Seven problems related to engine have been reported for the 2003 Dodge Dakota. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Oil gauge dropped to 0 while driving. Stopped to check the oil and it was fine. Drove about 3 miles and the truck died. Every thing locked up and unable to start again. Towed it to the mechanics and he said that we had sludge. We changed the oil as recommended. The warranty said that they will not cover buying a new engine because it was our fault. I have the receipts to prove that we did the oil changes. They had poor customer service. What's the sense of getting the extended warranty if it won't help. Our truck has 50,000 miles.
Oil pressure dropped within seconds, within 8 minutes engine died, couldn't start up again. Oil level was fine, did the oil changes prior to this when it was recommended. Chrysler stated that the warranty did not cover this. Oil sludge. Others have gone through the same thing.
Sept. 2004 bought 2003 Dodge quad cab w/hemi. Had approximately 34,000 miles on it. Truck was in great shape,ran good,drove good. Then in oct,2005,had a valve spring break on left side of motor,causing motor to lock-up. At this time the truck had 84,400 miles on it. We live 30 miles from our jobs,so we put a lot of miles on our vehicles. I called daimler-Chrysler to see if they would either fix the truck,or at least help with the repairs(after all,you would think that a hemi motor should be good for a lot longer than 80,000 miles). Daimler-Chrysler said that they would need "a certified Dodge dealership"to check out the truck to see what exactly happened and why it happened. I had the truck towed to the local dealership(savannah Dodge,savannah,GA). They confirmed the broken valve spring and broken valve. The mechanic at the dealership said that he has seen a few of these same problems,and the fix is to replace the head(it was damaged)use new valves and valve springs(with new"heavy-duty" valve springs). He also suggested that I replace the valve springs on the other head with these new"heavy-duty"valve springs. I called daimler-Chrysler again and told them what their five-star dealership said. After calling daimler-Chrysler several more times,they said that they(daimler-Chrysler)would call the dealership and then decide if they would or could help with the repairs. Needless to say,I had to call daimler-Chrysler back(they do not return phone calls)they said that they would not help with the repairs because(1)I did not buy this truck new(2)it was out of the 70,000 mile warranty(3)because I did not have receipts of my oil changes(I am a mechanic of 25+ years,I do my own oil changes,buy my oil(castrol 5w30)by the case at wal-mart every 3000 miles.
While driving down the road my engine lost oil pressure and I had it towed from the spot. Now I need to have Dodge dealer look at it.
While driving the vehicle hesitated then lost total power. There was poor idling, hesitation and sudden stops at intersection's, loss of power and the cruise control would shut off.
Brakes squeal and engine idle problem.
At certain times the engine omits a high pitch whistle when driving. The noise comes and goes periodically and at different speeds.