well i thought i was getting somewhere. this weekend i pulled a bonehead. i picked up the truck from the transmission shop and the guy told me my battery had died, so i jumped it off and drove it home, and sure enough it wouldnt start after i turned it off. so i bought a new optima red top and she fired right up. then i drove it around the block and it wouldnt fire up again, starter was dragging. so i figured starter was weak. i replaced the starter and she fired right up. drove it around the block and then no restart again. so i figured my timing was wrong. rechecked after getting it to fire back up and it was right on. i had the altenator checked and it was weak so i replaced it. same thing happened. i thought well it must be getting hot and heat binding, but my temperature gauge was showing right at 200. i looked at my wiring loom and my temp. wire was running by the plug wires and by the fuel injection wires and tach wire. so i rerouted the wires and the thing was running hot. so i yanked out the thermostat which was brand new and drove her around and then she restarted. cool i figured it out. after dark i went for another test drive and the thing started cutting out. i had ran it out of gas earlier so i thought i might have gotten some trash in the filter. last night i replaced the fuel filter and went for a drive and it was still cutting out. then it backed fired and died. i tried restarting it and had a dead key.i noticed my dakota dash was looking really funky so i thought i had an electrical problem. i did. i got out and raised the hood and had a fire going down by the starter. i got it out by beating it out with my shirt and blowing it out. the heat shield had fallen off the exhaust manifold and shorted out between the main battery wire and starter. i drug her home and she is now parked in my driveway until this weekend when i can fix the wiring and whatever else burnt up.
hopefully i can drive it next week!