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Dodge Ram Owner Experiences
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Comments
But recently replaced the (VSS) speed sensor at the trans housing rear, it had no ohm reading & now puts out a voltage 2-4 volts depending upon the engine RPM
*** THIS SENSOR HAS 2 WIRES *** and no voltage is present at the connector going to it. ***
There's another wiring harness with 3 wires half way down the trans towards the engine , ....... whats this for ?
Also where exactly is the PCM located ?
My serevic engine & ABS light have always been on & dodge told me thats a VSS problem . I suspect the original owner wanted to disable the SPEED-O as it stays at 90916 miles,
also had work done on rear brakes & never replaced the emergency brake cable so that lite is on now too.
TIA, still no speedometer,
Steve
I have a 2004 hemi, I drove it through a puddle about 8-10" deep that was across the road. This is supposed to be a 4X4 'OFF ROAD' Vehicle? it's never even been off Road!
If you look at the design of these trucks, you'll find a real brain buster, the air intake sits BELOW the motor, IN FRONT of the front tire.
The result was water into the air intake from a little 8" puddle, hardly sounds like a rugged 'Off Road' truck!
OK, the Beauty is I had paid over $2000.00 for the 'Top of the Line' warranty, and they covered NOTHING! I have brought it in for service before on a warranty related issue, all I ever get is an excuse why I have to pay.
The insurance company paid them to put another motor in it, but when they did, they stole my other parts that they were supposed to re-install, like my Alternator, AC Pump, all the parts from the top of the motor were rusty and used, they put a junkyard motor in and instead of replacing my parts, the just left the junk stuff on the used motor and kept my 'Good' parts.
The sales guy's thought the whole thing was pretty funny, as I was leaving one told me "We got your Money again, have a great weekend sucker", the biggest problem with these guys in addition to just being crooks, is they are so cocky about it when you catch them and their rip-offs, they actually laugh about it, well, I suppose why not, after all they seem to get away with it.
I'd adding here a picture of a postcard they sent me to try to get me to do business with them again, it features 'My Truck' (same make, etc.) driving through the ocean! It's just amazing how these crooks take advantage of people through deceptive advertising, if you did this you would blow the motor, trust me I did it.
I will be spreading the word, and I ask anyone who reads this to do so as well, and If you have had a bad experience with these dealers, let's get together and stand up for ourselves, it's as easy as spreading the word, make a post on the net, there is power in that, they're just too stupid to realize it will catch up to them sooner or later. They think you are 1 little person and as long as they get your money that's all they care about, and they WILL trick you to do it.
Chrysler Corp. is just as bad, they are the head of the snake, and their 'Customer Service' people are just as rude as the staff at Bob Mariano Dodge.
I'll put my email address here if you want to contact me, and I will be contacting the other person who posted here as well.
I'd love to hear from anyone else Mariano has ripped off, and I'm sure they're out there!
If you have had a problem with Bob Mariano dodge, I urge you to make a public post here as well, if you have had a problem with any other dealer post a review, help to save someone else the aggrivation and expense of being ripped off. email me at standupi0u1@yahoo.com
Thanks and Happy Holidays
Ah yes, Cortese.
I don't know where you live in the Rochester, New York area, but I highly recommend Marina Dodge in Webster. If you continue to have issues, stop by Marina and ask to speak to Paul the Service Manager. Paul's staff and the entire service and parts organization at Marina are the very best I've ever had the pleasure to work with.
Feel free to use my name.
Best regards,
Dusty
My mother had a 98 that she had for two years and had the transmission replaced 3 times. Was this a common occurence with the 1996 model?
If I were you, I'd think twice. Unless of course your a tranny mechanic.
any engine will last for ever if taken care of. the same with the transmissions. when you own a Dodge pickup pre-ventive maintanance is the key to anything. I loved the V-10. you will get around 09- to 11 miles to the gallon with it. If it is in top running order. one thing is good about mileage is you should get the same milage pulling a trailer as you would get empty.
good luck, I hope I was some help.
GFord
I hope this helps
gford
SLT Bighorn 4X4 LB SRW Auto 3.73
Heck, some people never do it and Im one of them. Never changed differential fluid in dozens of my past cars/trucks (checked every so ofton) and never had an issue with it. I'm not suggesting that you never do it but every other change-out should be fine for normal useage. That fluid is thick stuff and unless you have a leak, it ain't going anywhere.
Please no flames by die hard motorheads!!, This is just my experience with it.
Ski in TX
Chris
Had truck since Oct 2007 so 20K + miles of NO issues what-so-ever since. Sometimes, you just end up getting a "bad" one for what ever reason. Kind of like kids, you get what you get no matter what you hoped for.
Good luck on the truck!
