Hello.. first time poster.

I bought a used 2005 Dakota with the 4.7 V8 around 4 months ago from a dodge dealership. When I got the truck, the original key phob didn't work. So we bought two new ones from the dealer. They worked fine, brand new. Around a month ago, one phob went out. I changed the battery, worked fine for a week. Then stopped working completely. My second phob, same exact thing. I took it to a closer dealer, as the one I bought it from was an hour away, they told me I need to replace the gauge cluster, for $700! They had me sit at the dealer for 6 hours. Wondering if it's anything else or a different way to fix. It's annoying that I can't use the buttons on my NEW phobs.

 

its not the guage cluster, its the little **** tabs that keep the battery secured in the fob, when the solder break it no longer keeps the battery tight against the circuit, mine broke years ago and just lock/unlock doors by hand using keys, even locking doors by hand still sets the alarm.

 

Well the guys at the dealership said the truck was receiving a signal from the remote. However the signal from the cluster to the locks aren’t functioning. Not even the panic button works.

Like I said. The remotes are brand new.

 

Turns out there was a short in the CAN BUS. Whatever that is. New wiring from the dealer and it was all good to go. $60 for it, not gonna complain. They didn't charge for the hours and hours of labor!

However it it would've been nice if they tightened down the negative cable on the battery. I go to the gas station, start the truck and everything goes black. Quick thinking was the cable. It came right off!

 

Well, it's happening again. Lasted about a week. Locked truck with one remote, it locked then didn't work after that. My second remote did the same thing. Worked for about an hour, locked, and didn't do a thing after that. Batteries are still good. Little tester at autozone was getting the rf signal.

Can an aftermarket radio be the problem?

where is the CAN BUS.

 

The can bus is everywhere....

 

I’ve heard it can have something to do with my aftermarket radio. I installed it myself, but I’m gonna have a local installer reinstall it.

 

There are some threads on here about how the oem radio interfaces with the can bus. You need an interface adapter or locate a different power supply.... no experience, just what I've seen here.

 

I bought the truck used, there was an aftermarket radio already in there. It was old so I bought a new one from bestbuy and installed myself.