Losing Power 1998 Dodge Dakota 4 cyl. 2wd. 5 speed. I lose power going up hills. And I have tried everything from new plugs and plug wires to injection cleaner and even bumped up my time. Nothing works. Any ideas?

A transmission issue would give vibration tremendously during uphill. If you're not getting the vibration, or burning smell of transmission fluid, suspect clogged catalytic converters.

I am assuming you have the 2.3 liter 4cylinder engine.. This is common in all rangers straight out of the factory with that motor. Your asking alot out of a 4 cylinder truck that also get good gas mileage. they just do not have the capacity to gain speed up a hill. There are a few solutions for you that you could try. If it is a 5 speed manual transmission try to speed up before the hill and when you start losing speed go to 4th gear. this is also good for using as a passing gear as im sure you have noticed you lack power when trying to rapidly accelerate at highway speed to pass. an aftermarket cold air intake combined with a less restrictive exuast will give you anywhere from 5-20 hp gain AND give you more MPG's

Or you can buy a light truck with a v6 or v8 in it. rangers can be equipped with v6 as can chevy s10's. dodge dakotas have the availability of small block v8. this is of course will cost you alot in gas (based on experience) I am a 10 yr mechanic and have owned 2- 4 cylinder rangers a 93 and a 94 my dakota which i still own is a 01

Better check the water separators and fuel filters. Also may have lift pump going bad

For all Dodge 4 cylinder engines, the firing order is 1-3-4-2
All dodge distributors rotate clockwise.
Standing on passenger side number 1 is at bottom left or 7:00 o clock.
going clockwise number 3 plug wire is next then number 4 then last one is number 2 wire.
plug wire number 1 is 7:00 o clock
plug wire number 3 is 11:00 o clock
plug wire 4 is 1:00 o clock
Plug wire number 2 is 5:00 o clock

i'm assuming that you are talking about the firing order; for 1998 Dodge Dakota 2WD 2.5 liter L4 VIN "P"...




Hope this help (remember comment and rated this post).

check the plugs and plug wires and condensor on distributor and timing

Possible waterpump leak. Could be a leaky gasket as well if it is loosing power. I would do a compression check to rule out gasket.

Burn It .. Sell It.. Ur stupid for owning it

try replacing the coil, my 2.5 did the same thing, and after changing plugs,wires,distributor,rotor,rotor button . the last thing i repalced was the coil and i have not had an issue since. all work was done about 6 months ago.

Sounds like the alternator isn't running good, have you tested this? Perhaps it isn't sparking cosistently and the loss of power would be explained if it isn't kicking out enough power.