Hey so about a week ago I posted a thread about my truck stalling out and sputtering and backfiring everywhere. Well last night I hooked up my code scanner and its reading PO351 - Ignition Coil A Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction. I need some help trying to figure this out I've been researching and some people are saying PCM. I pray to god its not that because I believe they are pretty expensive. What else could I try? I replaced the ignition coil about a year ago, is it worth trying another one?
theJester517
PO351 97 Dakota
This was the original posting with all the details
http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=330449
http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=330449
Honestly I don't remember, I think it was a standard motor products. Another one is 35 bucks, that's not that bad, as compared to a PCM which is a couple hundred I believe, i really don't know. Whats the best way to test without throwing another one in. Because this problem doesn't always happen, it's every few days, but when it starts that ride is plagued until I park it for the day
Ok so against your advice I bought a new coil from Autozone and installed it, I cleaned the throttle body and even switched out the main coil wire because mine was resting on the valve cover and figured it got fried. So after running like absolute garbage yesterday morning to the point I couldn't even drive it to work, I disconnected the battery all day and when I got home it ran great. Now I drove about 5 miles last night and another 5 this morning no problem. This afternoon I drove home from work, got changed and when I went back out the problem came back, stalling, backfiring, and angry drivers to the rear. I just read through the service manual, I don't know what to go for next, the distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires and coil have all been changed I don't know whether to go for crankshaft position sensor or not please help me out, I just started my new job I can't afford to not show up because I'm stranded
Intermittent problems like what you describe are most likely a wiring harness issue. I suspect that somewhere, a wire has rubbed through the insulation and you are shorting it to ground or it's also possible that a wire is broken under the insulation and as the harness or engine moves it open up or it connects. When you change parts, you move the wiring and that's why it may have seemed like you fixed it. Since the code points to the coil wiring, look at that wiring very carefully. Wiggling the harness around while it's idling may duplicate what happens when you are driving. This is a very common problem on Neons which I have a lot of experience with and I suspect other Chrysler products. I am a moderator on Neons.org and it's almost always the wiring and almost never the PCM or components like sensors. Before you throw any more parts at this, check the wiring.
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Ok so I had it doing it today and I stopped in the middle of the road while it was doing it and it caught idle and I was able to pinpoint its the wire going to the connector of the coil
I tired repairing it, I had a problem with it over a year ago and it hasn't acted up since, But now it is and I can't just buy that connector so I ended up repairing it with some spliced romex into the connector and connected to the harness above the valve cover. Its not pretty but it seems to be 'better' my problem is now it will run, and I can't get it to stall by jiggling the wire like I did before but now its fighting me to run up to redline. And it may or may not sputter still idk because I'm calling it quits for the night
I'm about to lose it
I tired repairing it, I had a problem with it over a year ago and it hasn't acted up since, But now it is and I can't just buy that connector so I ended up repairing it with some spliced romex into the connector and connected to the harness above the valve cover. Its not pretty but it seems to be 'better' my problem is now it will run, and I can't get it to stall by jiggling the wire like I did before but now its fighting me to run up to redline. And it may or may not sputter still idk because I'm calling it quits for the night
I'm about to lose it
There is an archived post that I did on Neons.org that shows the correct way to repair wiring. Always use solder and adhesive lined heat shrink tubing over a splice. Butt connectors or crimped connections will only come back to haunt you.
http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=295960
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http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=295960
Tell that to the previous owner that cut off the oem radio connectors to put in an aftermarket radio. I didn't have much choice and if you saw the previous hack job with twisted together wires and vinyl tape, you wouldn't be as critical. I had to solder these through the small opening for the radio. Even though the splices are not staggered like they should be, there is not much extra bulk and there will never be a short or poor connection. Back in the early sixties, I worked at Zenith Radio when they didn't use circuit boards yet.
We can only imagine what this looked like:
![Image]()
We can only imagine what this looked like:
I only posted that so the original poster could see what a repair should look like.theJester517 said:
Hey guys I appreciate all the help but I know how to do wires, the problem was I was up at my moms without my tools (no soldering iron) and it was late on a Saturday night, hopefully this weekend I'll be going to see my favorite green Durango at the junkyard to get the connector and 18" section of wire but until then I'm butcher of the month driving around with a piece of romex crimped into the terminals and tied in with wire nuts. No problems since then though and I'm so glad thats the case because its been 10 degrees out and I'm not looking to be on the side of the road jiggling wires when I can't feel my fingers
Ok guys so I finally fixed this the proper way, I got a connector out a scrap yard and put new wire in and soldered it and shrink wrapped it nice nice, but I still have an intermittent problem, and jiggling doesn't seem to affect it anymore, I'm afraid i might have screwed the PCM by going on it so long. Is there anyway to completely flash it without buying one for 600 dollars? I have the battery disconnected right now, I know that resets it per say and I have a code reader I cleared it but what else can i do?
I'm sorry to be that guy that never updated my posts, it was my PCM that was causing all my issues, especially backfiring. I went on car-part.com and got one with the same 5 digit code which is for year, engine, transmission and slapped it in an all my problems went away. If I remember correctly it was only like $100, no flashing no programming VIN just installed a used one out of the box.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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