Trouble spots with 3rd Gen's

[Mr.Goat]

Mine is an 03 reg cab 2500 6spd with all the factory toys. Here's the list after 136,000 kilometers



1. wheel well liners ( DC to cheap to include them with truck )

2. AC has broken down twice ( warrenty) and now the sensors gone and it's

my nickle. Very poor AC on these trucks, not very cold when it does work.

3. All ball joints at 46000 K's !!!

4. front axle "U" joints and rear shaft joint x 2

5. rear end whine at certain speeds intermitedly

6. bad wind noise from drivers door when wind hits front R of truck

7. seat belt retractors only retract with gentle coaxing

8. air filter clogs easily with snow as the air intake is in the upper R wheel

well area. DC says it's aware of the problem and I shouldn't drive when

there's snow on the road. !!! Gotta love the air heads at DC.

9. poorest head lights ever put on a production vehicle.

10. got tired of the paper thin rear bumper denting when it touched

anything so I replaced it with a custom made one, very heavy duty.

11. there's been other stuff that doesn't come to mind at this time.



Bottom line when all is considered the Dodge has the edge on the other two because of the Cummins. In my case nock on wood it is the only reliable component in the truck.

Alot of issues on these trucks is purely attributable to poor design and guality control. Especially of out sourced parts.

 

[blmyachtsales]

06 15K dangerous to drive it wanders so bad, brought it to the dealer and they said there is a TSB for a new steering damper and outer tie rod ends. I've had other dodges and I don't see how this will fix the problem. Drives just like my 96 with a bad steering box and track bar.



Vibration between 70 and 75, dealer installing new u joint???



Starting to wonder why I bought a new truck!!!! :{



It's a great truck as long as it's in the drive way. :-laf

 

[List]

3rd gen problems

27K and no problems, 21 mpg solo & 10-12 towing depending on terrain.



05 Quad cab SLT short bed 6 spd 373 rears 2wd ,Stock



M. List Southern OH

 

[MChildress]

Mine is an 04. 5 with a build date 02/04 I really like the Cummins engine.

4,000 replaced clutch pressure plate weak springs/warranty/tinking noise when cold/this was common in 03 and 04's

5,000 replaced x7 tires with cracks in sidewalls /Goodyear warranty

6,000 loud rattle under truck on shut down/ cat hitting cross support,bent exhaust hanger up for more clearance

8,000 replaced torn door seals warranty

12,000 replaced torn door seals again with new design that is fllatened out where doors were making contact/problem fixed warranty

22,000 replaced x7 tires with cracks in sidewalls/Goodyear warranty/this time put on Maxxis Buckshots

35,000 installed pillar gauges and find grab handle broke/gauges took its place

42,000 replaced x7 tires with cracks in tread/Maxxis warranty/this time put on Cooper SST MT

I'v noticed my shift pattern on the six speed will rotate 360 about every 20,000 miles/I'v read the shift pattern plate can be removed and a drop of glue will fix this

 

[MZahn]

'05 with 26k miles.

1. ball joints seem to be loose.

2. clunk in drive train (u-joint?)

3. wind noise in front door or window seals.

4. poor traction in wet conditions even with anti slip rear.



Still love it. Off to the dealer soon to see what they won't do.

 

[DZink24]

Nicest truck I've ever had, thanks Cummins! Most likely the last one I'll ever have also, thanks EPA! (I'll never buy anything newer than an 06).

305 HP 2004 to the dealer for:

Short in trailer harness wiring causing the front marker lamps to come on when I touch the breaks.

Had to have dealer do my first rotation, I could not get the stinkin tires off!



Accepting:

Sub-par AC (my 98 1500 was the same way)

Loud door seals, tin foil thin sheet metal, terrible paint quality

Bad placement of the 3 HVAC control knobs- they should be angled slightly towards the driver for ease of operation.



It is smoky, loud and obnoxious, and gets more miles to a gallon than a truck 1/2 its size- and I love every minute of it!

1/21/07, 22,500 miles 712 hrs

 

[olznut]

The only thing mine has been in for was the fuel vent hose recall and a few pcm tsb's. Only got 12000 miles, and it's been almost a year since I got the truck. Hitting the go pedal always brings smiles. Just wish I had better shocks, which will come when I can afford it.

 

[Arkapigdiesel]

12K miles 0 problems, as expected.

 

[05mxdiesel]

48k and a couple days from being two years old.



The only thing wrong so far is: TSB for door seals, reverse light switch for 5600, front pinion seal, and a front speed sensor. Everything is great except the thin sheet metal.

