My nightmare buying a 2003 Dakota.
From : Annonymous
Q: they found the leak on my 97 dakota using uv dye it ended up being the evaporator coil and they wanted about $1000 to replace it so i ended up doing it myself about $130 for the evaporator coil from the auto parts store and about a full days labor since you have to take the whole dash out to change it. pj ritz seems refrigerant loss on the 97 is a common problem. mine seems to lose not quite a full pound between summers always requiring just under a can to recharge it at the start of the cooling season. ive been adding a little every summer since it was 2 years old. finally last month i took it in to mr. dodgewrench for its 60k mile checkup and asked them to check the a/c. they said it was low on refrigerant doh but were unable to find the leak and suggested replacing the compressor ! i asked if they would guarantee that would fix it and the svc mgr said no. he would guarantee the compressor for 90 days but not that it would solve the leak. i told them unless they can positively find the leak and isolate it as definitely being in the compressor that the only way theyre going to replace it is if/when it finally fails. but then his tune changed and suddenly he was almost certain the compressor was the cause and i should have it replaced before it goes out completely. give me a freakin break! the truck only has 61000 miles on it. anyway because i wouldnt agree to let them replace the compressor he wouldnt recharge the system because he said it had a leak even tho his a/c man couldnt find it. yup its a racket but we kinda knew that didnt we so back to wally world for my annual purchase of a can of r134a. my a/cs been fine since. for the a/c tekkies out there heres the symptoms a/c clutch cycling on/off every 1-2 seconds or so vents blowing warm air. suction line feels a little cooler than ambient temp but barely. added 1 can r134a. within 2-3 secs of opening the valve the clutch locked in solid. within a minute the vents were blowing cold and the suction line was almost ice cold dripping w/condensate water. that was a month ago. still working fine. if its anything like last year and the 2 years before that it wont need gas again until next summer. i know this is not what the tree huggers and gas passers want to hear but its what works. writes tom lawrence wrote my a/c isnt working in my 97 ram pu and i noticed that the a/c clutch does not come on and drive the compressor at all. i checked to see if it spins and it does. is their a way to test the clutch their is a 2 prong electrical plug leading too it and is it just a matter of putting 12 volts on it disconnect the connector on top of the accumulator cylinder-looking thing next to the firewall on the passenger side - has a/c hoses coming out of it and stick the ends of a paper clip into the connector the part on the wire not the part left in the accumulator. with the engine running and the climate controls in the a/c position if the clutch engages youre low on refrigerant and need to get the leak found fixed and the system recharged. dont let the clutch stay engaged for too long this way - just long enough to verify the problem. thanks!! the clutch worked almost immediately. -----= posted via feeds.com uncensored usenet =----- http//www.feeds.com - the #1 group service in the world! -----== over 80000 groups - 16 different servers! =----- .
Replies:
From : Annonymous
i have this hood on ebay http//cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayisapi.dllviewitem&rd=1&category=33646&item=2422604823 .
From : david
greg; e-mail me g i was looking for an tranny cooler for my chevy. you have recommended a tru-cool 4590 in the past. i am having trouble finding one locally. found a couple of places on the net but was wondering if you could recommend where to get one and about what price to pay for the cooler. thanks greg .
From : joe
of course they do; they all live in china. i love those cheep cheesy chinese made amerikan flags.... john lasy year my son made it to a state championship wrestling competition here in pa. it was held in the johnstown war memorial. the war memorial stadium was built as a shrine to honor those veterans that served in wwii and korea and old war posters photos and banners abound in the place. as we were going to our seats a stadium employee was handing out little plastic american flags so that everyone could wave them during the national anthem. as i was sitting there i was examining the flag and sure enough it said made in china right on the border! considering where we were and why the grand old place was built i just couldnt believe they would hand out chinese flags. i threw mine in the trash on the way out. randy .
From : joe blow
i have been reading this string for the last couple of days and have found the conversations both interesting and knowledgeable although i must take exception with this statement. personally i think its the lack of school uniforms in american schools that causes problems - last thing you want in education is independent individuals! independent thought is what leads to creativity. the last thing that i would want for a gifted child is to put him/her into a situation where they were expected to follow the flock and stay at the same level as those around them. i know uniformity takes away individuality but isnt it individuals with independent thought that create and discover the soviet union and other communist states tried the mass mentality idea and look what it got them. %%%% that opinion was posted by a well known lib/dem and as we all know they want socialism to control our lives and country. please do not send spam .
