I have a 91 Dakota that ive owned for almost 6 months now. I really like the truck but i dont feel too comfortable driving as much as i used to due to a crazy idle issue that is making my engine sound like its about to brake down on me and giving me the worst MPG since ive owned the truck.

Last month i started noticing that once i took my tranny out of gear or simply step on the clutch, the RPMs would go higher than just a normal idle. It started with just going over 1K, but now it is over 2500 rpms when i position it in neutral or step on the clutch. What really bothers me is that it wont always do it, just around half the time.

The engine itself is pretty loud, now with this its making me look like a jack ass just when im at a red light since its so loud due to the high idle. Not only that, but gas is killing me. I will be lucky to hit 180 miles with my 18 gallon tank. Im sure i was getting close to 20mpg before this started.

Any ideas on what i should look for?

Thanks for any help.

-Dave

Hey! I think you've got the same truck as me- except mines an automatic. My question is posted on the list up above yours-which is sort of similiar in nature. Check out the two postings I got- hope it helps.

Gutzy.

idle air control valve would be my guess . i could be wrong

You need to look at your exhaust system. If there is a break before the O2 that could definetely be a major part of the problem. It would also explain why it's loud...

had this problem with a bad egr valve once

egr valve. if it almost stalls in city driving. but works good on the highway. then it's the egr valve

I'm having the same trouble with my 91 dakota just bought it and it idles high most of the time. its and auto and constantly pulls forward i'm getting horrible mileage. I tried to adjust the idle but I have a feeling it's actually the coolant temp sensor since the temp guage says it's cold even after it has warmed up. Did you have any luck fixing this?