 

[4 wheelssmoking]

107,xxx to date. a few problems to list

1-- steering box replaced @20,000mi due to leak
2--added tst and d. d. clutch when orig. clutch died @ 22,000mi
3-- D. D. clutch failure, replaced under warranty @ 50,000mi
4-- u joints @ 70,000mi [replaced them my self for under 70$]
5-- ac clunk fixed with re flash @ 77,000mi
6--wind noise from drivers door, fixed by bending window frame.
7-- rail pressure valve suspect, cap installed.
8--D. D. clutch failure AGAIN!!, warranted again by mfg of clutch @94,000mi
9--ball joints going out @ 100,000mi
10--injector failure @107,xxx still runs fine but crank case is full of diesel. so DRT for now.

over all I can't complain much other than the clutch problems[the new one is by far much improved over the other ones]. I think the injector problem was inevitable due to my mods and the rail cap. Ride quality is not as good as my 97. the power is awsome. Brakes work very well, this truck tows very well.

 

[SafeHarbor]

03 HO/48E LWB ST 2WD made 7/17/03



Bought Nov '05 with 40,000 miles. Maintenance history shows CP3 replaced at 38,000 and one reflash.



No problems at 53,000 miles but driver's door seal is starting to rip. My second Dodge truck - previous was V8 '03 Dakota - drove it 11 years and 110,000 miles and replaced one ignition coil, the radiator, and the water pump. Never even had the A/C serviced - it still worked. Traded for the RAM.

 

[JPereira]

How did you drive an 03 Dakota for 11 years?

 

[DCaswell]

That is a bit of a puzzler isn't it. Must work for IRS

 

[KBrasch]

My 06 is the same , But if you put on a bug deflector that is not dc it will make the plastic piece under the windshield wipers rattle, and i also get a miss or rough running truck for about the first mile on a cold truck. people say its because of winter.

12,000 miles and 500 hrs. that and my patriot blue scratches way too easy and they show up like a sore thumb.

 

[camsv3500]

Brand New 2006 Q/C 2500 swb st cummins... with a jake



275 miles. . ok... you guys dont laugh at me Oo.



WOW. . 22 mpg...



drove it home from Carson Dodge...



opened the hood to check everything out. . found the a/c condensor fins mashed badly in a couple of places...



took some pics. . called the dealer. . service guy said. . "oh they all get mashed there by the hood ,, thats normal" we have a fin tool (so do I) that can fix them ..... I dont think so,, the hood is a good 3 inches away from the condensor... more like someone LEANED over the condensor crunching it. . and the fins are mashed flat together. . no fin tool is fixing that



anyway. . they are pow wowing the problem and will get back to me. . I told them I dont feel like putting 500 miles driving to get it replaced... they should liase with my local dealer and get it done here in my town for me



ah well. . its a minor hassle of getting a great deal from an out of state dealer



we will see...



Ive already debadged the entire truck and it looks much better. . I know its heavy duty,, I dont need to tell everyone else

 

[AMink]

CMSV3500-same thing happened to mine, though it doesn't sound like mine was as bad. I straightened them out and put on of the covers from Geno's on it. Working from the front of the truck would be almost impossible to do without smooshing those fins. I also put black fiberglass screen on the inside of the grill to keep most rocks and bugs from whacking into the fins.

 

[Wdoucet]

25k just sent it in today for a new PS box.

It was leaking from the top...

 

[JJuday]

So far at 60,000 it has done well. Just the usual as stated in previous replies.



1. Torn door seal.

2. AC door/passenger side jammed shut.

3. Belt squeak..... fixed with a can of belt dressing.

4. Crappy U-joints... . replaced with Napa greaseables.

5. Carrier bearing

6. Tail lights... . replaced factory bulbs and used plenty of dielectric grease.

7. Corrected driveshaft angle.



And aside from the door seal and AC door I have had to fix everything myself because of incompetient local D. C dealer.



Excelent truck though! And 20+ mpg.

 

[1965LONEWOLF]

I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread that people can look at to see what issues others have had with their STOCK 3rd Gen's. I say this as you never know what modifications will do to a truck. So lets hear about any and all problems that you have had. So far on my 05 I have had none, but then again it only has 4k. However I did get that 05 as a result of D. C. buying back my 04 because of the dreaded 70mph vibe issue. Other than that the 04 was a good truck. But it only had 22K on it.

i would like to know more about this 70 mph thing , i am having the same problem now and its driving me crazy , could you tell me alot more about it please - i can't wait to hear from you about this. - thanks

 

[HighRanger]

04. 5 DRW LWB QC 49k miles

Rear DS and Carrier Bearing, still have the start moving vibe.

I'm almost positive I have a bad injector

Rear Brakes worn on one side only

Calculate 15-17 mpg console reads 20+

Left Tail Light Board

Everything else was caused by aftermarket parts.