barrym95838 wrote
scanner wrote
... I'll wait a week or two, and I'll put another one up. I would like to see what others have done.
Please don't wait that long, scanner. I doubt that anyone else could do better, but I also don't want to discourage anyone else from trying.
barrym95838
EO/EI144107
It' been almost a year. I haven't been posting any case studies because I've been submitting them to training organizations. This is one that I fixed a couple of weeks ago, and because the platform is so old, there isn't any interest in it.
This is a 1998 Dodge Pickup with a 3.9L V6. The complaint is that the engine dies intermittently, mostly after started cold in the morning. Once the engine was warmed up, the engine would die at random times, but would restart immediately.
It had been to another shop, and after a few hundred dollars spent on unsuccessful repairs, the customer decided to come to my shop from a recommendation by his uncle.
The MIL was lit, and here are the codes.

Here's a link to the image
obdii_code.jpgThere is a catalytic converter code, and it was bad, and that's another story. The cat had no impact on the driveability of the vehicle.
Since there was a code for the ignition primary circuit, I decided to scope it out with my Vantage Pro, along with the crankshaft position sensor. The engine shuddered for a second, and I saved the file.
As you can see, it was running fine, it hiccuped, then continued running.

Here's a link to the image
Ignition_Primary_-_CKP.jpgI zoomed to where the primary dropped out.

Here's a link to the image
Ignition_Primary_-_CKP-Zoom.jpgWhat would you do from here? Is there a part you would change? Explain your decisions. What would be your next step?
Michael, don't respond right away, and let everyone play.
Why make it simple, when it will work equally as well complicated.