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Dodge Dakota: Problems & Solutions
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You are as meticulous as I am ;-)
Years ago, I would just run a garden hose thru the system while revving the engine.... but now... the concern of minerals in the tapwater messing up the mixture makes this a doubious process. There is no way to gauarantee all of the tapwater is removed from the system after flusing.
I am definantly going to buy a case of distilled water and do a thorough flush of my cooling system.
BTW... thanks for locating the radiator draincock for me. I did not pull off that cover under the engine becauese those snap-in clips often break.
Now they say they dont know how to fix it and D/C says they will not assist anymore since the rep (That has never seen my truck) said there is nothing he knows to do. So now D/C and my local dealer have me driving a truck with no brakes most of the time and will not do any more to it.
Its funny how when I had a whine in the rearend on the last Dakota, D/C jumped to the plate and got me a new truck. Now a little thing like no brakes and they say there is nothing more they can do.
Complaints have already been filed with NHTSA, CA Bureau of Auto Repair and the Federal Trade Commission.
Robert
John
"Use Mopar Power Steering fluid or equivalent. Do not use automatic transmission fluid and do not overfill." In fact, my Dodge Parts Dept. sold me Mopar Power Steering Fluid #04883077. Which is the correct fluid?
P.S. To seventy7, thanks for taking the time to post in great detail your "coolant changeout."
Search the archives of this very forum... I appended the verbage of the TSB several months ago. (Hint: #2354)
he ATF+4 is a SYNTHETIC fluid and can better handle the heat generated by the new rack&pionion steering system.
My 2000 Dak has REGULAR PSF in it and I chose to replace with the same (non-synthetic) stuff due to the possibility of mixing the fluids in the system.
The newer Daks (mid 2001 and on) have the ATF+4 as a factory fill.. .this stuff lasts MUCH longer than the normal PSF.
Have a great weekend.
As to your question, no problems. Last year, at around 4K, the alternator gave up the ghost due to a mis routed wiring harness that shorted out and smoked the alternator. Otherwise, still humming along. No brake issues at all, same type of driving, same hunting type trips, same roads, same pretty much everything. Probably the main diffrennce in my brake troubles with the Dak and this rig are:
1. Stick shift allows me to use engine to slow down, thus saving on the brakes.
2. Rotors are obvisously much better quality and properly sized to the vehicle. Dodge, are you reading this?
3. Perhaps a tad more braking power goes to the rear on this rig as the Dakota since there is a bit more weight back there. Less to the front so the braking forces are probably spread out a bit better than on the Dak.
That's pretty much it. I spend more time keeping this vehicle clean rather than wondering what will break next like I did with the Dak.
My advice, take it for what it's worth, is get out of that truck and get yourself something that lasts. One lemon is enough, two is too much to bear.
Good luck.
Its like the ABS is kicking in during hard braking as it should but, instead of pulsing it is sticking and I just slow down like coasting to a stop in neutral and the brake pedal wont move.
I am picturing it like a valve that opens and closes real fast and instead of doing that it is sticking halfway and not letting the full braking force go. Does this make sense? Any of you guys with a book know if there is a way I can disable the ABS and still have speedometer and no warning lights on the dash in a 2001 Quadcab, 4.7 auto, 4x4?
Thanks,
Robert
Just my 2 cents.
John
Best regards,
Dusty
Robert
(The wheel speed differential would be detected as a "ABS stop," meaning it thinks one of the vehicle wheels is completely stopped all the time.)
My guess is that the ABS unit is defective. I would mention what you did to your service people and see what they say.
By the way, the ABS brake system on my wife's Avalon is about the worst I have ever driven. It triggers easily and often, even on dry pavement. The Toyota service manager told us that ABS controller failures are "kind've common" on Toyota vehicles, recognising our complaint. Since we have nearly 70K on this car everything is out of warranty. The ABS controller on the Avalon is $1000. GM uses the same unit. We've replaced them before. I sometimes am tempted to do the same thing you've done and leave the blasted thing disconnected.
Also, my Dakota is rear wheel ABS only. That probably explains the difference in the way they act.
Good luck,
Dusty
Dodge=BAD! lol...
Robert
He goes to the dealer, shows them the god awful mess (oil was EVERYWHERE) and showed them the oil soaked and now dripping hood insulation.
The service guy said, well, hey dude, you left off the oil cap when you changed your oil....not our problem. Till pops showed them the receipt. Then the service guy got real quiet and sheepish but still hemmed and hawed about how "busy" they were and it might be "two weeks" before they could look at it.
So pops shoves off, gets in the car, and proceeds to park it right in front of the main service bay door. Gets out, locks it up, and called a buddy for a ride. The service guy comes out, yells, "Hey move the car". To which pops responds with a vertical finger salute. Then the GM of the dealership gets involved and is falling all over himself to make excuses for inept workmanship but said dad can have a free rental while they clean up the mess.
So a new hood insulator is ordered, installed, and the motor is cleaned. THe service guy was all out of sorts and said, "Hope you're happy, ya got a new insulator on there, just like you wanted."
Dad said, "yeah, remember it was nice and new when I brought it in here too"
Ok, so this isn't design or manufacturing defect but as you can see, its plainly obvious that once you sign the papers and hand over the money, they seem to forget who you are.
