just bought an 05 dakota st with a 4.7l 545rfe. has the random temp light problem turning the truck on and back off seems to fix it temporarily. it did come with the factory tow package with upgraded oil and transmission oil cooling.

i am trying to isolate the problem before spending the money on a new solenoid assy which has the temperature sensor as an integral part.


i read somewhere about a/c condensate dripping on the pcm harness and corroding the wires can causing a faulty reading. also it may be worth checking ground connections which may give a false voltage reading.

please post any findings as this is slightly frustrating

 

I had and dealt with this problem. I ended up changing the PCM under the hood on the passenger side. Before that, I did the solenoid pack in the trans. problem solved. no more light...and it doesnt run in limp mode at all either.

 

Thanks for the info. Im taking the truck in to the shop next week and Ill suggest your idea. Right now the gas gauge drops to empty when the tank hits 3/4's Its not serious but I sometimes forget how much fuel I have and really don't want to be stranded in the desert.

Cheers

 

My truck is in the shop now for what may be a related problem. I had the transmission gone through this spring and it turned out to be contamination from a disintegrating lockup clutch in the torque converter. It ran fine afterward, but I started getting the random temperature light. A couple of months ago, my truck started running rough right after startup and I got a CEL for crankshaft position sensor. I replaced the CPS but the problem continued. I took it back to the trans shop and they've been struggling with it. Last Friday I talked with him. He said he changed a power relay for the transmission and fixed the temp light, but the rough idling was coming from the left bank O2 sensor going open loop after startup. Both upstream O2 sensors are nearly new, he traded them for new ones on warranty but it's still doing it. He said he was going to call another shop for ideas, but is starting to wonder about the computers. I don't know about that, as the trans is controlled by the TCM, the Engine by the ECM, but the PCM does control power distribution, so...., ?

 

The transmission shop gave up and asked me to come get it. I ordered a "Blue Driver" bluetooth interface to see if I can figure it out....,

 

There is also a TSB out for trans related issues. I had it done when the truck was pretty new. I forced another Chrysler dealer to deal with the issue because the dodge one closed. Had to do some digging on the net and print out material..I was pretty pissed on the fact that, I as a consumer found out that there was a TSB when the dealer played stupid the whole time. Probably because they werent a DODGE product dealer.

 

Got my Dakota running yesterday! The transmission shop did say the problem with the transmission temperature light and crankshaft position sensor was a power supply problem. They pulled and cleaned the contacts on the relays in the Front Control Module.

The problem with the truck running was sneakier. When I took it to them it had a CEL for the left/front O2 sensor. He put a Bosch sensor it, but didn't fix the problem and after trying 3 sensors, thought it was a wiring or PCM problem.

After plugging in my Blue Driver I started logging the upstream and downstream O2 sensors, along with fuel trim. The right upstream sensor was switching like it's supposed to, but the left upstream was nearly stable at about .7 volts. The truck would run fine in open loop for about 10 seconds after startup, but then the left bank fuel trim would back out as far as it can (-32.8%) and the left bank would start lean misfires. The right sensor had the tip with holes all around the circumference. When I pulled the left sensor, it was a short/fat tip with a few holes in the end only. I double checked the part numbers on the Bosch USA website, and they even had pictures showing that they were different. I bought a Denso sensor for the left side that looked like the right side and worked like a charm! I called Bosch USA and told them about the problem and they said they'd look into it.

Bosch 13775 is listed for right upstream and left downstream and works
Bosch 13610 is listed for left upstream and right downstream and doesn't work.
Denso 234-4744 is listed for left upstream and works correctly.

 

Just started having a problem with my 2006 Dodge Dakota SLT 4.7L Magnum V8 (112,000 miles). The temperature warning light was coming on at random intervals. The dealer said that the engine fan clutch had failed and that the transmission had overheated. $500 for new clutch. Called me after installing the clutch and said that the temperature sensor had been ruined when the transmission overheated. $700 for that because the sensor is inside the transmission. The day after I got the truck back, the warning light still came on at random intervals. Went back to the dealership and was told that the truck has a design flaw. They said that a tiny temperature sensor is on one side of the transmission and should have been placed on the other side of the transmission. Because of its position, the fluid hits the sensor before it goes through the cooling system. If it were on the other side of the transmission, the fluid would hit the sensor after it's cooled. Tomorrow, they are going to hang another cooling system off of the radiator. I asked what this is going to cost me, and they said that they will cover the cost. They also said that if it doesn't solve the problem, they will move the sensor wire to the new cooling system.

 

Sounds like complete BS to me.

 

My '06 Dakota does the same thing. I noticed, though, it only does in in the summertime. I had no problems with it in the cooler weather.