I saw in MA that Eberg was talking about a serpentine belt setup in a 90-91 LA 318 Dakotas. He wasn't sure if the heads have an extra mounting point or not. Well, I found a pic or two online and it the Daks do have a serp. system. The question is though do these heads have the additional mounting locations or is it a bracket that allows the system to mount to a standard LA head mount. I can't find pics that detailed so I was hoping a member here has one of these Daks. If you do, can you look at the side of the heads to see if there is more than one threaded hole that the system bolts to. Or, is the bracket mount there and provide another mounting point (or two) somewhere to secure the system? Any and all pics are greatly appreciated!

It might only be on specialty Daks as well, like Lil red express or Shelby Dak... here is a pic from a Lil red..

I gutted a 91 318 clubcab last year too and can't remember what all was there. I still have the heads from it (casting #714, supposed to be identical to casting #302s) I did keep the tensioner --if I can remember what I did with it -- as there was much talk on the forums about that tensioner basically being made of unobtanium since it was a 1 year only part. I don't remember anything unusual about the heads, extra holes or such, but I'm away from home right now. I remember that it seemed like the accessories were tighter in front of the engine/ fan area compared to my 96 318 Dakota. I think there was a different fan clutch on those as well, stubbier shaft or something.

Hi Don, I looked on rock auto and it looks like the tensioner and idler are available. I would assume the fan spins opposite of an earlier LA too. If you can check the heads you have from it and take a pic of the side that faces the front, I would appreciate it. If they have just the one hole, then the magic is all in the brackets. I am guessing here but with the parts listed on rockauto, it makes me think all Dakota V8s had the serpentine system. I also saw these had an electric fuel pump, so I am wondering about the front cover too.

Loooks like the 89 model year had it too.

The only 89 Dakota's with a 318 were Shelby's
If ra shows them they must have fixed the backorder they didn't have any then.

I had to replace the tensioner on my Magnum 318 in a Dakota, for whatever its worth, the tensioner bolted to the bracket that held the alt, AC and PS pumps in alignment. That bracket covers the entire front of the motor and is bolted to the heads with one bolt in each head. That is, If I have any memory cells left in my old brain.

According to Eberg, the magnum heads did have multiple bolt holes in the side and he provided a pic of this. How it mounts, I am not aware of but the thing with magnums is they also don't have the mechanical fuel pump location in the cover. I am wondering if these late 318LAs have the same setup or not. I do they they have an electrical fuel pump too so my guess is that the covers are like the magnums. I would need to have 2 engines side by side to figure it out and at the moment, my old LA is at the shop and I do not have access yet to one of these late LAs.

I have a 90 3.9 V6 (basically a318 with the back 2 cylinders cut off) and a 91 3.9. Both use an LA 318 timing chain cover and neither have an opening in the cover for a fuel pump. Mopar 318 & 3.9 V6 have had an electric fuel pump since 1989. The opening in the timing cover for the fuel pump went away during 1989 as the supply for the older covers with the fuel pump mounting got used up. Some early 89 motors has the pump mounting, but by the end of the year it was gone.

BTW, the 91 3.9 I have still had the old pulley system on it. That might suggest that the change over to the serpentine belt was a simple bolt on process, or it could mean that all the 318s got the serpentine belt and all the 3.9s got the old stuff until it was used up, or the 91 model year ended.

Disregard.. just read the last part where v6 still had old pulley system.

If the early v8s still had the pump opening, then there is a real good chance that that serpentine system would work on an old LA then. A change of water pump that can handle reverse flow is necessary along with the mechanical fan, unless using electric fan.

The water pump for the serpentine belt will require the correct mechanical fan. The old style fans (and water pump pully) bolted to the water pump shaft with 4 bolts and the reversed serpentine belt water pump only has the one big screw on fan and the pully is attached to the water pump.