2003 DODGE DAKOTA Complaints

WHEN THE TRUCK IS STARTED AND PUT INTO DRIVE IT HESITATES THEN SHIFTS REALLY HARD. ALSO WHEN THE TRUCK IS STARTED AND ALLOWED TO WARM UP FOR AROUND THREE MINUTES IT DIES WHEN IT IS PUT IN REVERSE. WHEN IT DOES THIS NONE OF THE LIGHTS ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL COME ON. THE TRUCK JUST DIES. I HAVE HAD THE TRUCK INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOUR TIMES NOW. THE FIRST TIME I TOOK IT IN, THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THAT THEY COULDN'T GET THE PROBLEM TO REPLICATE AND TOLD ME TO BRING IT BACK WHEN IT GOT WORSE. I AM NOW ON MY FORTH ATTEMPT TO GET THE PROBLEM FIXED AND THEY ARE CONTINUING TO TELL ME THAT THEY CAN'T GET THE PROBLEM TO REPLICATE. SO I WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND REPLICATED THE PROBLEM FOR THEM. THAT WAS ON 10-27-03. IT IS NOW 11-06-03 AND THEY CALLED ME TODAY TO TELL ME THAT THEY STILL CAN'T GET THE TRUCK TO REPLICATE. BUT THEY HAVE HOOKED UP A "CO-PILOT" WHICH WILL READ THE TRUCKS COMPUTER AND HOPEFULLY CATCH THE PROBLEM. I AM HAVING A REALLY HARD TIME BELIEVING THAT THEY CAN'T REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. I HAVE HAD THE TRUCK FOR THREE MONTHS NOW AND THE [XXX] THING HAS DIED EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAVE PUT IT IN REVERSE. I AM POSITIVE THAT I AM BEING BENT OVER. I KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CHRYSLER AGAIN. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TRANSMISSION WILL NOT SHIFT FROM 2ND TO 3RD GEAR WHEN CLIMBING GRADES. ALSO TRUCK WILL STALL OUT WITH NO WARNING OR CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS.

AS TRUCK PULLS OUT (1-5MIN.)IT SLOWS DOWN AND BACKFIRES REAL LOUD. DOESNT STALL OUT, BUT NO POWER. WHEN YOU STEP ON THE GAS NOTHING HAPPENS IT STILL IS CRAWLING AROUND 5MI.THIS WILL HAPPEN ABOUT 1-3MMINUTES THEN IT AUTOMATICALLY PICKS UP BY ITSELF AND RESUMES SPEED. HAPPENING EVERY 2WKS THEN EVERY WK. SOMETIMES A DAY APART.HAD CO-PILOT ON TWICE BUT RESULTS WERE O. NOTHING SHOWS ON THE DASHBOARD WHEN IT HAPPEND, BUT THE BACKFIRING IS GETTING LOUDER. CALLED CONSUMER AROUND 5 TIMES BUT I AM RIGHT WHERE I STARTED.

PEELING PAINT FROM FRONT GRILLE ASSEMBLY. ALSO AT 10600 MILES THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS HARD. BOTH UPSHIFTS AND DOWNSHIFTS CAUSE A NOISE AND A SLIGHT HESITATION, FOLLOWED BY A VERY HARSH SHIFT. AND THE ENGINE SEEMS TO ENGAGE THE ELECTRIC HEAT/EXCHANGER FAN ASSEMBLY CAUSING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CAB NOISE. NO TEMPERATURE CHANGE HAS BEEN DETECTED WITH THE DASH GAUGES WHEN THE ELECTRIC RADIATOR HAS ENGAGED. VERY NOISY. THERE WILL BE A FOLLOW UP LETTER AFTER THE TRUCK IS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. OCT. 5TH, 2003. 2:30 PM MST

TRANSFER CASE LEAKS FLUID ON OUTPUT SHAFT SEAL. FIRST REPAIR ATTEMPT REPLACED SEAL. SECOND ATTEMPT AT 2531 MILES REPLACED SEAL AGAIN. THIRD ATTEMPT AT 2909 MILES REPLACED EXTENSION HOUSING ON TRANSFER CASE. EXTENSION CAME WITH NEW SEAL ALREADY INSTALLED. FOURTH ATTEMPT AT 6,745 MILES REPLACED EXTENSION HOUSING AGAIN ALSO NEW YOKE AND CHECKED BALANCE IN DRIVELINE.

