Well,
another 'black eye' on this vehicle..I took it into the dealership this past Thursday for a 'clanking noise' at idle and it wound up costing me 900 bucks in parts/labor for a new timing gear kit..

Its 94 degrees today in Michigan and my temp needle likes to go to the far right of the 210 mark,but it dont go past this..Is this also normal for a 2000 Dodge 4.7 Dakota quad cab to run this hot?I had the entire cooling system flushed and filled when I bought it 3 months ago,no leaks anywhere either..My buddies 2002 Silverado was pulling 4 ATVs and cargo to boot and his Chevy never once went past 180 degrees in the same temperature,and this guy gets 21 mph if he's not loaded..

I love this truck,but im just not to happy with the poor fuel economy..Its tuned and I run fully synthetic 10-30 oil..My brother John ALLMOST bought a new 2005 Hemi this past week but backed out of the deal and went and bought the new 2005 4x4 full size[4 door] Silverado instead..He used 9.2 gallons of fuel in 193.7 miles of freeway driving...Thats well over 20 mpg..

I discussed my displeasure with my MPG with my dealer and he said its the samething he gets with his and dismissed anything as being wrong.

My next truck?

Chevy?.

 

Dodge vehicles arent exactly known for gas economy.


And I'm right with ya on your next truck. Although if I get another small truck its gonna be a Nissan. Full size, F250 or if I'm really having problems finding a manual tranny in a F250, I might have to order a *ick* GMC with a manual and 4.8L V8.

 

I'll have owned my '02 Dakota QC (w/4.7L V8) for 3 years next month and I've averaged 14.8 MPG over that time while accomulating just over 50K miles. This included a trip from WA to FL (via San Diego) with no load (17.5 MPG), a return trip with a 4000 lbs trailer (11.9 MPG), and a trip from WA to So Cal with a 3000 lbs trailer (12.3 MPG). My average tank commuting to and from work, etc comes in at about 14.5 MPG. I use 87 octane fuels and change my oil every 3K-4K miles. Everything is stock other than a K&N FIPK Gen II (the trip to FL simply had a K&N filter).
If you're getting under 13 on an average tank with a V6, something is wrong. My sticker gives a range of 11-15 (city) and 15-21 (hwy) for average of 13 & 18. I can't imagine the V6 would be less... Was the truck purchased in Denver? (i.e. high elevation)