1999 Dakota Help getting it working

[Mike Townsend]

I bought my kid a Dakota and I got burned. I bought it from up north and talked to the guy several times and he told me it was a street truck they took to the track a couple times. Told me it was great driving on the street and had a forged crank and a good cam. That was it. It got here and this thing is not a street truck. It is a fully built race truck with a two stage nitrous setup and a MSD 6 running things. It looks and sounds mean.

The problems I have is it is running really rich(no doubt for the nitrous) with a 17A/F and it will not shift out of first. I live in Terrell, Tx which is 35 miles east of Dallas. Can someone give me some names of someone that can fix the tune and more than likely rebuild the trans? I got one quote of $1k just to start tuning it and I don't have that. This was for my son and I don't have a lot of cash to fix it. Wasn't expecting to have to do so.

 

[Mike Townsend]

Well, not much help here I guess. I do have some new info if anybody cares. I took the battery out to charge it. When I put it back in the factory security went off. I took it around the block and the gauges went nuts. would go dead then peg out to the point it broke the speedo cable. But it did shift. So now the gauges are dead but it is shifting and the A/F ratio has come down to 14.8. still high but not near as high as it was. SO, I guess I need to find someone that can figure out how to get the MSD working correctly

 

[Treburkulosis]

I would call Baily's Performance in Fort Worth. They are about 5 minutes from me. They deal in all things Mopar performance.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Home - Baily’s Hyperformance

Baily’s Hyperformance is a performance shop that enhances your vehicle’s power and appearance. We can provide more horsepower, tune your vehicle, improve its

www.bh-factory.com

 

[Mike Townsend]

OK. Thank you

 

[Mike Townsend]

are there any more suggestions for a engine rebuild near Terrell,TX? We have pulled the engine and is ready for someone to break it down.

 

[Mike Townsend]

Apparently the Dakota is too old for Bailys to work on it. I really want to get this done and over with but I need a company I can trust. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Wild one]

Can't help you on finding somebody to work on it,but even at 14.8 it's a bit on the lean side,and at 17:1 it was really lean,not rich,it should be closer to 14.2:1 to 14.6:1 at part throttle cruise.
Ideally you want to see about 12.2:1 to 12.8:1 at full throttle with-out nitrous,and on the bottle you'd want about 12.0:1 to 12.2:1 A/Fr.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Apparently the Dakota is too old for Bailys to work on it. I really want to get this done and over with but I need a company I can trust. Any help is appreciated.

Did Bailey’s give you any suggestions on who might can work on it? I can ask my uncle who is a big racer. He might know someone in DFW.

 

[Mike Townsend]

They said that Bevil Automotive in North Richland Hills. That is a little ways from me but I'm going to call them to see what they have to say. I just don't want to spend 10k on rebuilding an engine for an old truck. LOL

 

[Wild one]

They said that Bevil Automotive in North Richland Hills. That is a little ways from me but I'm going to call them to see what they have to say. I just don't want to spend 10k on rebuilding an engine for an old truck. LOL

Hunt up John at Boosted Motorsports,he's done a few Hemi swaps into the earlier Dakota's. If you're looking at spending a bunch of money on it,you might be farther ahead with hemi swapping it

 

[Treburkulosis]

They said that Bevil Automotive in North Richland Hills. That is a little ways from me but I'm going to call them to see what they have to say. I just don't want to spend 10k on rebuilding an engine for an old truck. LOL

I have heard of Bevil. They aren’t far either from me. Baileys moved. I have no clue where. I am assuming somewhere bigger as they were getting bigger. Hemi fever cant help you?

 

[Mike Townsend]

Hey guys. Well I've talked to six different places and none of them want to work on it. Some say it is too old and one acted like he didn't know what a 360 was. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I'm a little East of DFW.