Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 02/03/2009 | 82000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab. the contact stated that the radiator in the vehicle failed. he went to thompson chrysler and dodge and had the vehicle repaired; however, he was not satisfied with the repairs. the radiator still leaks fluid and the contact would just like his vehicle repaired properly. the vin was not included in the recall. the nhtsa campaign id number and vin were unknown. the current mileage was 88,000 and failure mileage was 82,000. | |||
| 04/24/2003 | 5000 | 2 | 03/31/2003 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab. whenever the brake pedal was applied, the brakes would pulsate, overheat, and lock up. the stopping distance would also increase. the dealer stated that wet conditions and high speed braking caused the rotors to warp. in addition, the vehicle idles high and roughly when approaching a stop sign or traffic light. when accelerating from a stop or merging into traffic, the vehicle would idle roughly. there was no throttle response for approximately 10 to 20 seconds, but then the vehicle would surge forward. the vehicle has been taken to a dealer approximately five times for these issues, but the failures still persist. all the sensors were replaced, but the failure is becoming worse. the dealer replaced the front rotors three times and the contact replaced them four times. the current mileage was 132,655 and failure mileage was 5,000. updated 11/06/08. *lj the rotors and brakes were replaced several times. the consumer was told the vehicle had a faulty master cylinder that was not letting the rear brakes ever work. the air conditioner was built to drain into the front passenger floor. the computer in the vehicle would not accept updates. the intermediate shaft was replaced. the wiper motor was replaced. updated 11/06/08. *jb | |||
| 04/18/2004 | 11 | 10 | 05/17/2003 |
| I have a light knocking in my engine. the first time i took it to the dealer, they stated there was something wrong with the engine, but unable to indentify the problem. i took it back again. they had it for 3 days, and said there was nothing wrong with it. they say all dodge engines make that noise. unknown to them, i have 2 and my other does not make the same noise. it has occasionally stalled both backing up and going forward. there is a pulling to the right even after having it aligned and balanced. it does not shift properly and won't stay in cruise control while climbing a hill. also my oil hose was loose causing a rattling under the hood. the light showing you the gear your in did not work properly. over all the worse vehicle i have ever owned with a hefty tag. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 01/04/2010 | 60745 | ||
| Original owner of a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab 4.7l v-8. it experienced sudden loss of oil pressure and catostrophic engine failure. vehicle had only 60,745 miles on odometer, it should have been covered by chrysler's 7yr/70,000 mile powertrain warranty but chrysler refused to cover as with all the other similar complaints. how many of these engines have to fail before the government protects the consumer? this oil pump failure is a well known problem with chrysler, but they refuse to cover any warranty claims for this problem. the engine is a defective design, these engines are failing at a very high rate. speak with any engine remanufacturer and they will tell you about the design flaws of this engine and how many rebuilds they are selling to fix blown engines of consumers that have chrylser vehicles with this 4.7l engine. | |||
| 08/07/2006 | 52231 | 1 | 02/25/2003 |
| Oil gauge dropped to 0 while driving. stopped to check the oil and it was fine. drove about 3 miles and the truck died. every thing locked up and unable to start again. towed it to the mechanics and he said that we had sludge. we changed the oil as recommended. the warranty said that they will not cover buying a new engine because it was our fault. i have the receipts to prove that we did the oil changes. they had poor customer service. what's the sense of getting the extended warranty if it won't help. our truck has 50,000 miles. *jb | |||
| 08/06/2006 | 1 | ||
| Oil pressure dropped within seconds, within 8 minutes engine died, couldn't start up again. oil level was fine, did the oil changes prior to this when it was recommended. chrysler stated that the warranty did not cover this. oil sludge. others have gone through the same thing. *jb | |||
| 08/14/2004 | 31540 | 1 | 02/01/2003 |
| While driving down the road my engine lost oil pressure and i had it towed from the spot. now i need to have dodge dealer look at it.*ak | |||
| 01/30/2003 | 6222 | 1 | 11/18/2003 |
| At certain times the engine omits a high pitch whistle when driving. the noise comes and goes periodically and at different speeds. *jb | |||
| 10/16/2003 | 6000 | 4 | 05/16/2003 |
| Vehicle stalled when driven at 50 mph or greater. *ak the consumer stated the problem occurred at least 4 times. *jb | |||
| 10/30/2003 | 405 | 12 | 10/13/2003 |
| 4x4 dodge dakota quad cab stalls periodically. has stalled 12 times between the period 10/30/03 and 12/19/03. dealership claims it cannot recreate. usually occurs within a few minutes of starting. typically has been at slow speeds (20 mph or lower), but has occurred as high as 40 mph. typically restarts after sitting for a few minutes. would not restart, however, after stall on 12/14/03. currently on 5th service visit. dealership tells me no error codes show up on the computer. i suggested installation of a co-pilot. after lengthy wait for a co-pilot (national backorder per chrysler), event was recorded on co-pilot and has been sent to chrysler. as of yet, no word on results of co-pilot data. i have begun arbitration process under mn lemon law to have vehicle replaced/repurchased. | |||
| 08/01/2003 | 34 | 1 | 07/26/2003 |
| When the truck is started and allowed to warm up for approximately 3 to 4 minutes and then put into reverse the truck dies. i have had the truck back to the dealership 4 times now. they have told me that they are unable to get the problem to replicate. i know that this is not true because i have had the truck for three months and it has died every time i have put it into reverse. the last time they called me to tell me that they could not get the truck to die so i made a trip to the dealership and replicated the problem for them. the dealership then called chrysler and chrysler told them to put a co-pilot on the truck and hopefully that would catch the problem. i picked the truck up yesterday after they installed the co pilot and today when i went out to start it, died six times when i put it in reverse. i took the truck back to the dealership this morning and they removed the co pilot and said that they would send the info to chrysler. i am hoping to get this problem fixed but as of right now i am not going to hold my breath. *la | |||
| 07/31/2003 | 665 | 1 | 07/07/2003 |
| Check engine light came on, engine locked up with only 665 miles. oil pressure gauge also went to zero.*ak | |||
| 07/10/2003 | 2624 | 2 | |
| Brakes squeal and engine idle problem.*ak | |||
| 05/27/2003 | 2459 | 1 | 04/21/2003 |
| Brakes squeal and howl, engine idels rough with a/c off in drive (wants to stall).*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||
| 10/03/2007 | 45857 | 1 | 12/27/2003 |
| Replace exhaust manifold gaskets, screws and studs on right and left sides of engine. *tr | |||