From : hodad
of course they do; they all live in china. i love those cheep cheesy chinese made amerikan flags.... john lasy year my son made it to a state championship wrestling competition here in pa. it was held in the johnstown war memorial. the war memorial stadium was built as a shrine to honor those veterans that served in wwii and korea and old war posters photos and banners abound in the place. as we were going to our seats a stadium employee was handing out little plastic american flags so that everyone could wave them during the national anthem. as i was sitting there i was examining the flag and sure enough it said made in china right on the border! considering where we were and why the grand old place was built i just couldnt believe they would hand out chinese flags. i threw mine in the trash on the way out. randy jesus i was just being sarcastic! you mean its true then again nothing is made here anymore nothing! its sickening! .
From : jay smith
my experience at the dealership was the complete opposite. i knew what i wanted 03 quad cab 4x4 manual ac convenience group ant-spin tow package and work group with cloth seats. they found a flame red one about 150 miles away. i knew the invoice from kelly blue book and got it for $50 under that then a $2500 rebate on top of it. they ended up driving the truck part of the way when their trailer broke down so i complained about that. the sales manager started to cop an attitude with me so i went to the general manager. he took care of the sales manager and threw in a cd changer for their mistake. i told them i was paying cash even though i had my own financing taken care of so no questions about my credit. i have found their body shop to be very professional too. hold on! it was in for a small paint rub on the edge of the drivers door and a misaligned tailgate. both were taken care of promptly and finished perfectly. after 1200 miles i can say nothing bad about my first dodge or my buying experience with dc. hd by the way. i really dont care for car salesmen in general you have to go in prepared for exactly what they did to you. sometimes the best thing to do is just walk out the door. i lucked out with an excellent low key salesman the small problem i had was with the sales manager that thought he was hot shit. just thought i would share the 3 week nightmare i went through buying my 2003 dakota. yes this will be my last daimlerchrysler product. now i know many are going to jump on me about buying the truck after all this problem but there are a few reason why i did. first both dealers ran a credit check lowering by rating 5 points each time called my insurance company each time and having my policy changed to the new truck and had me believing i would not find the truck equipped the way i wanted until 2004. day 1 - go to dealer 1 and get price. day 2 - go to dealer 2 and get price. day 3 - return to dealer 2 and ask for price on a certain truck i want and ask for a price. leave 1 hour later with no price. was told to go to dealer 1 and dealer 2 would beat their price not what i wanted. drive to dealer 1 and ask for their best price on truck they found and another dealer. price was right so told them i would buy it. day - 4 5 days later dealer 1 calls and said truck was sold by other dealer but they have one with same options and a few extra. no problem! so i drive 15 miles and find out the truck did not have the tow package i wanted. they told me i had to buy today or miss out on $500 trade-in rebate. no sale wanted tow package. salesman hints about the amount of time putting together this deal. day - 5 dealer 1 calls and tells me they found another truck asked them to fax the info to save me the drive. salesman once again hints about amount of time spent on deal. 3 hours later salesman calls and wants to fax the info i reply i will not deal with them anymore seeing he was so concerned about his time and not mine. return to dealer 2 to try my luck there. could not find any truck i liked with tow package. was informed that i could had the hitch myself. i asked about the transmission oil cooler and was informed all dakotas had them. so i agreed to buy the truck. day - 6 4 days later dealer 2 calls and tells me the truck is in from the dealer who had it. i asked if they were sure it had the transmission cooler the salesman said he would call me back. returns call and informed me they were wrong and the truck did not have the cooler. seeing the truck was already delivered i went through with the deal. day - 7 went to pick up truck what a bad day. first they made a $50 error in their favor on the price. then they told me the interest rate was 4.79 not the 4.25 we ha din the first meeting. after i complained they claimed they had a coupon for 4.29 so i bought the truck. now why should i be happy with daimlerchrysler waited days to find out the original truck i wanted was sold to someone else. two weeks to buy a truck and then have to come up with another $300 to add the hitch and transmission cooler i wanted. payed $300+ extra for items i really did not need but wanted a blue dakota. then they try to charge a higher interest rate then quoted the first time. now would you buy a product from a company that treats customers this way i dont believe ill be looking at daimlerchrysler products when it time for my wifes new car. dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : max340
anyone ever use them on anything anyone know much about the company i have an 03 ram with the hemi and am considering doing the headers first before exhaust and intake. opinions .
