And how was the vehicle acting with the old PCM installed? Was that causing the stalling or crank no start condition? As for the Odometer flashing, I believe on the pre 2000 models, that means a data bus issue, I've been helping with a 2000 Dodge ram, the last week or so and it was flashing a No Bus message instead, I assume the Odometer is not reading any mileage?
That may not be related to the cylinder misfires you're feeling. Is the instrument cluster working? For some reason there are a lot of these exact Dakota's doing this, you can check the voltage level on pins 3 and 11 of the data link connector, pins 4 and 5 are grounds. You should only read about 2.5volts on either pin 3 or 11, those are the CCD data bus pins, 3 is CCD + and 11 CCD -.
The security light coming back on might be why the odometer is flashing, since the security system (Central Timer Module) is on the CCD network, so you may be dealing with 2 different issues which is common on older vehicles like this.
If the old PCM was preventing it from running at all, and now you're just dealing with cylinder misfires, you'll just have to go back to the basics to deal with misfires, I think this vehicle only has the two fuel injectors in the throttle body, correct? If they are firing good, you should be able to see them looking into the throttle body, they might have some carbon build up on the ends of the fuel injectors as well that's limiting flow. That pretty much always happens with vehicles that have been sitting for a while.
Next check for good spark on each plug wire, and compression testing if needed.
What brand spark plugs did you install? If they are Autolite or a cheap brand, install some good OEM plugs.
Here are a few guides to help with cylinder misfires, and the diagrams below are for checking the Data link connector voltage levels on the vehicles network:
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-for-ignition-spark
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Monday, March 18th, 2024 AT 10:07 AM