Ski in TX
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
I test drove a 2010 F-150, and several rides in a Tundra and 2009 Silverado were comparisons. The Ram actually proved to be the quieter of all the trucks I've been in, although the Tundra is very quiet. The Ram handles extremely well with the big twenty-inch tires, on par with the Silverado and I'd rate better than the F150. Engine responsiveness is pronounced, although the Hemi seems to take to the higher gears a bit better than the Tundra. In comparison, the 5.4 F150 is way down on power.
Build quality is excellent on my example. Panel gaps are fairly narrow and very consistent across the vehicle. The engine is exceptionally quiet, far more quiet than the Ford, and slightly more quiet than the Tundra. The only quality issue so far is a creaky center console.
My first tank of fuel averaged 17.86 MPG (measured). This was mixed driving, about 80% around town and back country roads and very easy driving. My second tank was 17.14 (measured). This was with more agressive driving and almost no expressway miles. In either case this was more than I was expecting since the 5.7s have a reputation for long break-ins. The actual measured mileage varied from a displayed 18.2 on the EVIC (instrument display), but I believe this was due to me overfilling the tank. The subsequent tank reading was only one-tenth off from the actual measurement, much more accurate than I would've thought. The new (2009 and up) Hemis have VVT, VCT,MDS and 390 HP, and obviously much more efficient than older versions. Maybe the dual exhaust makes a difference.
This is a very comfortable truck to drive. The cabin is so quiet that I can hear things like the keys on my key ring swaying back and forth at 65 MPH, and things sliding across the rear seat on turns. This truck has the premium seats with nice bolsters. The interior is much nicer than the older Rams and very well appointed despite not being the top model. Even with the twenty-inch tires this Ram rides very smoothly, almost car like. One person comment that it rides better than their Nissan Altima.
The Ram sits tall, noticeably taller than a Silverado. I had to buy a two-step ladder to be able to reach all of the windshield during washings. My only real complaint so far is the user documentation. You get a nicely printed Owners Manual, but it is very lacking in detail. The User Guide is supplied on a DVD. That, too, in my opinion leaves one with a number of unanswered questions. The feature descriptions are often too brief. For example, it does not explicitly explain how the average fuel usage is calculated by the computer and that if you overfill the gas tank it will falsely report average fuel economy which affects the Distance To Empty value.
Dusty
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
Ski in TX
My philosophy when I purchase my Dakota in '03 was to buy just the amount of truck I really needed and not more. My requirements were (and still are) to transport my ATV and various tools, such as chain saws, etc.
My old ATV fit inside the bed of the Dakota and I could still close the tailgate. No other less-than-full-size pickup could do that at the time. When I upgraded the ATV to a Kawasaki Brute Force I found that I could not close the tailgate completely, but I devised a workaround using straps to hold the tailgate partialy close. It fit my purposes just fine and was just right.
Of course, the new Dakotas, despite having a beautiful 303 HP 4.7, did not appeal to me because of the sterile interior and the lack of instruments.
I sort of maintained the same philosophy with the Ram Quad, although obviously a new Dakota would've given me the same capacity as my 2003. As you know, the Ram Quad was never meant to compete directly with the four-door Fords and GMs, and essentially was an extended cab with conventional doors. And in previous years there was no Dodge equivalent to Ford and GM crews. Now there is.
Truthfully, the 6.5 foot box on the new Ram is enough for my purposes. I only carry more than two passengers less than 3 percent of the time, so the Ram Crew offered me nothing there. In addition, I avoid the extra weight, which should benefit fuel consumption, and the reduced maneuverability from the extra length. Would I consider a Ram Crew instead of a Quad. Even if I weight and total length were not a factor, the reduced length of the box is, however, a deal breaker for sure.
The gas mileage is getting better. Although I won't know until later in the week when I fill up, I've been putting around town and the EVIC is telling me my current tank average is 17.7 MPG. I did drive about 40 miles East of Rochester, to Wolcott, NY and back on Sunday, and when I pulled in to the driveway at home it was showing 20.2 MPG. This was on state road and my average speed was 61.8MPH. According to my second fill up the EVIC is within 0.14 MPG of a true measurement.
Bests,
Dusty
Yeah, see my post to the Host.
Fortunately, rear passenger space is not a concern of mine, but bed length is.
I guess Texas is such a special market for trucks, the Big Horn package in your state is sold as the Lone Star. Kinda neat.
Regards,
Dusty
The computer shut down Saturday night.
Our local Dodge repair shop says the new computer board won't be in until next week!
Has anyone else heard of a brand new Dodge Ram shutting down so soon?
We had hardly any problems with our 2001 Dodge Dakota!
What surprises me is the length of time you were told to get a replacement computer. I would think a PCM (computer) would be a priority item because a vehicle is down. Normally I get parts from Dodge in 2-3 days.
Or, maybe they haven't really diagnosed the problem. Computer problems are very rare for any vehicle nowasays.
Once you get your truck back I think you'll like it, though.
Regards,
Dusty
I am feeling better about the purchase....
I had been so worried, that I started to investigate the Lemon law!