Flyinbrian

Ratchet~

A couple of things-
1. Open the hood in the dark with the engine running in the dark. The factory plug wires are junk.

2. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. The 3.9 V6, 5.2, and the 5.9 all suffer from an intake plenum gasket leak. This leak is internal. When it leaks you may notice oil consumption. What happens is; The gasket on the bottom of the plenum leaks, vacuum from the intake pulls oil into the cylinders adding oil to the mixture. It also makes carbon build up on the pistons at a fast rate. So, more compression, less octane= pinging/detonation.

To check=Remove the air cleaner assembly from the throttle body. Open the butterfly's on the throttle body. With a flashlight look to the bottom of the plenum. If it is wet, you have a leak. There is another test you can do with the pcv valve, I can post that later, but first check this way.

You'll have others that will probably post here and tell you to run higher octane, install a lower temp thermostat, get a computer update, etc, etc, etc.....
Don't do any of this until you check for the leak.

If you have a leak, get the gasket and bolt kit from the dealer. You cannot reuse the plenum bolts.

Interceptor

The pinion gear bearing failed in my previous (1996) Dodge Ram truck. Some of the rollers within the bearing assembly fragmented. The rear end never completely failed but the noise got progressivly loaded. Repair cost was high due to labor. The bearings Chrysler used are Timken made in the USA.

russ7r

I just traided my 01 Dodge 1500 Quad cab with 45000 miles for an 03 Ford F350 Crew Cad with a 7.3. I didnt have any problems with my Dodge at all. I but a 3in lift on it also with 33" tires.
My friend had a 2000 with a trans problem. They fixed it without any problem. I hear people all the time complaining about their dodges....my Dad has 165000 on his and just last week he had to replace his fuel pump actuator....and a couple of sets of bearing in the rear end. He towes a Fifth wheel camper that weighs around 17000lbs so I understand the rear end needing a little atten. He is very pleased with his.
I got rid of mine because the value was dropping fast. It lost $13000 in just over a year.

Flyinbrian

Nobody is saying that all Dodges are junk. Just some of them.
Some Chevy's are junk and some Ford's are junk too.

Go to http://www.alldata.com/recalls/index.html to look at TSB's and recalls for your specific vehicle. You'll see they all have their problems.
My father has a 1996 Chevy HD 3/4 ton with over 150K of hard towing that has had minimal problems compared to my Dodge with half the miles, (towing lesser weight and distance), and two years newer.

Anyway, just sharing my experience to try and help others before they blow their motor's.

This is my third Chrysler product since 1995, I had some pretty nasty problems with all of them. From transfer cases, rear ends, intake plenum leaks, exhaust manifolds cracking, etc, etc....

Even after all of the troubles, I would own another one. They all have their issues.

Ratchet

Thanks Brian.........when I get a moment this week, I'll take a look.

SteveS

A guy I work with had his rebuilt 3 times under warrenty, the fourth time they replaced the housing because they found the shaft bores were missaligned.
High quality **** there. I shouldn't talk, my daily driver is a 96 Intrepid ES and has been a great car.

Cord

iTrader: (2)

My 96 diesel either has a worn out limited slip or has a open diff. Do you have a source for a new limited slip? Desperatly seeking traction...

dirtyplumber

belly gasket, underside of intake manifold leaking /
lots of pinging and where is all the oil going/i'll be taking my intake off this weekend &my rear end whines i'll be looking into that too i've heard that the special mopar gearlube is garbage.differential$250 gears$200 install kit$150 labor4hours hardly$2000

Pantera1

My cousins brothers girlfreinds sister who went out with a guy from callamazoo had a dodge once and said it was junk ..
PLEASE ..Ive had several dodge trucks over the years and if you drive em into the ground ..(like I do 180K on present truck).. Nothin beats a dodge .
Can you say HEMI ?

fountain1fan

sorry chevy guys you have aam , and your ifs is worse than a dana alll alum all 2003 dodge heavy duty have aam soldnaxles . i hope they hold up . but ill drage your gm eay time you wount to hook up 2003 dodge qc 2500 ctd