01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway

"Ol' Duffer" <nospam.DeleteThis@onme.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.2299f93b24837dcd98969f@news.bright.net...
> In article <FemdnUDfLM6gPLLVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d.DeleteThis@earthlink.com>,
> nospam.DeleteThis@spam.com says...
>> While I am on the highway going 50-70mph,I don't notice it in the
>> city,the
>> truck will start to slow down,you can feel it,but it seems the rpms don't
>> change,then a few seconds later you can feel it accelerating again like I
>> hit the gas harder or something,but I don't move my foot.
>
> Could be as simple as the A/C compressor turning on and off as needed,
> if so it is normal.
>
> Or could be an oxygen sensor going south, causing overly lean fuel mix
> for a short time.
>
> Or a number of other things.
>
> Any pattern to the behavior?
> Only when warming up, then clears itself?
> Check for trouble codes lately?

I havent had any check engine lights yet. I only notice it on the highway
right now,I don't drive far enough between stops in the city to notice it.
Its very strange,im sure since it's me it will be something that costs
thousands to fix. Might be time to consider trading it in.
 >> Stay informed about: 01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway 

RH wrote:
> I am going to try and describe this as best as possible. I have an 01
> Dakota 2wd 3.9
>
> While I am on the highway going 50-70mph,I don't notice it in the
> city,the truck will start to slow down,you can feel it,but it seems
> the rpms don't change,then a few seconds later you can feel it
> accelerating again like I hit the gas harder or something,but I don't
> move my foot.
> I am thinking it could be a fuel pump or filter, but has this model
> got any other strange flaws that might cause this?

Throttle position sensor?
--
Ken
 >> Stay informed about: 01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway 

"Nosey" <kfrei43 DeleteThis @removethis.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:g0t29m$oej$1@aioe.org...
> RH wrote:
>> I am going to try and describe this as best as possible. I have an 01
>> Dakota 2wd 3.9
>>
>> While I am on the highway going 50-70mph,I don't notice it in the
>> city,the truck will start to slow down,you can feel it,but it seems
>> the rpms don't change,then a few seconds later you can feel it
>> accelerating again like I hit the gas harder or something,but I don't
>> move my foot.
>> I am thinking it could be a fuel pump or filter, but has this model
>> got any other strange flaws that might cause this?
>
> Throttle position sensor?
> --
> Ken
>

Never heard of that lol. Is there anything I can do to clean all the sensors
off? Carb cleaner,etc? I know absolutely nothing about any of this stuff.
 >> Stay informed about: 01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway 

> Never heard of that lol. Is there anything I can do to clean all the
> sensors off? Carb cleaner,etc? I know absolutely nothing about any of
> this stuff.

I'm not too familiar with the 3.9L engine so I don't know which sensors can
be cleaned.
On most electronic fuel injected vehicles the throttle position sensor tells
the computer how far you are pushing the gas pedal down. The computer uses
that information and signals from some other sensors to determine how much
fuel to give the engine. If the throttle position sensor is sending a flaky
signal to the computer it might think you are moving the gas pedal up and
down when you are holding it steady.
--
Ken
 >> Stay informed about: 01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway 

In article <R9GdnShCqIQ3ZqzVnZ2dnUVZ_tXinZ2d.DeleteThis@earthlink.com>,
nospam.DeleteThis@spam.com says...
> I havent had any check engine lights yet. I only notice it on the highway
> right now,I don't drive far enough between stops in the city to notice it.
> Its very strange,im sure since it's me it will be something that costs
> thousands to fix. Might be time to consider trading it in.

Not everything that causes temporary poor running logs an error code,
and not all error codes light the MIL. There's a whole heirarchy
involving severity, duration, number of times it happened that I
don't know all the details of. I do know you can learn a lot with
an OBDII interface pod like AutoTap or ProScan and a laptop computer.
My pod has paid for itself in saved dealer labor cost, and I already
had the computer anyway. The local AutoZone and probably a lot of
other similar parts places has a more basic code reader that they
will plug in for free, might be a good starting point.
 >> Stay informed about: 01 Dakota 3.9 losing power on highway