Questions and Answers

Dodge Dakota Lost It's Spark Q. Vincent, I am working on a friends Dodge Dakota. Her husband is in Iraq so I am trying to do my part here. She has a 1992 Dodge Dakota with a 5.2 Liter, automatic transmission, fuel injection and P/S. I have "near battery voltage" on one side of the input to the coil and about 6 volts on the other side of the input while cranking, but no spark from coil output. Replaced coil twice, but no change, please help me out. By the way GREAT SITE!! Michael

A. The battery voltage on the positive side of the ignition coil is good. Power comes in on the dark green/orange wire. That shows the ignition coil is getting power. The 6 volts on the negative side is bad. When you crank the engine, and use a test light for this, the light should flash. Momentarily flashing the negative side of the ignition coil to ground will give you a spark from the coil wire.

The PCM provides the ground for the ignition coil based on engine inputs. I would look at the Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKS) since that is what tells the PCM when to fire the coil. I would also check the gray wire for a short to ground.