Three problems related to transmission slip out of gear have been reported for the 2003 Dodge Dakota. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Dakota. When she attempted to enter the vehicle, the stick slipped out of gear and the vehicle began to roll backward. The vehicle was parked in first gear and the engine was turned off. The vehicle was parked on a flat surface and the weather was normal. The vehicle was not looked at by a dealer. The current mileage was 34,750. The failure mileage was 34,000.
Truck shifts out of gear when stop and is left running. 1) events leading to the failure: stop to get some information on a neighborhood store, stop the truck shift the truck into park, open the door got out of the truck, close the door, as I was waking towards the front of the tuck and I was approximately 5? feet away from the door of the truck started to move in reverse. I quickly chase the truck back, open the door jump into the truck (while the truck was moving) apply the brakes and stop the tuck. The shift indicator it showed that he truck was in park. 2) failures and consequences: if the truck start to move while you getting out of the truck the open door can push you down and kill you. If some one is behind the vehicle the person kill or the object/property damage. 3) what was done to correct failure: truck will be taking to the Dodge service department for analysis and correct failure.
After driving approx. 4 hours from fresno to reno on July 6, 2003 we were coming over interstate 80 at 70-75 mph, when our truck slipped out of gear, making the truck sound as if it had downshifted. We pulled off the highway thinking the transmission overheated and checked fluid levels. They were fine. We got back on the highway and not 5 miles later it did the same thing again. We thought we might be stranded. The dealer could find nothing wrong with the trucks computer and could not find anything on its memory. We got the truck back with no repairs. Today, August 2, 2003, the transmission seemed to slip again at 70mph trying to pass a slower vehicle. Looking through the TSB's the transmission problems I discovered(overheating) stated every transmission on a 2003 Dodge Dakota quad cab except the one in my vehicle a 45rfe. Could the problem stated for the other transmissions possibly be a problem for mine? if so how do I get the dealer to fix it before it gets worse?.