Hi all - My brother is having a a few problems with his 2002 Dakota (I believe it's a 4.7L V8 w/Manual Trans). I am hoping that someone might have quick/easy solutions as the dealer wants anywhere from $750.00 to $1300.00 to fix these:

1. Auto door locks do not unlock when the truck is turned off. They automatically lock when going > 15MPH.

2. The intermittent wipers do not work. The wipers do work on LO & HI, but you have to turn them off when the wipers are at the bottom of the windshield, otherwise they stop where they are.

3. The climate control selector switch only works on defrost or A/C. All other positions don't (e.g. dash vents/foot vents/Combo) The blower works fine as does the temperature selector.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

On the door locks if the switch on the driver's door will lock and unlock the doors and if the keyless entry still does lock and unlock it may be the Central Timer Module has a problem. If the door switch and/or keyless remote will not unlock the door then the driver's door lock switch can either be bad or have a bad wiring conector. More tests and more info is needed to identify the cause of the problem.

On the intermittent wipers the wiper motor is probably bad. Incorrect park of the wipers when you turn off the switch is a classic symptom of a bad wiper motor.

On the climate control problem there may be a problem with one of the electric actuators for the system. There are 4 actuators, 2 outside the HVAC box and 2 inside. Sometimes the actuator outside the box just above the gas pedal breaks. It can be replaced without removing the HVAC box so if that is the problem it is a fairly easy fix. There can be other causes or it could be one of the other 3 actuators is bad. The dealer can recalibrate the actuators and blend doors with the DRB scan tool and maybe that might help.

Jimmy

 

Jimmy - Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along and see what he wants to do. On the door locks, I'm pretty sure the driver's door switch and the keyless entry both unlock the doors.

 

YW. I know the door locks can be programmed to lock when you hit 15 mph, you can do it yourself, it's in the owner's manual. Dodge calls it 'Rolling Door Lock". I am not sure if the truck can be programmed to unlock when the ignition is turned off though. If so, that is probably in the manual too.

Jimmy

 

I pulled the wiper assembly out of the truck and opened up up the gear case.
There are three commutator arms that wipe on a brass disc. I cleaned out the crap, and polished the disk. I then noticed that one of the contacts was shorter than the other two. It had worn and broken off. I bent a piece of large paper clip wire to shape,soldered it on,and cut off the excess. I lubed it up with dielectric grease, closed it up and reinstalled the assembly. Damned if it didn't work! I don't know how long this will hold, but wtf.
The cheapest replacement assembly is available here. $129.00 + sh. GH

 

Thanks for the tip Hambone... I'll pass it along.