From : nathan d olmscheid
at least i do not use it when i drive... so youre only tough in your vehicle then .
From : m g
why didnt you wait 2 weeks and order a 2004 my experience at the dealership was the complete opposite. i knew what i wanted 03 quad cab 4x4 manual ac convenience group ant-spin tow package and work group with cloth seats. they found a flame red one about 150 miles away. i knew the invoice from kelly blue book and got it for $50 under that then a $2500 rebate on top of it. they ended up driving the truck part of the way when their trailer broke down so i complained about that. the sales manager started to cop an attitude with me so i went to the general manager. he took care of the sales manager and threw in a cd changer for their mistake. i told them i was paying cash even though i had my own financing taken care of so no questions about my credit. i have found their body shop to be very professional too. hold on! it was in for a small paint rub on the edge of the drivers door and a misaligned tailgate. both were taken care of promptly and finished perfectly. after 1200 miles i can say nothing bad about my first dodge or my buying experience with dc. hd by the way. i really dont care for car salesmen in general you have to go in prepared for exactly what they did to you. sometimes the best thing to do is just walk out the door. i lucked out with an excellent low key salesman the small problem i had was with the sales manager that thought he was hot shit. just thought i would share the 3 week nightmare i went through buying my 2003 dakota. yes this will be my last daimlerchrysler product. now i know many are going to jump on me about buying the truck after all this problem but there are a few reason why i did. first both dealers ran a credit check lowering by rating 5 points each time called my insurance company each time and having my policy changed to the new truck and had me believing i would not find the truck equipped the way i wanted until 2004. day 1 - go to dealer 1 and get price. day 2 - go to dealer 2 and get price. day 3 - return to dealer 2 and ask for price on a certain truck i want and ask for a price. leave 1 hour later with no price. was told to go to dealer 1 and dealer 2 would beat their price not what i wanted. drive to dealer 1 and ask for their best price on truck they found and another dealer. price was right so told them i would buy it. day - 4 5 days later dealer 1 calls and said truck was sold by other dealer but they have one with same options and a few extra. no problem! so i drive 15 miles and find out the truck did not have the tow package i wanted. they told me i had to buy today or miss out on $500 trade-in rebate. no sale wanted tow package. salesman hints about the amount of time putting together this deal. day - 5 dealer 1 calls and tells me they found another truck asked them to fax the info to save me the drive. salesman once again hints about amount of time spent on deal. 3 hours later salesman calls and wants to fax the info i reply i will not deal with them anymore seeing he was so concerned about his time and not mine. return to dealer 2 to try my luck there. could not find any truck i liked with tow package. was informed that i could had the hitch myself. i asked about the transmission oil cooler and was informed all dakotas had them. so i agreed to buy the truck. day - 6 4 days later dealer 2 calls and tells me the truck is in from the dealer who had it. i asked if they were sure it had the transmission cooler the salesman said he would call me back. returns call and informed me they were wrong and the truck did not have the cooler. seeing the truck was already delivered i went through with the deal. day - 7 went to pick up truck what a bad day. first they made a $50 error in their favor on the price. then they told me the interest rate was 4.79 not the 4.25 we ha din the first meeting. after i complained they claimed they had a coupon for 4.29 so i bought the truck. now why should i be happy with daimlerchrysler waited days to find out the original truck i wanted was sold to someone else. two weeks to buy a truck and then have to come up with another $300 to add the hitch and transmission cooler i wanted. payed $300+ extra for items i really did not need but wanted a blue dakota. then they try to charge a higher interest rate then quoted the first time. now would you buy a product from a company that treats customers this way i dont believe ill be looking at daimlerchrysler products when it time for my wifes new car. dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : max340
well if your turn signal lamp and brake lamp are the same ... then you either have a broken switch at your brake pedal or a war has come loose somewheres. if they are separate bulbs then you could add a loose grounding wire to that scenario or bad bubs. i have a 99 dodge ram 1500. my brake lights do not work. i have replaced the bulbs with new ones and they still dont work. the funny thing is that the bulb lights up when i turn my lights on and when i activate the turn signal. however when i push on the brake pedal the lights dont work. anybody have a cheap or do-it-yourself idea to help me i appreciate any thoughts. .