WE HAVE RECENTLY SUBMITTED A CLAIM TO THE BUREAU OF AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS. OUR TRUCK HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP 6 TIMES FOR THE SAME AND NEW PROBLEMS. WE BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE IN JUNE WITH 12 MILES ON IT. THEY RECENTLY HAD OUR VEHICLE FOR 3 DAYS IN A ROW AND WANTED TO KEEP IT FOR A 4TH DAY, HOWEVER WE DECLINED. BELOW PLEASE FIND A LIST OF THE PROBLEMS: 1) LOUD HOWLING NOISE WHEN BACKING UP IN REVERSE 2) SLIPS OUT OF GEAR WHEN IN REVERSE OR DRIVE 3) IDLES ROUGHLY 4) OCCASIONALLY DIES WHEN BACKING IN REVERSE OR GOING FORWARD 5) WHEEL WELL GUARDS ARE STARTING TO PEEL AWAY 6) RUNS IN THE PAINT JOB 7) THERE WAS ELECTRICAL WIRING ISSUES 8) TRANSMISSION ISSUES

AFTER 6,000 MILES ON MY 2003 DAKOTA, I HAD TO HAVE THE ROTORS (ALL 4) TURNED BECAUSE THEY WERE WARPED. NOW DEALER DID IT FOR FREE. AGAIN 13,000 MILES THEY ARE WARPED NEED TURNED AGAIN. DEALER NOT PAYING I HAVE TO PAY THEM. IT IS CLOSE TO ANOTHER 6000 MILES AND THEY ARE STARTING TO BEHAVE IN THE WAY THEY DID WITH PEDAL PULSATING AND VIBRATING AND THE TRUCK REAR END FEELING LIKE IT IS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN AND I KNOW THE SAME PROBLEM IS THERE, AND THIS TIME IT IS GOING TO BE REPLACE ALL 4. I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH ROTOR PROBLEMS, IT APPEARS THE BRAKES AREN'T MADE FOR A TRUCK THIS SIZE BUT FOR A SMALLER VERSION OF IT. THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED MY DODGE. *CB

2003 DAKOTA QUAD CAB. IN COLD TEMPERATURES BELOW 15F THE FLUID SPRAYERS WILL FREEZE. CAUSING LOW TO ZERO VISIBILITY IN WINTER WEATHER DRIVING. WHEN TRUCK IS PARKED AND WARMED UP FOR 10-15 MINS FLUID WILL SPRAY FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT, AFTER YOU STOP IT POOLS UP IN THE TIPS OF THE SPRAYERS, AND WILL FREEZE ONCE YOU MOVE AGAIN. THE HOSE'S ARE ALSO NOT INSULATED TO PROTECT FROM THE COLD SO THEY DON'T FREEZE AS WELL. THIS CAN AND WILL CAUSE ZERO VISIBILITY, CAUSING THE DRIVE TO NOT BE ABLE TO SEE AND POSSIBLY GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT. *CB

THE FRONT UPPER BALL JOINTS WORE OUT PREMATURELY. THE CONSUMER COULD HEAR LOUD NOISES COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. THE DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED BUT WAS UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK THE CONSUMER CONTACTED THE MANUFACTURE BUT WAS REFUSED ANY ASSISTANCE FOR REPAIRS. *NM

TRUCK WILL NOT SHIFT PROPERLY WHEN GOING UP GRADE. ENGINE WILL REV AT 4500-5000 RPM BUT WILL NOT SHIFT UNTIL I SLIGHTLY RELEASE THE GAS PEDAL. TRUCK WILL ALSO PERFORM MULTIPLE HARD UP SHIFTS WHEN IN CRUISE CONTROL GOING UP GRADE... HAD THE TRUCK IN FOR SERVICE 3 TIMES. FIRST TIME IN MAY, 1 MONTH AFTER PURCHASE, THE DEALER REPROGRAMMED THE COMPUTER WITH A "FLASH UPDATE" AND ADJUSTED THROTTLE LINKAGE. THAT WAS NO HELP. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER I TOOK IT IN FOR THE SAME PROBLEM, AND DEALER FOUND NOTHING WRONG. THE THIRD TIME, JANUARY 2004, I TOOK A TECHNICIAN FOR A TEST DRIVE, AND HE AGREED THAT THE TRUCK WAS NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY. THEY REPLACED THE "VALVE BODY" IN THE TRANSMISSION AND THE PROBLEM HAS NOW GOTTEN WORSE. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE TRUCK IS NOW HAVING PROBLEM SHIFTING OUT OF PARK. THEY CLAIM THEY NEED TO REPLACE THE SAME PART THEY JUST INSTALLED, THEY SAY IT MUST HAVE BEEN A DEFECTIVE "VALVE". FURTHERMORE, THE TECHNICIAN IS NOW SAYING THE ORIGINAL SHIFTING PROBLEM IS NORMAL BECAUSE DODGE REPROGRAMMED THE TRANSMISSION TO AVOID MULTIPLE UP & DOWN SHIFTING WHEN GOING UP A GRADE. THIS WAS DOWN TO PUT "LESS STRESS" ON THE TRANSMISSION. DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, DODGE IS SAVING THE TRANSMISSION BY MAKING IT WORK LESS AND DESTROYING THE ENGINE BY LETTING IT REV AT 5000 RPM..... P.S. THIS SHIFTING PROBLEM HAS BEEN OCCURRING SINCE THE DAY I DROVE THE TRUCK OFF THE LOT. *LA