Hey guys,
Just FYI, they fixed the noisy lifters on warranty, but evidently my Dak had
a few more problems, too. The receipt said they replaced intake manifold,
header, and cylinder gaskets (are there cylinder gaskets?). They also
replaced my thermostat (WTF?) and the coolant therefore. They noted for the
"engine clatter" (i.e. pinging when hot on low octane fuel) that Dodge is
working on a fix, and stated that they found no problems with my bed or
tailgate.
This was on last Thursday. I drove back down there in my rental and took my
service advisor (Larry at McKinney Dodge) for a drive with the rear window
open. He heard the squeeking, but he directed me down a road that wasn't
bad enough to generate the slamming and metal-on-metal sounds. He agreed
there was a problem, and I took it back there and left it with him still,
driving back to work in my rental.
On Friday I drove out there with a buddy of mine, and we waited for them to
clean it (bird s**t all over it from them parking it under trees) and took
it back to work; along the way it clanked and rattled and thoroughly pissed
me off.
So I called Chrysler customer support (1-800-922-1997 if I'm reading the
right number here). She took down my complaint, and called up the shop's
manager (Gary). To make a long story short, it's back there today (dropped
it off yesterday at lunch) and I just got a call from them that they've
worked on it and think they have it fixed, but that Gary will be taking it
for a drive to see if the noise is really gone yet. So if nothing else
works, call Chrysler! The service manager was very helpful and sped up the
process of getting my rental there so I could get back to work, etc. When I
find out what it was, I'll post it here.
And a note to any new Dakota buyers who haven't actually bought the truck
yet: Pay the $100 up front to get a free rental when you take it in! I've
gotten to test drive quite a few cars in search of a new one for my wife
since I've gotten the truck! :-)
Can't wait to have my steed back, and without the rattling! And as a side
note, since they did all that stuff to my engine, it actually feels a little
bit more responsive. Could be the lower outside temperatures, though.
-- Tibor Kun Email: tkun@compuserve.com Voicemail: 1-888-392-4832 ext. 972-5276-806 Fax: (419)715-1981 '98 Dakota Sport RC V6 5-speed red________________________________________________________________ Get FREE voicemail, fax and email at http://voicemail.excite.com Talk online at http://voicechat.excite.com
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