From : paul jensen
can someone tell me where the a/c drain tube is on my 2000 grand caravan es w/ 3.0 v6 there is water in the frame or so it seems.... we can hear water swishing when we turn corners and when we stop water leaks from the frame area along the entire passenger side. i called the dealer they said it is like the a/c drain is blocked. i know the right way would be to take the whole thing apart clean it and re-assemble. the poor mans way would be to clear out the drain hole with compressed air right any thoughts thanks! lee .
From : Annonymous
i did agree to buy the first truck over the phone only because they said it had all the options i wanted. once i made it to the dealer and saw the invoice did i find out it was not what i wanted. the salesperson claimed he overlooked a few options i wanted. on fri 11 jul 2003 064830 -0700 miles unknown@unlisted.com wrote david wrote btw if they ran a credit check without your signature or an expressed verbal ok you can take them to court contact a lawyer. thats true. many times when i walk onto a lot the 1st thing they want me to do is fill out a credit application. i tell them no. i do not fill out any application until i have agreed to buy the truck and i want to finance it through them. dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : Annonymous
i really didnt want to wait 3 months for the 04 with the $3000 rebate and 4.25% interest the time was right. i got the truck with most of the options i wanted and the price was right. its just the way they claimed it had a transmission oil cooler until the truck arrived and i asked again. on fri 11 jul 2003 113149 -0700 tim miser timmiserno@spmyahoo.com wrote i just order my new vehicles from the factory. for 30-40k why should i make any compromise for missing or unwanted options. get your exact options colors etc and do some research to find out what youre willing to pay for your exact vehicle. by doing this dealers miss out on pulling off a lot of their routine scams. of course its probably too late to order an 03 but thats just a better reason to wait for 04. -tim dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : miles
i think ya should have had be do the dealing for you! - i pay under invoice and only under invoice for certain brands. i get prices from the net brokers etc. on my 2001 durango i paid $150 under invoice. wifes 2002 jetta paid $50 over invoice. vw does not budge much as they can sell that jetta any day of the year especially with all he goodies we wanted their original markup was also no where near as much over invoice as dodge ford etc. like someone else said you need to know your price you are willing to spend. being realistic and then stick to that. if you do not get it walk away. never be in a hurry to purchase a vehicle and never fall for the shit that says well only today i can do this rebate/deal/what ever it is. i purchase a vehicle before i think of selling another or sometimes will do trade. never sell a vehicle and then be in a hurry to purchase a new one. for my durango i went into 3 dealers 1st one ignored me because i was 21/22 years old got the same thing when i was looking at builders for my first house at age 21 just built another house at age 23/24 and some builders looked at me like yeah right this punk is going to build a 300k+ home and ignored me. found a small custom builder who recognized that a young punk can be successful and have never had a better or heard of a better building experience by anyone figured i could never afford it. second dealer would not come any where near my price. third dealer played games with me i walked out twice i came back the first time and they played another switch type game after the second time i left i was in my truck reversing out of the lot they knocked on my window of my ford exploder i was driving and said ok we will do it. i said this is my last time any screwing with me again and i am gone. finalized the deal and i got the price i wanted exact truck i wanted and felt good about the purchase. was it some work to get the price....yeah but to tell ya the truth i enjoy watching the sales and financial people squirm. i would say a very high percentage of people fall for their tactics and when they have someone that is aware of them they get all frustrated. very fun to watch. they looked at me and was like look as this young dude he will fall for this.....not!!! you gotta get balls when you go into a dealer and stick to it. they are suppose to be making you want to buy. you are the one with the money. if you dont like whats going on or dont like the price dont buy it....and dont listen to all the sales pitch shit. you know darn well if there is not some large company rebate not dealer it can be replicated any day of the week. peace nathan just thought i would share the 3 week nightmare i went through buying my 2003 dakota. yes this will be my last daimlerchrysler product. now i know many are going to jump on me about buying the truck after all this problem but there are a few reason why i did. first both dealers ran a credit check lowering by rating 5 points each time called my insurance company each time and having my policy changed to the new truck and had me believing i would not find the truck equipped the way i wanted until 2004. day 1 - go to dealer 1 and get price. day 2 - go to dealer 2 and get price. day 3 - return to dealer 2 and ask for price on a certain truck i want and ask for a price. leave 1 hour later with no price. was told to go to dealer 1 and dealer 2 would beat their price not what i wanted. drive to dealer 1 and ask for their