mean Overload!. I work 2 Jobs and paint cars at night and work side jobs at night. For a while I was juggling a Restoration on a Bronco for a friend, while building a 383 Stroker for a Camaro for another friend, while working two jobs, and scheduling more after hours jobs. I would get up at 5am, brew some coffee and go to work, get off work and take a shower, go to work, get off work and come home and work on the Bronco and Camaro until 2am, make a sandwich and take a power nap...get up at 5am and start the day all over again...for 6 months without a break.

My coworkers would say how tired they were after a shift (and I would look at them like they were crazy), and couldn't figure out why I looked like I was worn out. They thought I was joking when I said I was putting in 20 hour days...till a few of them showed up to help me put my '84 D50 back together the night before Christmas Eve. They're all sleeping on chairs in the garage by 2am and I was still going strong, pounding coffee and swinging a paint gun (after we swapped beds, swapped doors and did some fast body work)
 
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