Backfired, put out black smoke and died. Will not start. replaced distributor pick up, plugs, wires, cap and rotor no spark. 1991 dakota

It sounds like you need a good tune-up, such as spark plugs and/or wires. They will act up when cold and when warmed by engine temperature will let the engine run smoothly again. And possibly a distributor cap/rotor.

Under distributor cap, there is a round plate that your wiring harness for distributor plugs into. Remove the rotor, and pull that round plate up, disconnect from harness and replace it. Referred to as pick-up plate. Know for those exact symptoms.

These trucks have corrosion issues in the wiring connections as they age. I would start at the left fenderwell and unplug the starter relay and check those plug contacts first. When my 1992 150 did this, I ended up unhooking and cleaning all the plug in connections on that side of the truck, including the computers. I added di-electric grease to the terminals as well. The problem has not come back. You did not say if the truck restarts hard or not. The ignition pick up inside the distributor may also be a problem, but those normally will just stop working all at once.

have you checked the distributor cap and rotor because the spark has to come from these two things first and should be replaced when they get bad so please make sure when you check the distributor cap that you use a permanant black marker on the side of distributor cap and where it was placed at so you know the same place you took it off. If you take off the distributor cap and it shows the connections inside showing black on them that this is your problem and all distributors get bad because they become worned out by the rotor inside wear. If the distributor and cap are clean or do not have any black stuff on them that it could be the coil that went bad too so its a trouble shotting by looking at first the distributor cap and rotor. If you know how to use a multimeter and have one handy that you can check how much voltages is coming through the spark plug wires.

Hello first of all

In reading your issue at hand not having no spark there is only a few things that can cause this being that its a 1988 car i will list below what you need to go over and check.

1.spark plug wires
2. distributor cap
3. ignition rotor
4. coil pick up
5. faulty distributor

That being said most are a easy and cheap fix plug wires run about 20-35 bucks autozones duralast brand , distributor cap runs between 7-18 bucks , ignition rotor 3-8 bucks , coil pick up about 15-30 bucks all at autozone.

Now there is no real way to tell if there bad but a good examination of the distributor cap and rotor should tell you corroded inside cracked worn down.

i would start with distributor cap , ignition rotor, coil pick up if the car starts after this replace spark plugs wires. If that does not fix it most likely you distributor is faulty itself.

i hope it helps if so could you leave me so 4 thumbs up feedback thanks so much

Hi, Hope I can help you.
I do not know how you have checked for spark, but lets start from the beginning.
Lets start with an ignition systems check.
1. I want you to remove the high voltage coil wire. ( That's the wire in the center of the distributor cap.) Using a good pair of insulated pliers. I want you to hold it about 1/4 inch from a good engine ground. Now you will need a bit of help from a partner. Get them to turn the key and crank the engine. You should see a bright blue and well defined spark. Ok, If you have spark I want you to slowly move the coil wire away from the engine ground. As you do this I want you to pay attention to the coil tower. (The coil tower is where the other end of the coil wire is attached.) What your looking for is arcing and sparking at the coil tower. If this happens then you need to replace the coil with a new one. If this does not happen then your coil is working fine, and we will have to move on.
Note if you do not get spark from the coil wire replace the coil.

2. Ok if you have spark now we have find out if the spark is making it to the spark plugs. How are we going to do this? By checking the rotor, distributor cap, spark plug wires and spark plugs.First lets remove the distributor cap. This will allow use to inspected the rotor and the distributor cap. What your looking for is, cracks, carbon tracks and wear at the tip of the rotor. On the distributor ,look inside the cap for cracks, carbon tracks and wear on the terminals. If you find any of this replace the distributor cap and rotor. ( Note if you have any doubt of the condition of the rotor or the cap replace them.) Next lets check your spark plug wires. Lets pull off one of the spark plug wires from the spark plug side. Now inspect the wire connection for a white crusty powder. If you find crust replace your wires. Now you should check all of them the same way, but if even one has corrosion replace them all. You are going to have to inspect the wire its self . Going down the whole length of the wire. Holes cracks burn Marks and other damage. Once again if you find any damage replace them all.
I hope this will help you and good luck to all the read this FixYa

most likely is the pick up coil in the distributor. easy to replace pull dist cap off and rotor button and there it is.

When it does this you need to check if you have voltage ( spark ) going to the end of the spark plug wire, but it sound to me like your pick up coil is going bad, pick up coil sit under the distributor cap under the distributor rotor same size as distributor assembly ( black ) cheap$$, good luck, hope this was very helpful.

How about the MAP SENSOR? Do you check it out?

Sounds like bad distributor cap or rotor. If ones bad, might as well change both. Take off the cap and if there is a black color on the ends of the prongs, or on the end of the rotor, time to replace. Is it getting fuel into motor?