best price on truck they found and another dealer. price was right so told them i would buy it. day - 4 5 days later dealer 1 calls and said truck was sold by other dealer but they have one with same options and a few extra. no problem! so i drive 15 miles and find out the truck did not have the tow package i wanted. they told me i had to buy today or miss out on $500 trade-in rebate. no sale wanted tow package. salesman hints about the amount of time putting together this deal. day - 5 dealer 1 calls and tells me they found another truck asked them to fax the info to save me the drive. salesman once again hints about amount of time spent on deal. 3 hours later salesman calls and wants to fax the info i reply i will not deal with them anymore seeing he was so concerned about his time and not mine. return to dealer 2 to try my luck there. could not find any truck i liked with tow package. was informed that i could had the hitch myself. i asked about the transmission oil cooler and was informed all dakotas had them. so i agreed to buy the truck. day - 6 4 days later dealer 2 calls and tells me the truck is in from the dealer who had it. i asked if they were sure it had the transmission cooler the salesman said he would call me back. returns call and informed me they were wrong and the truck did not have the cooler. seeing the truck was already delivered i went through with the deal.
From : miles
remove wrote your right dc has nothing to do with this but they allow dealers like this to work for them. yes they work for dc and can lose their right to sell dc products anytime. the best local dealer had its license to sell dc cars about 3 years ago. the dealer is my only contact with dc and is what shapes my outlook of their products. no different that dealers for every make and model car out there. there are good ones and bad ones. find a good one. the extra $500 trade-in was offered by both dealer and withdrawn on july 1st. you have to understand about trade-ins. they are not going to give you $500 more for your trade. it only appears that way on paper. the dealer gets a bid price from their used car department. that price is equal to the wholesale auction price. the dealer will not give you more for a car than they can buy that car at auction. any trade-in bonus is buried into the price you pay for the new car. they gave you nothing. the car cost them the same amount and thus could be sold on any day for the same deal. it is a gimmick. .
From : nathan d olmscheid
has anybody tried testing for a leaking intake manifold gasket robert hancock wrote you say you replaced the coil but it might also be a problem with the ignition module itself im assuming thats a separate component on this engine. its possible there might be some mechanical problem like a burnt valve or something thats causing a miss but the dealers engine replacement recommendation seems a tad extreme. did they provide details of the leakdown test results -- robert hancock saskatoon sk canada to email remove nospam from hancockr@nospamshaw.ca home page http//www.roberthancock.com/ for six months i have been trying to help my so fix her mini-van. the mini-van is a 1998 plymouth grand voyager 3.0l v-6 automatic with around 128000 miles. several months back her check engine light illuminated however the car ran ok and the mileage seemed normal. round one - local dodge dealer performed a tune up. mostly new new plugs. light stayed out for a few days. round two - local western auto replaced plugs and wires. light stayed out for a few days. round three - western auto again - replaced plugs again. light was out for a few days. round four - yours truly - used ignition switch method to trigger code read out. got code 43. checked coil resistance compared to manual decided it was not quite right so i replaced it. disconnected battery and the light stayed out for almost a week. round five - used code reader and got p0300 and p0305 codes random misfire and misfire on #5 cylinder. checked plugs they looked fine. i decided that maybe the plug wire was not on correctly. reset light. the light stayed out for almost a week. round six - same codes as before. replaced wires and #5 plug. reset light. stayed out for a couple of days. round seven - same codes as before plus p0306. decided problem might be leaking intake manifold gaskets so i replaced them. reset the light and it stayed out for about three days. round eight - p0300 and p0305 codes again. in desperation i replaced plug #5 with another brand ngk and replaced the o2 sensor with a genuine chrysler part. light stayed out for 3 days but the vehicle did not complete the obdii driving cycle. round nine - dodge dealer again. same codes. dealer performs compression test and says the compression is fine. performs a leak down test and says based on this test the engine is shot and should be replaced - for $4000. round ten - help! $4000 is a lot to but into this van. it is only worth around $4500 in good condition. i am suspicious of the diagnosis that the van needs a new engine. it runs ok. not perfect but no oil usage no smoke idle is little rough but runs smooth at speed. p0305 code usually shows up with a couple of days after resetting the computer. i have certainly driven vehicles that run worse. if i leave the code reader connected to the engine i never see the mis-fire condition. the problem is almost always the same p0300 along with p0305. once p0306 was also found but this was a typical. not fixing the problem is not an option since this is an obdii inspection area. i am willing to try miracle cures...... regards ed white -- .
