My fiancee has an 04 Dakota 2wd that she bought new in 04. Has the V6 and an automatic transmission. Early on, it tended to be early with its shifting, and slow to downshift. She took it to the dealer (70K warranty) several times between 20 and 40K, and of course, being warranty work, they just couldnt find a thing wrong with it. In the last 3 months, the problem has gotten MUCH worse- wont downshift up a 3-4% grade unless you tap the pedal to the floor, or push the OD button. Normal accelerator pressure/ movement to try to maintain speed wont work- it doesnt seem to add any fuel, or downshift til you get to about 2/3 throttle. But, when you get to the top, and almost level out, it will go ahead and downshift and pick up speed. When accelerating up a slight hill, it will shift into OD at about 30-32mph (3.54 rear), and will NOT downshift til you blip the pedal. Also, when slowing down to a crawl, such as when going through a "Yield" (10-12mph), it will rev up when you reapply the accelerator, like it had slipped into neutral, and takes a second or two for everything to get going again. I'm thinking it's a sensor of some sort or another (I have a mechanical diesel I work on, and gassers and I just dont get along), that is not sending the right signal to the computer (ECM? PCM?), but is still within the overall parameters, so it isnt throwing any codes.

Truck has been meticulously maintained- oil changed every 3000, transmission every 20 or 25K (I think- she follows the manual), had a complete flush AND changed the filter. I know Chrysler isnt known for their great transmissions (the 518 is why I will not own a diesel with an auto), but this is ridiculous. I even offered to take the technician for a ride- because I can duplicate every issue whenever I want- but the service writer at the dealer said "he'd be too busy for that." The tech DID drive it home to the same town we live in (30mi away, with her permission) and "found no problems."

Rough idle also started at about 25K, if I recall. Was told "The new ones do it, too, nothing is wrong." But, it was something NEW, so it has to have something wrong. Fuel economy has dropped 3-4mpg across the board. Used to average 22-24 hwy/ 17-19city; now it's 18-20 hwy/ 15-16 city. No change in conditions or driving style. We do drive fairly conservatively- the only time it sees more than 2500rpm is getting onto interstate.

Thanks,
Dan

 

I have the same truck, but with 4wd. mines got 57,000 on it and it started running rough and getting terrible fuel mileage. I threw a new set of plugs in it and it was back to normal, but normal for me is 17 highway.

 

bring it to another dealership. They probably just don't want to do the warranty paper work. Because they have to fight with dodge for the warranty issues.

 

tamcnally- Plugs got replaced at about 50K. Needed changing, but didnt change anything performance wise. Does your Dakota act normally in regards to shifting and power? I'm not expecting the 6-700ft-lbs my 92 puts out, but this isnt right, either

varsis- It's been to at least 2 dealers. No one can find anything wrong with it. Usually say something to the effect of it's normal.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

DP

 

move the TV cable towards the firewall 1/8" and see what that does...it will increase the line pressure.

also, make sure WOT on the pedal is WOT on the butterfly..the linkage may have gotten askew at some point.

 

Yea i had to change the plugs. the gap is supposed to be .035 and the ones i took out had a gap of .075. they were terrible. but until that point i thought it was pretty "snappy" for a 3.7 V6. I had no complaints until until only started hitting on 5 cylinders.