Your situation is totally inexcusable. I hope you can get a satisfactory resolution to your issues.
Small wonder that sales, profits, and market share continue to trend downward for the big 2.5
There's a lesson here somewhere.
PS......this past summer, after some more issues like crank sensors failure, master cylinder leak, and loose ac pulley, dad traded the Intrepid for a new Toyota Corolla. Remember this is/was a dyed in the wool 29 year UAW, rah rah rah Detroit iron driver. Goes to show anymore that people will indeed go where they are treated well.
Bookitty
My Dakota has the 31X10.5 tires which I always run at 40PSI because of the specific warning in the owners manual. (Higher PSI also provide better MPG too)
He took it back to the dealer and they found that someone had put 45 psi of air in the tires. After bringing it down to the normal 32, it handled normally (for an S10 Blazer, that is).
Regards,
Dusty
I'm also putting on some Yokohama Geolander A/T II tires in the 265-70R-16 size. I'll report back after a few good snows to let you all know how they do. Tire rack had a lot of good reveiews for them, other than wearing fast.
Thanks for all your help.
Lastly, can anyone post me the link to the article on bedding in new brakes.
Thanks for all your help. Kevin
*)Be prepared for the rotors to be STUCK on the hubs.
*)No special tools besides my 'normal' brake tools. (including wire brushes, brakleen and file to smooth out the pad sliders)
*)Quality Pads will come with various StainlessSteel shims to properly 'fit' the pads on the sliders.
*)Quality Pads will come with proper lube for the sliders.
BrakePad Care&Feeding:
http://www.shotimes.com/brakes/part1.html
Install brakes on Dak:
http://geocities.com/maldbnsf/PS.html
Dick
Dick
Thanks,
Dusty
I cleaned everyting up and added hi-temp lube to all sliding surfaces (just like on the front pad-sliders)
I would have to say that the rear drum PM on my Dak was no different from any of my other vehicles I have PMd. (except for VW which uses a different kind of automatic adjuster)
The only 'tricky' part is understandig how to 'back off' the automatic adjuster mechinism.... otherwise, the brake shoes will 'catch' on the lip of rust inside the drum and keep the drum from coming off.
PM= Preventive Maintenance (A term used in industry)
Dick
I have heard of the "nothing but high fan speed" symptom before, so I guess I'm ready for this failure. Talked to a neighbor that has a '97 and he hasn't had the resistor burn out yet. But I'm not prone to that kind of luck!
Best regards,
Dusty
Like the Mopar style?
Regards,
Dusty
Then, I assume, the grille holds the deflector on?
Dusty
So you think you overtightened the grille mounting screws? I was thinking of taking mine off to paint the grille louvers a different color.
I noticed that the louvers are permanently attached melting the plastic studs that hold them on. Kind of makes it difficult to remove them. I assume, then, the louvers are replaced with the grille surround.
Does this mean you'll have to have the grille surround painted, or do they come in colors?
Best regards,
Dusty
I finally took Quad in before bumper-to-bumper
warrentee ended. (but do have extended).
1. poping in front end.
2. faulty fuel guage.
3. wiper delay?
4. squeeking in rear suspension.
5. cooling system service.
6. auto trans. service.
The service man said he's NEVER had to replace
ball joints on a Dakota!
I called today and the following parts are on order: upper and lower control arm/ball joints, bushings for rear suspension,
part for steering, gas tank sending unit.
I didn't mind spending money on service for
cooling and auto trans.
But when he recommended "special coil-over spark
plugs" for $60 buck!!! There's nothing special
about 4.7v8 plugs. The ones I replace were plain
jane copper core plugs,,,,,,,what's with that!!!
My truck has been very good to me. The front end pop has been there from the beginning, just waited
till now to get all the work done.
I hope it's finished Monday, I'm picking up my
"loaner" vehicle today.
Mick
NOW, intsalling them is more of a chore than on other engines because of the coil-over design and you should expect to be charged for that additional labor.
and the ones that came from the factory were sure NOT "special"!
Thanks,
Hope to get Quad back Tuesday, if they can find the front suspension parts!
Mick
Using the original equipment is perhaps the cheapest way to go.
The Denso iridiums are OUTRAGOUSLY expensive and will not do anything extra for you (except lighten your wallett)
The Bosch +4 seems to be the best compromize because they tend to last longer than the originals. Since changing the sparkplugs in the 4.7L is kindof a "chore" if it is done properly, longer lasting sparkplugs seem like a good idea.
Lets not forget that Bosch INVENTED the sparkplug and their plugs are better quality than the others. (Nickle plating, special ceramics, better base metals, copper core...etc)
Some of the other brands (AC, Champion) actually have a "copper" plug and try to tell you is is somthing special..... while BOSCH has used copper in ALL of their sparkplugs for over a decade.
What they did find was a blown shifter seal on top of my tranny. Apparently, there was no warning at the 12,000 mile check up - it "just blew". No explanation other than that could be offered.
What causes a shifter seal to blow with less than 15,000 miles on the truck? On my 12,000 mile service paper work, I found listed 2 qts. of automatic trans. fluid (I have a stick!) - but that might have been added to the transfer case when they serviced it (does that make sense?).
Of course the 3 year warranty is up and I need to come up with $744 plus tax to fix this problem.
Thanks for any input.