From : Annonymous
wrong there was a $500 rebate for trading in another dodge truck. the price of the truck did not change after june 30th just my trade-in value. i did my homework before and after the 30th. on fri 11 jul 2003 064637 -0700 miles unknown@unlisted.com wrote remove wrote your right dc has nothing to do with this but they allow dealers like this to work for them. yes they work for dc and can lose their right to sell dc products anytime. the best local dealer had its license to sell dc cars about 3 years ago. the dealer is my only contact with dc and is what shapes my outlook of their products. no different that dealers for every make and model car out there. there are good ones and bad ones. find a good one. the extra $500 trade-in was offered by both dealer and withdrawn on july 1st. you have to understand about trade-ins. they are not going to give you $500 more for your trade. it only appears that way on paper. the dealer gets a bid price from their used car department. that price is equal to the wholesale auction price. the dealer will not give you more for a car than they can buy that car at auction. any trade-in bonus is buried into the price you pay for the new car. they gave you nothing. the car cost them the same amount and thus could be sold on any day for the same deal. it is a gimmick. dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : Annonymous
small fingers make labout cheap jesus i was just being sarcastic! you mean its true then again nothing is made here anymore nothing! its sickening! and do you know why a whole lot less is made in america nowadays the manufacturing base has been exported overseas well yes. but why has the manufacturing base has been exported overseas .
From : Annonymous
some how things got a little turned around here. i paid $300 under invoice for my truck before the $3000 rebate. i also received bluebook for my 96 trade-in. it was less then i would have sold it for on my own but it needed a little work. i was will prepared when i went in to buy my truck i had the invoice cost of every option i wanted. on fri 11 jul 2003 084508 -0500 nathan d. olmscheid nathan@theolmscheids.com wrote i think ya should have had be do the dealing for you! - i pay under invoice and only under invoice for certain brands. i get prices from the net brokers etc. on my 2001 durango i paid $150 under invoice. wifes 2002 jetta paid $50 over invoice. vw does not budge much as they can sell that jetta any day of the year especially with all he goodies we wanted their original markup was also no where near as much over invoice as dodge ford etc. like someone else said you need to know your price you are willing to spend. being realistic and then stick to that. if you do not get it walk away. never be in a hurry to purchase a vehicle and never fall for the shit that says well only today i can do this rebate/deal/what ever it is. i purchase a vehicle before i think of selling another or sometimes will do trade. never sell a vehicle and then be in a hurry to purchase a new one. dault@spamattbi.com remove spam for e-mail .
From : remove spam from address to reply
hi group the last couple days my 95 dakota 5.2 liter v8 has been shutting down when i come to a stop. it will start right back up and next time it may be ok. i have had this since it was new and never a problem like this. this has just started to happen and i am worried that it is a symptom of something that may leave me stranded. any ideas thanks al arold al green my 97 ram and my ex-girlfriends 96 ram both 5.2 v8s did a similar thing. when using the engine for braking such as coasting down a long hill the engine would die if you came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill. it would start right back up and run perfect afterwards. otoh if you coasted downhill and then gave it some gas to go up the next hill you might never notice a problem. it only died if you came to a stop after a period of engine braking. never did figure that one out and hers still does it after 200k miles. totalled my 97 last month and lost the gf last year so ill never know. martin .