Newbie: Am I in the right place?

[rebiii]

Hi guys,

I am not a mechanic and I don't know electronics. I do a little work on my car. I know how change the oil, spark plugs, replace sensors, that kind of thing.

I have a 1999 Dodge Dakota.

I want to diagnose a stalling problem with my truck. It stalls when it gets hot, in the summer only, in Arizona. It didn't used to. When I say hot, I mean truck at operating temperature and air temperature hot. If I get up at 5:00 A.M., it's around 80 degrees here. I can drive no problem. When it is 100 or more degrees out, though, my truck stalls. The gauge doesn't show overheating. I've replaced the radiator, water pump, etc. anyway. I don't think my truck is running hot. Something else is wrong, with the wiring or the sensors. I've replaced a couple of sensors too, camshaft and crankshaft. Didn't fix it.

The computer reset while I was working on this. I had to re-register the vehicle and couldn't get the oxygen sensors and catalytic converter ready to read. I bought an ELM obd ii connector to let me know what was going on with the sensors. I downloaded the free trial version of some obd ii software. I found a drive cycle online, and finally got everything to read. I passed emissions.

But I still have the stalling problem, which is driving me crazy!

I have experience graphing and looking at data. I am comfortable on the command line at Linux. I want to use my obd ii cable to capture data while my car is running, to see what is going on.

Am I in the right place? Should I look at commercial software instead?

Thanks for your help. Bob.

[JZZ30]

Check the knock sensor voltage and see if the signal is dropping to 0 or jumping around erratically. I had a 2001 Honda Civic that would have a hard time starting or running when it got really hot outside, and when I noticed that the knock sensor's voltage was inconsistent, I replace the sensor and voila! Fixed the issue